Evening star., 1902-09-13
FRENCH PRESIDENT
Is an Enthusiastic Sportsman
and Fine Marksn.an.
LOVES THE FORESTS
AT FIRST HIS SIMPLE WAYS DIS
PLEASED FRANCE.
Homely Family Dinners at Ram
bouillet, With Mime. Loubet
as Best Company.
LOVES THE FORESTS
Copyright. 1902

| Copyright. 1902
| Written for The Evening Star.
President Roosevelt might very probably
| dislike the comparison. but 1t is the fact
! that his dear brother of France"-to adopt
the royal style-is as enthusiastic hunter
as himself. The two presidents of the two
great republics of the world are nimrods
| both
There's a difference, of course; a differ
ence depending upon the vastly dissimu-
| lar nature of the two countries. BY the side
| of the ''big game exploits of President
| Roosevelt, Papa Emile has the air of
| small boy pelting stones at garden spar
| rows from a catapault. He has not at his
| disposal the vast spaces teeming with su-
| perb wild life that Teddy made his own
| in his early days. But in his little way
Loubet is just enthusiastic a slayer He
glories in it-and does it right well.
From early August till midwinter Presi-
dent Loubet rests from state ceremony and
| state work and foots 1t daily over miles of
| forest and plain dealing destruction to the
| game of all kinds in which the state pre-
| serves rich At this moment his gun
| Is certainly cracking persistently at Ram
| bouillet or Marty, once the demesnes of the
| kings of France, now the happy hunting
/ grounds of the democratic presidents of the
| third republic.
Both these classic spots are within thirty
miles of Paris. President Loubet could
| hang his rifle on its nail and appear duly
| frock-coated and top-hatted at the Elysee
! in couple of hours if he suddenly re-
| .ceived news that Deroulede was marching
on the ca pital across the Spanish border to
| establish his universal-suffrag republic-a
| highly unlikely contingency. AS a matter
| OF fact. the president does run up to Paris
| every now and then on a surprise visit and
| keeps the telephone wires hot with sum-
monses to ministers and administrators to
present reports and give him the news of
| the day.
Rifle in Hand, Pipe in Mouth.
But for the most part he Is buried these
| days in the heart of his forests rife in
| hand pipe in mouth and innocent joy in his
| peasant soul Clad in an old blue velvet
| coat, with his stout yellow CATERS drawn
| tight over the solid square-toed, heavily
| rallied shoes, dilapidated, easy-fitting soft
hat thrown in picturesque disorder on his
| head. he looks more like a benevolent
! poacher than a president bound normally by
| a rigid protocol When he leaves Paris he
| slips off his presidency and becomes again
| the peasant of Montelimar
| AT first these simple ways nightly
| dlspleased the people of France. They had
disliked his predecessor, President Faure,
| for his naughty aristocratic or seignorial
| manner, for the stiff splendor and state
| with which he loved to surround himself
! going to bed as the Parisians said, TO
/ the sound of trumpets" But the change
| was too sudden. Loubet was blamed for an
| affected simplicity" where Faure had been
ridiculed for his pomp and parade.
After two years and half, the peasant
or Montelimar' has become Papa Lou
! bet" and the smiling white-haired old
| gentleman has found his way personally
| right to the hearts of the people Even in
Paris, where the mass is distinctly anti
! ministerial, Loubet is always welcomed en-
| thusiastcaiiy; in the country he is adore d.
| For miles round Rambouillet the people
never tire of telling stories about his good
| natured familiarity. In one cottage he has
| often invited himself to take a Gun of milk
and rest while he reads the mail he has
| brought in the outer pocket of his shooting
| pag; at another he has frequently deposited
mare, a rabbit or pheasant by the way
| of treat for the sick wife; in a third they
| viii tell you. that he has taken particular
/ notice of little Emile" whom he grayely
recommends not on any account to be presi-
| cent or the republic when he is a man.
| And he laughs" the good woman tells me-
| with a delighted sense of hun1or, ''mondieu.
| how the president laughs when my little
| Emile promises faithfully not to think of
| such a thing!'
Expensive Apples.
| favorite story in the purleus of Ram
| bouillet tells how the president was one
| day making brisk fire close to the chateau
! when he noticed that he was being tracked
| by his side some dozen yards or so within
the shadow of the wood. What are you
doing there?" he called, sternly. The man
stumbled stupidity forward and held out a
big bag. Then, addressing the president
with the familiar thou which the work
ing folk employ among themselves and
which is not otherwise used except between
close friends, he said:
II have brought thee some apples. my
president"
Thou art very kind" said NJ Loubet
hurnoring the mans familiarity How
shall l thank thee?
Thou shalt give me a pheasant was
the answer, Unexpectedly practical t. the
rhetorical question.
Loubet laughed loud, took the apples and
gave a pheasant, ''the dearest apples |
ever bought in my life said the president
as he handed the bag to his giIly from
whom 1 had the story. At first the servi-
tor explained. he had feared some mischief
was afoot, and his relief was immense when
he found that the suspicious indv vidual was
only simple woodcutter who not pos
sessing a sick wife or child, knew no other
way of gratifying 4 rather undemocratic
longing to add a presidents pheasant to
his pot-au-feu.
There does not seem any possibility of
personal danger to the president from the
people Of RambouilIet, though Madame
Loubet is notoriously timorous on the sub
jeet. The only discordant note L heard of