New-York tribune., 1905-11-12
A FRENCH HUMORIST.
Death of 4lphonse AHais, the MarE
TsCain of Paris.
Paris. October 81.

Alleis who may without exaggeraton DC sAA
to have founded the new French humor, TO he'o
substituted dry and observant sense OF iui. -,
the hitherto all dominant esprit" to have peeh
the first great French humorist AFTER the fihie
,c,, and English manner, to have opened op'
therefore to his compatriots an entireis NC"
literary horizon. to have created hesh 50
and to have given substance TO a siiAu'
until the apparition Of Aiiais III 'ne 49,,
world Of letters there was no HeeA'iie a,
word ''hurnor" other than Foreign ono-
nbonse Atlas was thus real innoVatoi' nv
though the wild life he led prevented niin' 'uos
an uyss the case with Poe, from recet'iiis W
ofso;sr honors and public recognition whlch "eio
n;x duo ,,e fills undoubtedly. an important pia0e
81 oo,+e-onorary French literature. and mas
done as much any living writer 10 ieip A'
wsrd fts development, widen Its scope a'iu
multiply its influence.
AIlaiss style and methods may best De pic'-
ured to the American reader by describing MN
es the French Mark Twain. though the TWO
writer's widely differed from each other IN GER
tain aspects OF their genius AIiais' as h la
HE With q French writer. had not entirely
rr.sd himself from the traditions of Rapeiais'
hu. the great mass OF his work can sa1ey pe
plaoed in the hands of the young person. Aie
ras a more finished and subtle stylist thah 10
Twain as might be expected In FRANCE "iieie
the sense of style is fmbibed with the nlothei
milk II anything. his humoristic iInagina1oh
WIS more extraordinary. attaining to more OUT
landssh spheres OF fantasy. and in Its hishts he
was assisted by exceptional scientific knowledge
TIRE "dnesse'' of his Norman nature, and an I'M
,.,.urbahle coldness of observation and caAcuia-
t,on which WAS much more Anglo-oaAoii 'n"i.
French Allais's widest tales were uoush' o0'
and composed in the spirit Of a n1athefiia'ioA'
and when he was not at his desk or sorpiie
snnrmerable bumpers of beer az lae c
Cardinal or in one other of the Montiiie. N
..oa,arets" his favorite resource was TO shu.
,,a.,f I'm in his study and play games Oh
patience, A.. ,,n
,u.is hed no ,mitators, but he was the uh-
s,t+s5 founder of a school, and among hi'
d;sc,nles must be numbered Courtellne WIN ii"e
described French military life Will su'u
o,,isite and often pathetic hurnor' Auiioi' '
na,nter whose imaginative monogram ueSe
are famous; Alfred Capus and Tristan rhaiu'
both successful dramatists, whose pias' "
known the world over; Franc-Nohaln' ene
arnornhic poet, and others OF less note' AIM
arIa,s lived" his art with extraordinary per-
seversnce He belonged to that race OF mysl-
ecaterrs =, or practical jokers, which Tor lhoie
than q century past has had some brliliahl lep
resentative in Paris. and none more So '
sapeck the original Of Schaunard In Mui se'
.evYe de Boheme" and Ailais's constant coi"
nan;on and accomplice until his NINA gave way
scban,tns some practical joke, whether on iAS
s,za ~ so,,,a ,,nsuspecting tradesman. or on
zor,yes of note 1t at the Chat Non'
a., eooors artistic cabaret at Montmarlre
founded nv the "gentilhomme cabareuer' NJ
do,nbe de Sales that these plots were senefa4iS
laid. .ha
oa or .ba most famous of them was at the
exnense of the late Francisque sarces' 'Ae
historian and dramatic critic, upon ~
Allais by the way. bestowed the ulie vi
o-o1a ;. an appellation which stuck to MIN ioi
- 80 his life A provincial man of let
.r had come I'D to Paris. bringing with MN
,,,- which he wished to submit TO the sfeee
critic Bv some chance he found hilisei ~
,ba chat Noir and timidly asked OF a irienu
NJ alphonse Alais by what means ne cou
hest annroach NJ Sarcey. But monsieur Sai-
cav ,s here was the reply ana the Johei
,..a ant Allais GO and introduce your
.elf to the great at once he Is always
much more arniable over a glass Of beer than
=, bis own house" Allais received the pro-
v,nciaI dramatist with the utmost aHaplilts'
h,+ rasoluteiy declined to discuss literature or
,,1, AZ .be manuscript NO., he SAID, point
, IN tbe mighty pile of "bock" pads In front
NJ him, when i come to the Chat Noir 1t is
for the sake of rest and the company Oh pIlii
liant men, like yourself, not TO talk shop.
come and see tomorrow at ehe rNue ue
Dousi and bring the manuscript hAie "0 wa
look through II together. But must ie' you
tnto a little secret of my do1nesuc iiahso
n,ents. have secretary who is enormously
+a+ with a short white beard and rude
,er,, fthis was an accurate description OF
sarcep, His chief task is to keep OH oores'
for were 1 to receive everybody VINO came 10
consult me about plays should never ma
time TO write line. His orders are 10 ue-
c,ara IN all strange visitors that he is Monsieur
Eranciso,,e Sarcey. So, II he insists. all you
have TO do is to catch him a playful smack
over ,he stomach and say: Come now, old boy,
Won can't play that trick on meF
These instructions were carried ont TO the
,.-+er with the result that can be imagined
sarcey when he heard that ALIAS had planned
the scene laughed heartily, and the two men
became fast friends. An estrangement, now
ev.r hanpily followed by reconciliation, was
tho re.ult of an article by Allais In which he
accused his friend. Octave Mirbeau. the author
of lie Jardin des Supplies and many Sue
cessf,li plays, Of complete ignorance OF horu-
culture Mirbeau's garden at Poissy Is famous,
and he prides himself as much on his botanical
ss on his literary accomplishments Aliais
declared that he had been invited to Poissy by
Mirbeau. who had shown him parucuiarly
fin. melon which they were to eat the follow
ing dsy When they went to gather It, how
ever. fl had disappeared Mirbeau had made
an ignorant mistake, and instead Of the seeds
Of III. cantaloupe he had planted those of the
,arnous .eMelon BaIadeur'' or Wandering Melon
ecucurb.tus fugax). Transplanted from its
native atmosphere and translated into another
Language AIlais's humor naturally loses much OF
its SAVIOR
One needs to have been familiar with the
leaders OF the Impressionist movement in paint