The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-11-15
Chief OF PROTOCOL
TELLS STATESMEN
HOW To BEHAVE
Queer Things About Yesterday,
Today and the Day
Before That.


observed as punctiliously in republi-
can France as in the court of the most
absolute monarch in Europe, ana the
statesman who is the supreme author
1ty on all questions of social and Of
fetal procedure finds his post most
dincult- He is called the Chief of the
Protocol, and the last incumbent, M.
DIoIlard, has just resigned to become
French Minister to the court of Lux
embourg. Since he has been in the
Protocol NJ. Mollard has become the
most decorated man in Europe, but
every ribbon and star he wears has
been Justly earned
The protocol rules official procedure
in the most diverse circumstances
receptions, official banquets, presenta-
tons to the President, inaUgurat1ons
official visits and last but not least
letter writing To avoid mistakes the
army and navy have suppressed all
forms of salutation at the end of let
ters- But even so the practice is not
uniform; in the army one says: MY
general, my colonel, etc, while in the
navy, admiral, captain, ETC., suTnce.
Before the separation of church ana
state in France, the most delicate
problem which ever confronted the
Chief of the Protocol was to decide
the precedence of the Papal nuncIo
and the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris
The problem was never solved, the
diffculty being avoided by never IN
vitfng both prelates to the same func-
ton.
At the Foreign ONCE the greatest
Importance is attached to the epistol-
airy protocol. In a pamphlet publish
ed on this subject everything is pro-
vfded for; the size and quality of the
letter paper, which must be gilt-edged
for sovereigns, ambassadors and min
listers of foreign affairs; the width of
the margin, the subscription, the
heading, the final formulate and the
TITLES. all are strictly regulated. An
ambassador, untitled, is addressed as
ssMr Ambassador if titled, as MAR
Qufs'' or Count or your Highness,
as the case may be. A minister plen-
ipotentiary does not get his title ex-
cept in the subscription at the bottom
of the first page and on the envelope,
to which is added, after the titles, one,
two or three etc., according to his
rank An ambassador is entitled to
three "etcs" At the end of a letter
an ambassador is asked to accept the
assurances and not the assurance
of the Foreign Minister'S very high
consideration while diplomats of
lesser degree receive either ''the mosE
distinguished 1.-The very distinguish
ed or merely 1.-The distinguish d''
consideration of the minister, accord
ing to their rank.
A country cIockmaker has con-
structed a clock in which a phono- |
graph Is substituted for the gong In |
stead Of striking the hours, it repeats |
them ma loud voice The inventor |
got the Idea during a journey in Spain, |
where he heard ethe serene or night
watchman calling the hours in the
street
1t is proposed to extend the idea by
fitting public clocks with large phono-
~ ~,
hour, would repeat in stentorian tones
some appropriate proverb wise say
ing For example, early in the morn
ing the clock would announce, six
o'clock Fortune belongs to the early
riser" At noon. Eat to live, not live
to eat Remember, that alcohol is a
sIowpoison which leads to sickness,
madness and an early grave" The
clock-phonograph could also be used
for making important official an
nouncementS.
One OF the most famous works of
the great French painter, Jacques
David, has been missing for nearly a
hundred years, and the problem of its
whereabouts is an artistic mystery
which has appealed to the imagination
of many weI-known members of the
Paris art world The picture is now
believed to have been traced to the |
old chateau of Saint-F'argeau, in the |
Nievres. According to this story the |
painting was placed in an oak box and |
sealed up in one of the chateau's walls. |
But not even the present owner of the |
chateau, N. AnniSon du Perron, has
the slightest clue as to just where it |
may be.
The picture represents Michel Le-
peletier, Count Saint-F'argeau, as he i
lay on the pedestal of the statue of /
Louis XVI. the day before the execu-
ton of that domed monarch. Saint /
Fsrgeau was a royalist deputy to the |
States-General but afterwards went |
over to the Revolution and voted the
death of Louis XVI. He was assas-
sinated the day before Louis XVTs
execution by a royalist man-at-arms
Saint F'argeau's dead body, nude, and |
covered with garlands of oak leaves, |
was exposed for four days on the |
pedestal from which the statue of |
Louis XVI had been thrown down
The picture was originally placed /
in the Hall of Debates of the Conven-
ton. 1t was given back to the artist |
after the Terror and is believed to
have later passed through the hands
of NJ David's son to one of the heirs
of Saint-Fargeau, the MarqUise de
Adortfontaine. The Marquise, accord
Ing to the story, signed an agreement
not to destroy the picture. She had,
however, remained faithful to the roy
alist cause, and to hide the picture