The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-30
PERSIAN BANQUET IS PARIS LATEST FEAT Men Wore Tunics Women
 Gauzy Draperies FRENCH PECULIAR Peasants Suspicious of Old Age Pen sion-Cannot Call Duel From
 Signed Newspaper
 Article
FRENCH PECULIAR
By PAUL VuLIERs


 great deal to shock Paris, that Is fashionable Paris, but Mons. Polre1 has succeeded in accomplishing that feat effectually.
 The means was what is called Per sion banquet and there were some 2oo guests present.
 He began by carpetins his pretty garden with valuable Persian rngs. Then he secured the services of the Russian dancer Mademoiselle Trouha- nova. and the Parisien dancer Made noiselle Regina Badet. His invitation list comprised numbers of heautitdl women, among the male guests were men with large fortunes and with or without regulations. All were an- uounced under assumed nicknames. The party was to be artistis Ierefore rep utation mattered less than the power of amusing.
 It was. of course, fancy dre's party Two of the guests sent Paris into fits early in the evening by din- ing in their costumes at the Cafe dc la Paix. As one of them wore a little gold 1unic which began well below the shoulders, and came to sudden end some way above the knees, the effect can certainly be better imagined than 1t can be described
 Other guests wore gauzy costumes through which their charm was rather more visible than would be permissible anywhere than at an artists ball, and altogether the appearance of Monster Poiret's garden when the guests aa- sembled was more than little eastern. Weird animals and girds walked about the grounds. There were two or three pink ibeses and a baby elephant The guests reclined on satin and silk cnsh- ions during their leisure moments nn- Aer tiger skins and other skins of cost ly fur, and I am told that s60,009 were spent in the evenings doings.
 Mademoiselle Trouhanowa had 5ceh asked to dance in the altogether. This she refused to do. but her cos tune would have shocked Hottcrtot beauty on warm afternoon. Made moiselle Badet had no scruples of the kind She danced with exquisite grace in a costume of jewelry and smiles, and ther performance won enthusiastic plau- 'dits.
 In the house were rooms set apar. for the smoking of hashish and the smoking of opium. Numbers of negro servants, men and women. walked about the grounds with Oriental re- treatments upon trays of silver. gold and mother of pearl. The guests them selves contributed in many ways 10
  when the crowd grew tired of being otherwise amused there was a bazar upon eastern lines in which were all manner of beautiful things
 There was no. payment offered or ex- ,pected, for the very simple reason that there was little or no room for pockets in any Of the costumes. And the party broke up between and 6 the next morn- ing, and has created something of a scan- 'dal Monsieur Poiret has said that he was not altogether satisfied with his arrange ments. He thinks that he can beat his own record. He means one of these days he declares to flood his pretty grounds and to give a Venetian fete on Sybaritic lines. But stories of his Persian effort have now reached official ears. and it is not at all certain that he will be allowed to exercise his imagination in the enter tainment line much farther.
 The French are a peculiar people. Ex- tremely amusing is the reception accorded in France to the old age pension act, which came into operation this week. The peasants are suspicious of it; it is . pretext for extorting more taxes from them, they declare. It is altogether too good to be true.
 In the agricultural districts peasants are holding aloof, in the belief that it is some form of official llnavery. Con- sequently, demands for pension books have not been very great. The govern ment is doing it's best to popularise the measure. and is issuing pamphlets broad cast to explain the provisions.
 At Troyes & violent protest was made against the new law. A crowd of 10000 made up chiefly of members of trade unions, paraded the streets and inflamma- tory speeches were delivered. Later, the gathering came into conflict with the troops, which had been called out to pre-
 
 the rioters, who had been beaten back in an attempt to storm the prefecture. The soldiers and gendarmerie repeated ly charged the mob to disperse it. A number of manfestants were injured and 8 were arrested. The grievance of the rioters was the compulsory clause in the act; employees they think should have the option whether they will con- tribute or not
 A charming anecdote is going the rounds of Paris concerning a duchess well known in Parisian society for her charity. An old beggar whom the procession of ve- hicles going to the grand prix had at tracted to the Champs Elysees, was given a franc by passerby. The old man, while testing the coin on the pavement saw it disappear under the railings of . garden. He rang the bell and begged the footman who opened the door to look for his franc. The footman went away, and, coming back after a little while, said: Your franc has not been found" Blank dismay overcouded the beggar's face until the footman added:
 But this has been found," and handed the .beggar twenty-franc gold piece. While the beggar cheerfully went on his way the charitable duchess. who had been sitting all the time within her garden, smiled at the success of her little joke. 
 Maitre Jabori, the celebrated barrister, ecting as arbiter, holds that newspaper proprietor, cannot be called out to fight duel when an article objected to in