Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1912-03-12

SCHOOL fTencn might even serve 10 get
him to Versailles and back again
without serious mishap or extraordi-
nary expenditure. But nearly all
American visitors, both male and fe-
male, desire for once in their lives to
witness the farfamed near-naughti-
ness of Paris at first hand, and that
is where the guide comes in.
Versailles, the Bots de Boulogne, the
Louvre, dinner at the Cafe dc Pans,
followed by a night at the Folies Ber-
gere. might suit small minority OF
the American visitors, and few of
the women folk, after a cheap glove
hunting trip, day in the dressmak-
ing establishments in the Rue de la
PaiX and a grenadine at one of the
marble topped tables along the Boule-
ward des Italiens, feel that they have
seen all that is fit to see of Paris
Not so, however. with the great ma
jority. Male and female alike clamor
for the Moulin Rouge, the Bal Tara
rim, the Abbaye, Maxim's, the Tavern
of the Red Ass, the Rat Mort and
other resorts of lesser repute. They
seek to comb the narrow streets of
the Latin Quarter that they may see
Bohemia with their own eyes. They
are anxious to buy wine at the Dome
for models who sometimes pose; they
do not rest until they have visited the
Bal Butler, famous on five continents.
Hence the guide-for it is an easier
matter for a multi-millionaire to get
by st. Peter than for an mustered"
stranger to find some of these estab-
lishments.
When an obliging young man offers
to show you around town without any
expense to yourself, what is more nat
ural than for you to accept such a
kind offer.
Having accepted the gratuitous Of
fer of the American guide, you map
out a tour for the afternoon and eve
ming, we will say. Singularly enough,
your guide is not satisfied with the
first cocher who cracks his whip and
solicits your patronage-he needs
must go down the line and pick out
a certain driver.
This feller's on the level with his
charges the guide explains as you
drive of. 81 know him for a square
cocher. Some of the others would
most likely drive you off into some
side street where the Apaches would
hold you up and split with him"
Having arrived at your destination
by more or less circuitous route, you
pay the driver a sum which seems
cheap when compared with a drive
of the same length in the States, and
yet ii is usually twice or three times
the amount of the legal fare You
notice that the guide seems to be
very friendly with the driver and that
when you dismiss the cabby he shakes
hands with the guide Indeed, this
handshaking continues throughout the
entire evening, for no matter where
proprietors always snake hands with
the guide-invariably at the moment
you take your leave
1t seems quite unnecessary to add
that from the moment you enter re-
sort careful account is kept of your
expenditures, and at the moment of
your leavetaking a commission vary
ing from % per cent. to so per cent.
passes from one palm to another. 1t
is usually so per cent. in the resorts
which appeal to the inner man, as
we'll as at the show places and caba-
rets of Montmartre.
Even should you venture into a
place where your guide is personally
unknown to the management he still
obtains his commission, for when you
enter his first move is to whisper to
the proprietor or manager these four
magic words: 'Je suis linterprete. "
The commission is added to the price,
and rare indeed are the shops or re-
sorts which do not make 1t worth
while for the man who accompanies
you.
Indeed, some of these self-styled
'interpreter-guides" have been resi-
dents of Paris for such short space
that their French vocabulary is prac-
tically limited to those four words.
In the early hours of the morning,
with the last cocher in front of your
hotel. YOU thank your companion for
his kindness in helping you to pass an
enjoyable evening. You may even
take pity on him on account of the
dull state of his business and surrep-
titiously slip half-louis into his re
ceptive palm. He will not object He
has spent twelve hours, more or less.