The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-07-02
HUnOR E SOMEWHAT #. j.
I CENSORED FOR BENEFIT
Of FRENCH PRESIDENT
Project DEGREES No More. Jibes
at President About ,ilis
* !. II Fall From sleeper
Bv Henry Wood

s. ~
Paris, June %. tBy Maiis5--To
the Paris prefecture Of police belongs
the distinction Of having inaugurated
what is probably the worlds first Of
fetal municipal humor censorship. :. =
& It is imposed to protect "the dig
nifty OF the office of the President of
the! French Atepublic''j and it was de-
sign ed practically :. to 4 restrainasth
mirth of vaudeville actors, end.men
and stage wits in general who were
.s'unseemingly'' capitalizing an incl
dent wiicfs the project fell, was not
suitable subject matter for jest. 2 =
Hereafter all jokes about ,paiama-
ed Presidents, falling out of sleeping
cars, clean feet Gas indicators Of gen
steel blood and high political or social
sstanding1 and the like are positively
barred from Z Partisan stages and
comic reviews. .,g.(...TS IL ~, %
He who trespasses these forbidden
premises of pleasantly does so atsperil
Of visit from an "agent de police, !"
with all its embarrassing possibffitie
Such is the gist OF an official decree
issued by the Paris prefecture OF po-
lice. ~ =
President Deschanel's 'grotesque',,
chute from his Pullman T window
wkhile the train was travelling fifty
miles an hour and his amusing hike
pajama-clad, down the right Of way
to the, dwelling Of a section hand,
called for such a food of vaudeville
jokes and comic songs that the city
authorities felt impelled to stop what
they regarded as disgraceful and dam
aging ridicule Of the Chief Of State.
: To the better class OF Frenchman
the office of President of the Republic
symbolizes all the finest tradition Of
French culture and political life. To
personify these traditions, whether
acting as principal speaker at ban
quet, host to a royal or distinguished
visitor from foreign country, or as
official head of the government, is
probably the most important part Of
the Presidents job.
Z aDeschanel 'best-dressed. man in
France, famous for grace. social tact
and perfect bearing, seemed to meet
this requirement ideally. q ~.
4 Under these circumstances, the
stature of the Presidents accident was
IL itself a severe blow to the pride Of
French elite. 1t wrankled to think
Of the President having become the
stock of the world, If even
for q day, : -, y: - i. e, =. .s.sse41u =.
When, to make matters worse, the
stage folks began gleefully rubbing it
in, supplemening all the ridiculous
there was in the incident with imag-
mary details. anything but compli-
mentary to the President, Frances
Old Line protested. Scenes became
common in Paris heatres, spectators
rising in their seats to complain
against a joke that event too far"
the police applied the gag. p
The. testers knew no limit. They
even questioned the sincerity OF the
chief executives tumble, making In.
which reflected upon Des-I
channels morals.
Songs recounted an imaginary
between the President and |
the section workers wife, which, it
was insisted, really prompted his leap |
from his berth. 't' .-..~nI
Others enlarged upon the ''clean
feet" story 1.-THE good wife told a |
newspaper man the day after the ac-
;ident she suspected Deschanel's gen
teel origin Immediately when she saw |
his feet were cleanD adding explana-
tory details. -'.y+I -. -. -
Some applauded the President for
having introduced the pajama into
he interior of France. ct probably
IS true that many peasants had never
heard of pajama.) The bard re-
ited all experiences in correcting this
ultimately eliminating in
heir discarding the time-honored
robe de mutt" (nightgown). ~ I
~ r. -.