Evening star., 1911-08-12
DECLINES HIGH RANK
Celebrated French Novelist
AverSe to Promotion
IN THE LEGION OF HONOR
Former President Diaz Recipient of
Many Honors-Cost of Liv-
ing in France.

PARIS. August 12.-Anatole France.
the celebrated French novelist. has ere
ated something Of a sensation in circles
of literature by declining a promotion IN
the Legion OF Honor to the rank Of COM
mander.
France declares that Victor Hugo At
the time of his death was only an OFF,
Ger in the Legion Of Honor. while Lamar
tine was only a chevalier. As France
does not rank himself with either one of
these great French literary lights. he de-
cides that it would be ll-fittlag for him
to accept a decoration greater than those
accorded to more distinguished authors
Honors to Diaz
Former President Diaz Of Mexico. who
has returned to France after visit to
from the French government. After be-
ing officially welcomed at the Museum Of
the Invalides, Gen. Diaz was received by
the city Of Paris at the city hall.
Gen. Diaz met at the Invalides Gen.
Lanas and Gen. Farny, both of whom
fought with him in the war at Mexico
The Mexican is great admirer of Ma
poieon, and often during the visit he
stopped to declare that Napoleons ca
a
for all humanity. The party visited the
chapel. the mortuary room, where is con-
served the mask of the emperor, and
finally the crypt. Gen. Diaz knelt before
the sarcophagus of Napoleon and when
in the reliquary Gen. Niox placed in his
hand the sword of Austerlitz. Diaz pressed
his lips to the historic weapon again and
again. The former president had the
honor also of opening himself the door OF
the crypt looking into the last resting
place of the great emperor.
Mohammedan House Of Worship.
Paris has a Greek church and English
tant churches, and there is now talk
of the erection of mosque for the ac-
commodation of the 1900 Mohammedan
residents. 1t will not, however. be the
first. Napoleon III, wishing the African
army to be- represented in Paris, quarter
ed a battalion of rifiemen and a squadron
of Spahis I'm the old Bonaparte barracks,
upon the site of which the Orleans rail-
roads Quay dOrsay terminus now stands.
Turkish baths. Moorish cafe and a
mosque were established for the Aige-
rians, who were accompanied from Algiers
by Ilema in guise of chaplain. After
the war of 1870 the barracks were occu-
pied by battalion of the Municipal
Guard. The baths and the cafe, Joined
mosque was transformed into a clothing
storehouse. Even in 1897 when the building
was demolished to make way for the new
terminus, the arabesque decorations and
verses celebrating the glory of Allah and
his prophet were clearly distinguishable
under the successive coats of paint and
whitewash.
Cost of Living Figures.
Increased cost of living in America, as
shown by the report of the bureau of
labor. is being paralleled in France,
where the housing problem has become
acute. There is little place in Paris
for the man of small means and a large
family. An illustrative case is the fol-
lowing: A working man, earning about
Si.20 a day, and his wife and seven chill
drep wandered over the city, looking for
lodging. He was able to pay $50 a
year, but proprietors of houses of that
price refused to receive him when they
saw the children. Apart from the uues-
ton of children. it is extremely difficult
for a working man to find accommoda-
ton in Paris at the present time. how
ever inadequate. Rents have steadily
increased in the past ten years. BY
reason of the increased wages and short
er work hours in the building trades, the
cost of constructing a house has gone up
40 per cent.
Formerly the poorer classes lived IN
the more remote parts of the city, but
the increased lines of subway bring these
districts within easier reach of the CEN
ter. and the small two-story house is be-
ing rapidly demolished to make room for
six-story modern structures. where the
rental is often beyond the means of the
working man. The workman, therefore.
is being forced to the suburbs. Here,
however. he is finding some difficulty in
installing himself, as the suburbs of
Paris are most always very attractive
and command fair enough rental.