The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-14
HORSE-DRAWN CABS
REAPPEAR IN PARIS
Outfits and Drivers Not as
Picturesque as Formerly
AMATEUR CHAUFFEUR
ftinerant Singers Reap Harvest by
Rendering Topical Songs Regard
ing Bravery of Allied
Soldiers

Paris, November 25.-(CGrespondence of
the Associated Press.)-Horse-d drawn cabs
have returned to the streets with the
progress of the war. but the outfits and
their drivers are not as picturesque as
they were in their heyday before the
motor car came. The drivers are quieter
now, they no longer crack their whips
loudly, and they accept Scent gratuities
with humble thanks.
All the younger taxeab drivers have
disappeared, having been called to take
their places in the army. Many of them
have been put into the supply columns,
which perform such excellent and some
times dangerous service in bringing up
munitions and food to the men in the
trenches. Those taxicabs still in the city
are driven by the older men and by
amateur chauffeurs, Who through the dis
location of business in some professions,
have been thrown out of employment
One may learn from his chauffeur that in
normal times he is a baritone of some re-
nown at a leading opera house, or may
be a teacher of languages, or perhaps a
professor of fencing. .s
Singers Do Well
The Russians, British, Belgian and
French national anthems. form almost
the sole items in the repertory of the
itinerant singers who wander from court
yard to courtyard of the Partisan apart
ment houses. Every window opens when
the group, generally composed of a quar-
tet sometimes of quite passable voices,
starts its music, and sometimes the oc-
cupants of the apartments, especially In
the working-class quarters, join in the
singing. Other parties of musicians take
their stand on the corners of streets,
where they sing topical songs of the
beroism of the allied soldiers. The interest
of the populace in these ballads is enor-
nous, for nearly every one of the by
ISLANDERS has a brother, son, father or
other relative at the front, and all buy,
at the price of cents copies of the
words and often join in the refrain.
The flower girls. with their sweet Vio-
let's direct from the Riviera, which have
never looked fresher nor more dainty, ap-
pear to have increased in number, per-
haps because they are more noticeable
owing to the smaller crowds of pedes-
TRANS on the streets.
A "shine" always difficult to obtain
in France, is next to impossible at this
period The ancient bootblacl1s, some-
times women leisurely wipe off some of
the mud and then lay on a covering of
the poorest kind of backing, after which
SACN'A
without energy leaving the footwear in
a state of miserable dullness, at charge
In excess of that paid in any city of
the United States.
"Harlequins" Sought After
"Harlequlns'' are sought for at the CEN
trail markets by ever-increasins numbers
of the outcasts of Paris every morning
at an early hour. The harlequin is COM
posed of what is left from the meals in
the leading restaurants, and the name is
derived from the variagated assortment
of small pieces of meat, poultry and deli
caeies set out on plates and sold at prices
ranging from to 8 cents.
The adoption by the French of the fash
lon of pipe-smoking and the enrolment
of most of the male population in the
army have dealt a hard blow at the
gatherer of cigarette ends and cigar
stumps, who for years was such we'll
known figure about the terraces of the
boulevard cafes. The amount of discard
ed mites of tobacco he picks up has gem
orally decreased, and the newspaper boys
who look to him to sell them for two
cents a package of the dried and rolled
up refuse, of which they were the chief
purchasers, now obtain a smaller guam
tity for their money.