Omaha daily bee., 1911-12-17
All Forms Date from Time of CHARLIE
maEne and Splendid old Artisans
Lena Flavor of Distinction
60 Every Job.
ny VICTOR AUBURTIN.


way.
You must first try 70 have a stove set
UP in Paris, then you will know these
people with their charming helpiessneSs,
their stubbornness and their incredible
conservative ciinging 10 everything that
is old.
To rent a flat in Paris consists chiefly
in signing papers. For three weeks
have been doing nothing but signing my
name to scores OF papers, several scores
day. When pass by the concierge the
honest man asks me TO step inside his
lodge. Here the papers are arranged in
long row ready for my signature.
Papers concerning the gas meter. the
electric meter, the security of the rent
the insulation, the Condensation. documents
stating my rights to the bath tub, the
water faucets. the stove, the stovepipe,
the stove doors. Everything to be filled
In and signed in three copies.
signs without Reading.
without reading a word sign every
thing, beginning from >the left and work.
ing towards the right, i am a man Of
quiet habits and my favorite readings are
the works of NJ. r. ouantiliano. What
do know about your condenEators?
don't even know what a condensation IL in
English. and have no wish to quarrel
with anybody. one thing only I notice,
that ell these bureaucratic ceremonies
must date from the days of Charlemagne.
Because you had TO give security IL you
wanted to have put in electric wires at
the time of Charlemagne, you must con-
tinue to do so today.
| AS for my telephone, eight men in blue
biouses have been working on 1t Tor four
weeks. They arrive every day, these
eight men, all together or In groups, look
| through my flat, knock little on wall
and leave. They have placed rope lad
der from the yard TO my apartment,
which is situated on the sixth floor. and
they climb ieisureiy UP and down this
rope ladder as II they rather enjoyed II.
| II looks very dangerous and all the neigh
bors as far as the eye can reach watch
them from their windows.
Unfortunately they don't agree, these
eight men in blue blouses, but in genuine
French way they have divided themselves
into factions and parties. A radical
group theoretically maintains that nv
telephone must be made ready for use
before Christmas, which Is still six weeks
off, while a moderate group warns
against such reckless, rashness and in
sists that the problem must be thor
oughIy discussed. am very curious 10
see which of the parties will win.
| Two Splendid Old Time Killers.
One day a lock had to be repaired. My
servant girl went down for the lock-
smith, who really appeared two weeks
later. There appeared in fact two lock-
i smiths, two splendid old gentlemen with
msrrtly twinkiing eyes and the best talk
ers I ever heard. They placed a lot OF
instruments on the floor. lighted two
candles and examined the keyhole. They
did not succeed In opening the door. but
they were so pleasant and entertaining
that gave them good tip besides their
well-earned wages
There are people know who would
have grown impatient at all this. But,
honestly, what do all these trifllng every
day comforts mean: door handles and gas
ranges and bath tubs2 IL Il not far moro
important 70 take life as It Is gracefully,
Ito think of higher subjects than eievs-
tors? Tho old question stili remains;
what Is the more Indispensable, the rose
or the potato? A question which ought
to be solved by a worldwide symposium.
Still you cannot help feeling q certain
anxiety: How would ii go In case OF a
war? What becomes OF this charming
leisure when once all kinds Of periis and
excitements crowd into a short hour?"
The French are a noble and brave peo-
pie. as ell the world knows. Whoever
has seen them during the recent eventful
days knows that they would all have be-
come one solid body from the most radical
socialist TO the camelots du Toi. This Is
lndisputable. II is a pity. however. that
wars are no longer won by brewery, but
with railroads.
Hopes for n FaII-D0wn.
The days of the battle of Fontenoy are
over, when the French attacked the Eng
fish front with glittering swords Good
horsemanship and personal courage are
no longer all-important. but all-important
II may be that on Thursday next at 7
o'clock in the evening 5000 bags Of oats
are lying at Vaueouieurs. And here is
where think they will fall.
have seen three weeks spent in fail
ing to connect my telephone-how are
you, my French friends, ever to put up
your telephone over night. during a time
Of excitement and overstrung nerves?
| 1t is not easy 20 feel at home in this
strange country. But when you do be-
gin to feel at home. how cosy. isn't II, to
live on the sixth floor above all the
world-an old leaning house an apartment
| like foxhole with hooks and corners and