The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-18

IY if it be not his 1t is very fair imi- tation. and at all events 1t Is plct- nre which has great qualities and good deal of charm.
 Competition in Toy Making. Toymakers in France Gre full of la mentations over German competition.
 Annual shows of more or less new and original playthings have been ap- ranged in Paris for two or three years past, but they seem to have done little good. The vice president of the com mittee says that nowadays 80 per cent of the toys in the French market arc made in Germany.
 French Models are copied, and the limitations pay only 60f per 100 kilos customs duty, whereas the originals, when imported into Germany. are charged nearly three times as much. German railway rates are also lower, and German labor is cheaper.
 Y The president of the Manufacturers Union says that France turns out less than S7,500 900 worth of toys annual iy, while the German -tput reaches SIS 900. .0o0. He has ascertained that 1t costs less to send goods from Nu- remberg to MaTseilles than from Paris to the salns place, though the former distance is almost double the latter. Even the French doll, hitherto su- spreme. is being dethroned, according to the chairman of the society. French toymaker, whose name is M. tTop They lack the Parislan knack and chic. But we no longer possess single firm for the manufacture of dolls heads in china. There were nve or six lert a few years ago. Now there are none, whereas at least ten are fourishing in Germany Nowadays, ac-. cordlngly, all French coils have Paris ian clothes, but German faces"
 BeEEars Rent Children.
 The Paris police the other evening made number of arrests in the Ave- nue de rOpeta. They arrested eight women who were begging with one or more children in their arms---fcAr- teen children in all Of the fourteen. not one child belonged to the woman who was using 1t to inspire pity. s All had been hired, and some of the children had actually been drugged to make them fearful, paler, and more miserable. For years past the authori- ties in Paris have been struggling un- availingly with one of the scourges or Parisian life, the pseudo-poor.
 Although begging In Paris street is prohibited; there are so many ways of avoiding the letter of the law that begging grows annually. and q class of wealthy beggars has sprung up in Paris There are numbers of sham cripples, people with sham wounds, and frauds innumerable, and there are In the outlying quarters of the city beg gars' schools. where older beggars who have retired from business teach begin ners how to make a comfortable living out of the pity of the public. In nine cases out of ten charity in the Paris streets is misdirected. The real poor, those who deserve charity. are difficult to find.
 JeVVeIer is Swindled.
 Another Parisian jewsler has allowed himself to be swindled to the amount of 900 in a manner which throws his credulity into relief
 Some little time ago an individual swaggered Into his shop with young woman and said they had come to choose some jewelry for their approach ing wedding. He selected articles of the value of the. sum mentioned, and- representing himself as the son of al highly esteemed Spaniard. asked for credit.
 Before handing over the jewelry. the tradesman made inquiries at Madrid about the gentleman, referred to, and the answers were highly satisfactory. But he neglected to assure himself as 10 the identity of his customer. who promptly fitted with his female com panion. Realizing too late that he had had dealings with a swindler, the jew eler lodged complaint and the cou- pie was tracked and arrested.
 Articles to the value of $10.000 have been TeGOVoISQs OuL a OL 0AG- monds worth as much has still to be found It is said to have been sold in London for only $1.o00.
 IncendIariea Tried.
 Two mon havo just been tried in France for incendiarism, one being acquitted, though the facts were prov ed against him. and the other convict. ed and sentenced to death.
 The case of the former is one Of the strangest on record. The man is a 1'oulon naval dockyard hand, whose coat is covered with medals for life saving. For years he was always resA cuing some body either from water or fire. Congratulations and rewards were showered on him after each deed of heroism. Of late he seemed to have given up rescuing drowning persons. and made a speciality of putting out fires. But he put out so many, anu was always on the spot so pat when they broke out, that suspicious were at last aroused. He was watched and was caught in the act of setting ire to a shed near to a powder magazine in the naval backyard. A moment later he Eisked his life to put out the flames which he had himself lit, and succeeded thereby in preventing what might have been a fearful catastrophe e,
 The belief now is that he probably was the author of many of the previous fires in which he afterwards figured as gallant rescuer. Anyhow, he has been tried by a naval courtmartial which found that he did set light to the shed next the powder magazine but acquitted him because he put the fire out.
 Witnesses describe him as a megal- omanlac of a dangerous kind. He thlrsts for opportunities. for display ing heroism, and when they do not occur naturally he creates them.
 There was no heroic mania about the other incendiary. a mariner. who in the course of a few months set fire to eleven peasants cottages in the Ma rine and Aisne departments. His plan was to burgle the houses of the neigh bors undisturbeG while they generous lv assisted in putting out the fire By a lucky chance he caused no injury