The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-12


 A newspaper has been questioning play wrights and other authors about smok- ing. Maurice Dounay replied that former iy he smoked half dozen cigarettes 8 day, then he gave 1t up. and since that timeah he can work whenever and as much as he pleases. Alfred Capus said he would be glad if he could give up smok. ing, for it gave him no pleasure, and he believed that in the long run tobacco was an undesirable collaborator. At first we smoke to be able to work, and finally we worked only to be able 10 smoke" George Fedyeau replied: 1T used to smoke a great deal. but have given f. up, because found it impaired by mem ory." The Rosny brothers, Paul Mar queritte and Composer Massenet an swered briefly: we do not smoke" :" Louis Game used the weed till he was 25, when he quit. to please his sweet heart
 "Too much." wrote Francis de Croisset, answer to the question whether he smoked; and to the second question whether 1t helped or harmed him, he re piled: q don't know or wish to know" Henri Bernstein wrote: Tobacco stim- ulates me, but I do not know whether it benefits me-" Alexandre Bisson smokes once in two weeks, because he does not want his enjoyment to degenerate into a necessity. Jules Clarette admitted that he smokes cigarettes, but he does not know why-"certainly not for pleasure"
 George Maigret has been a good boy. and so on New Years day his mother. who is not very well off, gave him a franc. The boy w<o is cinematoRraph mad, took out his purse to pay for a seat at picture show palace. Suddenly another ten-year-old boy snatched the purse and made off with it.
 George went home and told his mother. She comforted him as best she could and sent him out to buy loaf of bread. As he was leaving the bakers shop, small boy. about ten years of age, fired at him with a revolver and wounded him in the spine.
 The youngster struggled home and his mother found a bullet hole in his coat now in hospital. A boy can buy re- volver here as freely as he can buy candy. But business Is business.
 Abortive attempts at disturbance by the Champagne wines occurred recently but the villagers are strongly held by troops. Resentment is still deep and bit ter.
 M. Briand, the prime minister. has an nounced that measures had already been taken and others were going to be pro- posed to remedy the grievances of wine growers.
 In the course of lecture in the The atre Michel recently Mile. Helen Miro polsky, the prettiest and one of the clev- crest lady lawyers declared that femin- ism did not drive women who worked as lawyers, doctors and in other professions did so because love had not come in their way Ut is unfair.' said the lecturer. ito consider us incapable of love be- cause we work for a living" When she sat down, a gentleman rose from his stall and in presence of an amused audi ence made a proposal for Mile. Miropol- sky's hand in marriage. She said she appreciated the compliment. but had no idea of becoming a wife.
 Even in the matter of death. there Is an afr of eclat in this country. A man named Xavier was recently executed at Lille. During the night before the legal killing pedlars sold postal cards bear ing his picture and that of his victim to the crowd that remained around the jail until morning.
 As Is the custom in France. Favier has not been informed of the fact that he was to pay the death penalty. and slept soundly in his cell during the first part of the night. At ? o'clock in the morning however. he aweke. and asked the warders what the noise u nk l. kt..>~