The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-10-09
PARISIANS HAVE
 NEW GRIEVANCE Now Complain of Increased Cost of Living PLANS OWN FUNERAL Writes Invitations to Friends to Attend Ceremonies and Then Dies of n. Broken Heart After Death
 of His Wife
 
PLANS OWN FUNERAL
BY PAUL YILLIERS

BY PAUL vILLIERS
 l. Paris. OctoberS .-Parisians' are never | without their grievances. Shop keepers 1 and hotel men are complaining that they
 have lost trade; they believe Catholic
 tourists are boycotting France in their
 tours, probably account of the action
 of the French government in respect to
 the religious orders
 There is complaint because of the in-
 creasing cost of meat.
 Roast beef is hardly ever indulged in,
 even by people of moderate means The
 best cuts cost 50, 60 and 70 cents a pound.
 A Frenchman never would be willing to
 have a great big roast on Sundays, and
 then have it cold or warmed up for the
 rest of the week, as the English do. Chickens are dear, costing from 5 cents to s2 apiece. They are all the more
 expensive because they are never stuffed
 with dressing, but simply roasted in but
 ter. Americans marvel how far board
 ing house keepers will make a chicken go.
 This city is losing its long borne repu- tation of being the cleanest In the
 world
 No one can say at present that this is I clean city. The handbills that one sees on the pavements of the boulevards are
 disgrace. In streets adjacent to the
 busy thoroughfares we see filth that is | revolting.A The tearing up of the streets | and boulevards is also a disgrace to a | city. l have never seen the capital in
 such filthy state.
 The fine quarters, as in every city, are | kept as they used to be- Foreigners only look at the streets they pass along and when they drive along the Avenue de | Boise de Boulogne and the avenues ra- | diating from the Etoile, the Are de Triomphe, they do not take the trouble to see that they are kept as clean as | ever. Paris is now kept clean only in | spots, and Parisians themselves say they blush when walking along their boule- 1 yards. | Frenchmen are nothing if not novel. | to say dramatic. M. Louis Boussenard. the famous French writer, who died quite recently, made all the arrange ments for his funeral before his death. He drew up the following document, which was circulated among his friends: Louis Boussenard, author, has the | honor of inviting you to his funeral. which will take place at Esorennes U.oi- reD on Monday, September 12, 1910, at | 1:15 p. m. "Inconsolable for the death of his wife he succumbs, in his sixty-tflird year, to grief which nothing has been able to | assuage. ITO his numerous friends and to his faithful readers he sends this supreme l farewell"
 l After the death of his wife a few years ago Boussenard ceased to take any l further interest in life and declared that l his only desire was to follow her Louis | Boussenard was regarded as a second
 Jules Verne. French boys idolized him.
 The Comtesse de Martel, so well known under her literary pseudonym of "Gyp." has just given evidence of real spirit | of magnanimity It will be remembered
 that various valuable articles were re-
 gently stolen at her residence at Neuilly-
 sur-Seine. A man formerly in her serv-
 ice was arrested, but, touched by the grief of his father, who had travelled
 many miles to plead with her, she went
 to the magistrate. and, explaining that
 she had only lodged complaint because
 her guests had suffered as well as her
 self she requested him to let the culprit
 off. The magistrate. touched by her kind
 ness, said he would do what he could. l but he must first have some leisure for reflection on the case.
 l The recent decree of the Sacred Con- | gregation of Sacraments, fixing the date of the first communion at about the age
 of 7- has been received by the French | episcopate. The general impression Is | that the Vatican regards this as being | particularly adapted to country like France, where the compulsory state pri- mary schools are credited with having | tended to alienate the young from Chris
 tian ideals. The aim of the Vatican is | to implant in the minds of children at l as early an age as possible, and before
 they have been submitted to the infiu-
 ence of state schools, the seeds of Chris | tian instruction.
 French commercial opinion is evidently
 unanimous in favor of the establishment l of penny postage with England The l British chamber of commerce of this | city has received 90 resolutions from diff l ferent French chambers of commerce de- manding this reform.
 | Pierra Jardine of this city, only 12
 years old,- recently climbed the Col de | Talefere in the Alps, an ascent of Il, ,730 l feet, surpassing the remarkable feat of
 London boy named Frederick lJones, 13 years old. Jones recently climbed the
 Buet. 10,2O0 feet.
 l The director of the Joachimsthal lab
 oratory, which the government so liber- l ally suppifes with pltcn Diende, will not | let Mime. Curie have the small quantity
 of salts of uranium she asked for She
 at first tried, not, for uranium, but tiny l loan of radium. The price was terrifying mot that she was asked to buy, but to
 pay a premium of insurance in propor-
 ton to the value. Thereupon she applied | to the minister of public instruction to
 know whether, 1t would bear the insur- ance. It was thought too high. But 1t | was proposed that since she and her
 late husband kept none of their labora- | tory operations secret and worked for
 the whole world. M Pichon might feel | Justified in Appealing to the Emperor of