The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-05
NO MAN |S HERO
 ID HIS OWN COOK Dumas Cook Tells of the
 Authors Life OUTLAW IN A CHURCH Paris Laws Severe on Tenants and Aid to Notoriously Harsh Land- lords - Female Criminals
 Attracting Attention
OUTLAW IN A CHURCH
By PAUL VILLIERS

valet. he certainly is not always nero
 to his cook An enterprising traveller mas
 inst lighted upon a worthy innkeeper In A village near St Die, who once upon a time had the distinguished honor of pre-
 paring the meals of no less celebrity 1 than Alexandre Dumas. Comfortably ln-
 stalled in her little parlor in her rural 1 hotel, on the facade of which Is DIE l board, with the attractive words, "A Ia I renommee des Truites,' the worthy dame
 gave her visitor very hearty welcome
 and was soon induced to treat him to
 her "reminiscences of the author of the ''Trois Mousquetaires." She said: You cannot imagine what a gourmand this man, who ridiculed all the comfort | of modern life, could be. He used to come into my kitchen to watch the cooking Of
 the most modest omelette and to tell me
 how it should be done got from him a | lot of recipes, which I still turn to ac- count from time to time. There is the
 poulet a la ficelle. How is it done? Well,
 after the usual preliminaries you tie the | bird's claws together, and you hang it by
 cord to the chimney piece in front Of | the fireplace. Then you turn 1t round so | that the flames may just get at 1t While 1 it is moving and the result is dainty dish which quite gives the go-by to all | the roasts in which the turnspit has been
 used.
 From her professional "reminiscences the l good woman was led to discourse on the
 famous authors general mode of life.
 What shall I say about it? I am now H. and when I entered M. Dumas's service I was 24, so after such a lapse of time my souvenirs must be somewhat vague. But when one has been in the service of a master who was original as he was | there are things that one can never for get. M. Dumas was not gentleman like the rest. He worked terribly hard,
 and made, as 1 myself could see, great deal of money with his writings; but he lived like a flying camp. There was no linen in the house, and often there was no crockery. At his country house at
 Enghien I was actually obliged to lay sheet on the dinner table instead of a
 cloth when he had company. All the plate
 went off in present to friends, and what
 friendsl Why, beggars; and what did he
 lot throw away on the creatures, An,
 have seen them. And then, when he had
 been on the spree all day, he would shut
 himself up with the secretary and work
 all through the night. From time to time
 an idea would strike him, and he would shut himself up for a couple of days to write his books. Then he would start off and come back with friends, always new
 ones, whom he would put up What life
 ne ledi I could never adapt myself to It,
 so one day I gave warning. The place was not steady enough for me. Such peo- 1 pie are not to my taste, but all the same l I was very sorry to leave my master. He
 was a good sort, and nice to the servants.
 He never ought to have written books. l This is what that did for him.
 l It is scarcely necessary to add that this | excellent dame has never opened one of
 Alexandre Dumas's many works, if, in- deed she is acquainted with the title of | a single one.
 1 The church of Clermont in the Disc, | has been turned to a moved use. A tenn
 porary outlaw hoisted the red flag on it's
 sieeple and then posted himself with a
 gun ready to fire from the top at any one who dared to approach.
 | Someone had tine presence of mind to ring the bell, which sounded like a "toc- sin" and, of course, the whole town | turned out. The man at the top of the tower fired several shots to warn them 1 that they had better not come nearer | The whole trouble arose between him and 1 another man with whom he had a row 1 For this he was brought before a police | court, and was fined 15 francs The fine 1 exasperated him, and, rather than pay it, l he took revolt against existing authority and society.
 Gendarmes were sent to barley with l him. ard after parleying all night they at last induced him to surrender. He did | so on condition that he would have an other hearing at the, police court and that | he should present whatever new argu- ments he had to show that he ought not | to be fined
 In Paris the laws governing the rela- | tions between landlord and tenant are | pc rticularly severe on the latter. Even | in the poorest tenements the rent must ! be paid month in advance, the landlord | can most eXpeditiously recover possess | sion and even seize the tenants furniture | If any rent is due. Some landlords are notoriously harsh in exercising their DOW l CTS, and there have been cases wher, tenants who owed no rent were elected Tor having more than one child, or even | for having any child at all.
 To protect these poor tenants a, syndj- | cate has been formed, the militant branch | of which is known as the Society of the wooden Bell. The members of this so- ciety assisted evicted house tenants in various ways, acting as welcome bailiffs by hurriedly removing a poor tenant a furniture before the landlord can seize it. Encouraged by the support of this organ
 lzation, the. tenants are becoming bold. One landlady who proposed to raise inc | rents of her 400 tenants has been deaed. the tenants adopting a sort of plan of campaign, and informing her that they will neither pay the increased rents nor give up possession of their rooms. The syndicate with it's 50G0 members, and the Society of the Wooden Bell are backing up the tenants, and it is expected that tbe landlady will have to give in and with. draw her notice.
 Great interest was displayed by the rubnc at race meeting when couple or avlators who were flying along on a hirlane paused on their course between
 two events and circled over the ground. This interest developed into considerah,e | excitement when they dropped an envel- ope on to the paddock, and it was as- certained that it intimated their decision
 to back particular horse IJnbounded
 was the enthusiasm when the animal on which their choice had almost literally "fallen' emerged with credit from th, contest Cheer after cheer was raised. and the sporting aviator were treated 10 A veIitabie ovation before they resumed their flight to the destination they had selected.
 Several recent crimes in which womer played the leading part have moved th, French writer, Jean Frollo, to study wom en criminals.
 The woman criminal, he says, never dis | plays in her exploits what is known a,
 simplicity of genius.' Her crimes arc always too complex. too ramified to es
 ape close observation on the part of tn,
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