The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-10

the PcrUe dos Dcur MOHics the recol-
lections of gentleman who was here
in 1911 and is here again now. He was
inclined tn be sarcastic about the pres
ont ChapCn fin In his day one had good
food and did not pay eNorbitantly; now
zone needs a quasi-oflicial Introduction
20 penetrate. and the stylish servants
guarding the door like impossible dragons
ask with a discreet air if monsieur has
taken care to warn the management of
his intention of taking lunch.
We penetrated without apparent diff
Guilty possibly owing to the exalted
position of two amnble young attaches
who entertained me and the food was
very good There were diplomats OF
all sorts TO be seen, meridional head
waiter and an interesting restaurant
/ cat. One end of the room is an artificial
! grotto and into and out of the canvas
! rocks this enormous cat kept creep
/ ing. thrusting his round face and blaz-
/ ing eyes out of unexpected holes in the
manner of the true carnivora, ~ If he
| had been trained as AN entertainer by
/ the management
| The head waiter would have lured
an anohorite into temporary abandon,
] Toward the end Of the evening we dis
cussed the probable character of a GER
tain dessert, suggesting some doubt of
taking it, You might a. we'll have
doubted his honor. "Mais, monsieur
he waved his arms "Cest delicieux
{ est merveil!euxl C'est quelque chose
slowly, with thumb and first finger
pressed toEether---"d r-r-raf- ti-ne!'
1t is to this genial provincial city that
the President and his Ministers have
come. They distributed themselves about
town in various public and private build
ings; the Senate chose one theatre for
its future meeting place, and the Chamber
of Deputies another. And from these
places sometimes the most incongruous
one hears, for instance, of NJ Delcasst
maintaining his dignity in bedroom
now used as the office for the Minister
of Foreign Affairs the red tape is un'
wound which eventually sends the life
blood of the remotest province men anc
supplies flowing up its proper channel Il
its appointed place at the front.
There must be plenty of real work, fol
an army like that of France, stretching
clear across the country from Switzer
land 10 the Channel, could not live unless
it had a smoothly running civil machine
in the quiet country behind, Except tina
the main streets are busy one is told tina
100, 600 extra people are I'M town-yol
might almost never know that anything
out of the ordinary had occurred. Thing
must be very different, of course, from
what thew were in ~, when, beaten t.
her knees and threatened with revolution
France had to decide between surrender
, ing Alsacc and Lorraine and going o
with the war
The theatres are closed, but there ar
p moving picture shows an Occasional
concert. and twice a week, under the an
q spices OF one of the newspapers, "A confer
: ence. / went 10 one OF these, given by
/ French professor of English literatur
in the University of Bordeaux, on IN
timely subject "Kiplng and the Create
- England
: You can imagine the plquant intere'
n of the scene the polite matinee audienc'
d fine row of erudite Frenchmen sttin
y behind the speaker, the table, the shade
y" lamp, and the professor himself, a slcnde
- dark gentleman with fine, grave face
4 poihted black beard and penetratin
n ewes suggesting vaguely prestidig
r tatour-trying, by sheer intelligence an
delicate, critical skill. to bridge the gaps
n race and instructive thought and feeling