The Washington herald., 1918-02-21

SOOu De III Ndy = rec.
We knew from his grin and his glee-
ful eye, that this was the lanky young
Americans first visit to Paris; that,
like most OF us, he had. gained his
earliest Impressions of France from
postcard pictures of naive. scantily-
lingeried young women kicking at
chandeliers, and that he expected to
step right of the train into a swirling
saturnalia of cussedness. His Gay
P'ree'' never did exist, but we had
an aching apprehension that the truly
gay Paris which we had known and
loved. would be sombre and sad; for
the tremendous courage with which
she has met these past dreadful years
must certainly have been at the sac
rifice of her bright and happy spirit.
We feared to see Paris in her depres-
sion
Eye for Ladies'.
Depression? Why, the boulevards
thronged, and there Is laughter, and
the bells OF the cab horses Jingle as
merrily as II he big cannon were not
ceaselessly pounding and roaring less
than seventy miles away: shop win
dows blaze with such a collection of
precious gems as Aladdin never saw,
and the boulevardier, though huddled
against the wintry chill in a blue uni
form, sits, as Of old. at his little ta-
BILE beneath the dripping awning of a
sidewalk cafe, and sips his hot coffee,
while the world swarms by him on
the pave. He's just back from the
trenches on leave - his medals show
that-but to look at his face you
would never know there was or had
been any grim thought In his mind.
His cheeks are pink, and his mus
taches are nattily curled. and he has
a dancing eye for each pretty woman
who passes. Everybody walks nova
days, since gasoline is so scarce and
has been Communicated for military
uniforms of all the allies, the pro-
cession jostles and chatters past.
there are mingled the snappy little
dence, but not much more more so
than of old, and the shop girls. and
an entirely new element; the grand
dame! Yes. the grand dame walks,
too. and cheerful about 1t; and PAM
pered pets now walk which never
soiled their paws before. AS the phil
osophical Frenchman says, with a
smile and a shrug Of his shoulders:
But, yes, 1t Is the war"
OF course there are few taxis, run
principally by ex-soldiers who have
earned the right to become civilians.
But you are not lordly with a taxi
driver any more; you do not stand at
curb, hold up your finger until a taxi
races to your feet, brusquely give
your direction, step in, and slam the
door; not SO! You wait until one
stops in your block, or the next one.
to discharge a passenger. then you
rush to 1t imploringly, and tell the
potentate where you would like to go.
II he cares about driving into that
neighborhood, away you rattle lickety
split at a hair-raising speed; 1t rests
entirely with him, however. whether
he will wait to bring you back. AS
likely as not, he won't.
The reason lies not in any lack of
humanitarian interest in your well
fare, but in the fact that he is only
allowed so many litres of Essence
per day. and he must make every
spoonful count. Naturally. mutual
necessity promotes the flow of the
milk of human kindness.
We had an important errand, and
rushed to meet the first taxi which
stopped at the curb, but the lady who
alighted smiled, and held up a warn
ing hand.
I'm sorry. I'm not through with
it." she apologized. What direction
are you going?"
We told her.
Few Taxicabs.
Splendid" she said. My place is
right on your way, and If you don't
mind waiting while 1 run in to buy
this chauffeur a pair of Christmas
gloves-he's been SO nice!-you may
take me home. where I will pay him
OF, and you may have him from there
on"
She smiled again.
"Taxis are SO difficult to secure. We
must all help each other"
The fact was further illustrated In
the bureau where we had the impor-
tant business. We had a few minutes
to wait, and the concierge, one Of the
most pleasant and affable old men to
be met, explained with extreme po-
liteness and extreme volubility that
monsieur might smoke II he liked.
that there was positively no rule
against smoking. and that monsieur
must make himself perfectly at home.
Monsieur did not at all feel like
smoking at the moment, but, being
further urged, saw the point and
brought out the cigarette box.
OF course the temporary host was
invited to have a smoke, and the
pleasure with which he accepted 1t,
added to the fact the he would not
light 1t then but saved 1t for after
dinner, brought sharply to mind that
cigarettes are luxury in Paris.
For fully twenty minutes the con-
cierge, whom we came to know very
well as Philippe. entertained US with
droll stories Of how "stingy" he was
with himself, now that he was put
ting every franc into war loans, and
we left him with a feeling that the
only thing he considered was to make
US comfortable and happy while In
his little room.
1t was not until afterwards we
learned that Philippe has lost three
sons, one son-in-law. four nephews,
and seven cousins in this war!
We went down to the LOUVRE with
many misgivings. to find IL a quaint
jewelry shop we had known of old
was still in existence. Still there, and
the little old jeweler.-not much more
shrunken since bygone days, recog-
nized us at once and came forward
radiant with greeting.
How was business, we asked after
while. There was none to speak of.
The different poilus on leave bought
occasional trinkets. and the shop