Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-30
GRAND DUKE HAS
A ASERVANTS' ROW
PAUL TRIES RUSSIANS AND
FRENCH, WHO DON'T MIX
All the French ssrvitors Dismissed.
Turk Has Trouble over Pearl
Neeklaee--swallows II and
Takes Ennetie
~ ARTHUR W. L'AMoUREAUx
,ec,ai c-sbie 20 The Herald.

BH ARTHUR W. b'AMOUREAUA
Special Cable to The Herald
PARIS, Sept. 2a-There has just been
a pretty commotion at the villa des
Lys. near Saint Cloud. where the
Grand Duke Paul of Russia Is staying.
lie took up his abode there few
weeks ago with strong contingent
of servants. half Of whom hailed from
his own country and half natives of
France. For some reason or another,
that "union of hearts" of which so
much has been said, did not find an
illustration In the establishment. The
French servants did not exactly hit
Il off with their Muscovite comrades,
and the result was a sort of feud,
which has found expression in very
peculiar way Weary of all the un-
pleasantness, the grand duke had ad-
mnistered a scolding to a man who
was suspected Of having started TINS
III feeling, when, early on the follow
ing morning, his Russian butler found
an object resembling a bomb lying on
one of the window sills. 1t was squares
in shape, and the box was bound
round with wire and twine, lengthy
wick, which had been partially burnt.
emerging from It, The authorities
were promptly informed of this very
disagreeable discovery, and an inspec-
tor arrived from Versailles to conduct
an investigation. AS all the gates of
the property had been closed during
that night, and as no outsider could
possibly have obtained admission, the
inquiry was limited to questioning the
servants and to an examination OF the
supposed internal machine. All the
French and Russians were interroga.t-
ed in turn, and then the box was
opened with infinite precaution. 1t
was found to consist of mere wood,
and to be filled with pebbles and sand,
while as for the wick, it had simply
been taken from small stove The
whole affair, In fact, was nothing but
a sorry practical joke; but, as a Rus
sian grand duke has no taste for jests
Of this description. he has sent all his
French servants about their business. |
So harmony reigns in the villa.
Turk and Pearls
A Turkish gentleman with a nice
taste in pearls was arrested recently
in a jewelers. shop in the Boulevard
st. Martin.
He walked into the shop and told
the jeweler that he was engaged to be
married, and wanted to buy his fiance !
a $500 pearl pecklace. While he was
examining two or three necklaces with |
the help o. large pair of spectacles. |
one of the shop assistants noticed that
he was apparently licking the pearls.
The assistant took up one of the !
necklaces which the Turkish gentle
man had just laid down, and noticing |
that the cord was bitten through, gave
the alarm The police came in and ar |
rested the Turk, who protested an
grily and demanded to be searched.
He was searched and no pearls were
found on him, but the jeweler insisted
on his being taken to the police station.
The Turk was there given a strong
emetic on the authority of magis-
trate, and was found to have swal-
lowed two pearls worth s40O and $500
The readers Of the Fiargo are dis
cussing in the columns of that paper
the question whether or not gentle
man ought to salute when entering a
compartment already occu-
pied by other passengers.
From the letters received it appears
that the weaker sex are absolutely in
favor of this custom, and some Of them
even ask how such a question can pos
sibly arise.
The male correspondents. too, seem
to be strongly in favor of preserving
French politeness. 'Politeness costs
says the proverb. An ultra
Republicans reply is to the effect that
takes off his hat. When the compart- !
ment is only occupied by men she !
glances at the papers they are reading,
and is they are of his political views
he Salutes.
Wakes Up odeon
NJ. Antoine has just come back to |
town, full of fiery energy which as
tonishes the old Odeon. He has had
the ancient playhouses transformed !
from top to bottom. The worm eaten |
stalls, the draughty yet narrow pass
ages, the crooked boxes are now no
more. The theater has been completely |
ad read
all over the house and sat in every |
seat, one after the other. Whenever he |
ascertained that from any place the |
stage was not sufficiently visible, he
actually ordered that place in question |
to be abolished. This is sheer revolu-
tion. The government department of |
fine arts figuratively threw UP its arms |
in horror when M. Antoine proposed re-
ducing the number of saleable seats in |
boxes from four to three merely be- |
cause from the fourth seat it is impos |
sible to see the stage.
on the other hand while Paris thea
ters are the most uncomfortable, in
the drama Paris leads the world. A
Paris audience would rather be un-
comfortable and see a good play than
see a bad one comfortably. Thus, NJ
must look to his program, as
we'll as to his playhouse. The former
will. certainly not be beneath his usual
high standard. He will open the Odeon
season with shakepeare's Julius Cae-
sar." adapted by M. Louis de Gram
mont. No play could offer better OPP
to M. Antoine's genius for
stage management. His King Lear"
in this respect, was a wonderful
achievement on SO small a stage as
that of his old Theater Antoine, still
called by that name under the new
management of M. Gemier, one OF his
former lieutenants. The scene of the
burial OF Caesar by Brutus and Mark
Antony is one after the heart of a
stage artist like Antoine. Soon after
Julius Caesar" Will come Alfred de
Vigny's drama, of which the hapIess
forger-poet Chatterton is the hero, a
version of Emile Zolas "Faute dc
Al bbe Mouret," and a new play, La
Preferee," by that trenchant dramatist,