Evening star., 1902-09-13

during cycling expedition in the neigh
| borhoOd was reported by local gendarme.
| This functionary was immeasurably shock
shop dismissing NJ. Loubet's claim 10 re-
| spect In phrase for whose contemptuous
| force idiomatic English has no equivalent.
on appelle ca un president. cal le vieuN
iarceur! call that a president. that cid
joker" II was not very terrible after
1 all. this vinous outburst; only a lingering
echo of the old reproaCh Of NJ. LOubets eN-
| cessive simplicity ard bonhomie: and [
| learned from the indignant police officer
| that the assembled drinkers promp;ly
| avenged the insult on the sportsman of
Rambouiilet by finging the critic out at
| the coor.
On His Good Behavior.
| The Offending youth would be happier.
probably, IL fate had cast his lot at Marty.
| Here he would not be shocked by the sight
| OF president shooting in an old blue coat.
| AT Marty poor Nj. Loubet has to be on his
good behavior and play a part.
For st is in these classic, kingly woods
| that take place the state shooting par
ties which are de rigueur in this curiously
| hidebound democracy Just as the presi-
dent must never appear on the streets or
Paris except in quasi royal state. SO he is
strictly bound to hold at fixed intervals
solemn official battues which the official
world attends by right and not by invita-
ton. There is the shooting party for the
senate, the shooting party for the minis
ters, the shooting party for the deputies
ana L Know not how many others. These
| are state functions, controlled by a rigor-
Gus etiquette, arranged by a protocol as
rigid as that which attends the reception
| of reigning sovereign. The guests are
| formed into 81 long firing line with the
president in the center. every gun oc-
| cuples, relatively TO the president, the eN-
| act spot TO which his Cfilce or his rank
] hHsFa
| fills the ancient court office of grand veneur
| (high hunting master). is there TO see that
! the precedent is observed precisely; iokers
| say he would have to commit suicide on tho
spot II a simple deputy, for example, got
one place nearer to the president than a
| deputy that had been minister
Behind the firing line T. the serving line,
! to every guest a gilly with a second gun.
The double long winged file advance in
| rigid order In an immense cleared space
| in front of the coverts; a bugle blast is
| blown; the beaters send the game flying TO
| their death; the president fires first: in one
| second all the guns join in; and then It is
| every man blaze away as hard as he can,
I snatching a fresh fiii.d gun from the man
| behind after each shot.
Frightful Slaughter Of Birds.
The havoc is frightful. The birds fall in
! Eecatombs. They are put into a common
| bag" and divided up afterward-so many
| to the president, so many to the guests,
| according TO their rank, SO many to various
local officials (mayors. subpr'fscts and so
| forth), the rest to various hospitals and
| benevolent institutions depending on tina
| state-always. by the way. a big bag for
! the hospital Of Montelimar. II is said,
apropoS. that the president had quite a
| squabble with CommaUdant LamE over this
last bag. Montelimar had no existence on
| the ancient pr0tocoliau map: but NJ. Loubet
| held firm and the sick Of his native village
eat of the state game in season. II was
| kind of a revolution.
| 1T is magnificent. but II is not sport"
| one may suppose that NJ. Loubet says TO
| himself, for il is known that he disiikes
| the whole business-unlike President Faure.
who beamed with JOY on these occasions
| and showed plainly that he felt himself,
when center Of the MarIy firing line. a
worthy successor of the long line of kings
/ OF France who had shot thus in state be-
| fore him.
President Loubet has ample reason for
| his dislike OF these solemn massacres even
| apart from the stiff ceremony which at
| tends them. The birds are practically
| tame; host Of keepers tend them all the
| year round; they are protected from this
severity of the winter: they fed on ans
| eggs to make them the more worthy and
the fatter for the glorious death that
awaits them. The peasant soul Wi hin he
president revolts at this aristocratic refine
ment of cruelty: he would rather take hts
chance shot at a chance bird in good fight
ing or flying condition.
He Is a very fine marksman. by the way,
rarely missing He keeps his eye I'm very
carefully, and when h is OUT walking IN
| the country without a rifle. one may see
| him suddenly raise his stick to his left
! shoulder-he is a Ieft-ha nded shot. by the
way-and grayeiy cover his aim. Think
would have had Inn. helm he will say
| to his companion.
| This they say is almost the only sort of
| remark he is likely to make when he Is IT,
dulging in one Of those brisk. sturdy-s;ep-
! ping country walks Of his. At home he
talks freely, bOisterously even. according
to general rumor but ont Of doors he seems
| to resume the taciturnity of the peasants.
He likes. however. to be talked 10 as ue
trudges along and Is supposed for this rea-
son to take especial pleasure in the COM
pany of Col de Lastours. commander Of
| the garrison Of Rambouiii-t. who is one of
1 the liyeliest cOnversatUndlists a man would
hear in a lifetime.
He is very thick" also with NJ Gauther-
in the mayor of Rambouilet, a lawyer of
the old school. who is often invited to dine
sans ceremOnie at the chateau and whose
dry eighteenth century humor keeps the
president beaming with pleasure.
These hUmely dinners at Rambouillet are
the Joy of Madame Loubets heart: except
for them she would scarcely know her hus-
band at all. At the ElySee he is occupied
nearly all day with state affairs or with
functions that take him away from home:
in the evening the dinner Is nearly always
as solemn as a coronation. 1t is at Ram
bouillet that La Presidente" enjoys her
husbands society as il he were a simple
citizen.
Not any more closely than that It is
true, for the ordinary citizen has his office
to go TO for the day the president is Just as
irresistibly drawn out Of doors in the day
light hours. but like a faithful husband he
comes home to dinner-and Madame Loubet,
to use the rather pathetic words currently
attributed to her, gets Young again" They
good specimens of the DARBY and
jean order of beings the president and
the presidente; and the informal evening
meal at RambouilIet. with one or two inti-
mate ancient friends as the only guests,
is a relief to madame's heart
AS long as the university vacations last
the son of the house. PAU Boubet, is gen.
orally there, a genial young law student
rather rattle pated" perhaps. who. in term
time, may be seen stroli4g down the Boui-
Mich with his students serviette under his
arm. just like any other lively unpretend-
ing deniZen OF the Latin quarter. lie is
much liked in the quarter where the cam
arrades of the IA (the Association Cen
erals des Etudiants) after reviewing him
with some slight suspicion when he first
ioinp1 their ranks have finally cd