Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1922-11-15
(By United l'ress.)

Paris,-"kings may come, and kings
may go, but | go on forever" sang
Cleo de Merode the other day when,
after an absence from the public eye
of quarter of a century, the erst-
while famous dancer jumped right
back into the first pages of all the
Paris newspapers by proving that she
had ears.
Time was, in the days when Edward,
Prince of Wales, and Leopold, King
of the Belgians were citizens of Paris
by unanimous vote fthe boulevards,
when it pleased Cleo de Merode 10
twist her hair fiat and low around her
shapely head and launch the Merode
curl. The style still persists, as did
until few days ago, the legend that
the dancer was imbued not so much
with the desire to create new fashion
in couture, but to hide the fact that
jealous rival had slashed her ears, or,
as some of the stories had it, that
discarded lover had bitten them off.
1t was the heyday of the "grandes
vedettes"-of the demimonde-Liane
de Pougy, Emilienne d'Alencon and
half dozen others whose gowns and
horses and whims set the pace for the
entire cosmopolitan crowd who had
their millions and their az )etites for
the new and startling to the city on
the Seine. Kings and kinglets shared
honors in their train, with diamond
kings from the Rand and iron kings
from Pittsburgh.
Cleo de Microbes beauty and her I'M
doubted photographic gifts, which had
brougt her from the music halls to
the Paris Opera stage, combined with
the unhidden interests which the Bel
gian sovereign displayed in her, made
the dancer a veritable queen. 1t
brought upon her also the bitter hate
of less favored aspirants to roya! hon
ors. Hence the tale of the blemlsh
under the fiat curls.
Now comes this beauty of an age
that has vanished to remind the world
that she is still here and that her rep
utation is as much to her IN the second
decade of the twentieth century as
was her fame in the closing years Ut
the nineteenth. All because an Amerl-
can film producer thought fit to bes-
tow the name Cleo on the heroine OF
"Gfe story" screen drama, having to
do with the loves and adventures or
a Partisan dancer-"the Great Pari-
sian Dancer" to be accurate.
''Why. my name is Cleo and l am
The Great Partisan Dancer" e%-
claimed Mile. de Merode, and straight
wav she decided the public must be
warned that the film didn't represent
in the slightest particular the intimate
life of the old time music-hall favorite
Certainlv most certainly, King Leo
pold and King Edward ana h.hg
Whatshishame and Prince tromthe
south were her friends and admirers
hut what of that? She appealed 10
courts to silence the wicked tongues
that whispered tales of scandal about
her friendships. -.
While waiting for the court machin-
erv to get into operation, Cleo de
Nerode allowed her present address 10
be known to the principal newspaper
Offices and selected the most stunning
of her photographs of the days OF tri-
umph.
at is horrible" she walled to her
visitors, chat l, the most modest, the
most classical. the most dressed, Oh
music-hall dancers, should be repre-
sented as an exponent of the lewd."
When one Of the reporters suggest
ed that perhaps after all here was
some basis of truth in the film repre-
sentation, Mile. de Merode got turi-
Gus. -,
"the story about my not having any
ears. that | dressed my hair so as to
cover up the deficiency. Well look
here"
And with quick gesture, she threw
back her hair, and displayed TO the
gaze of the newspapermen the pink
and parties that nature gave her and
NOBODY had destroyed or deformed.
This victory over malehcent gossip
ers was quickly followed by another
J when the presiding judge of the court
J !-ofs.tsefs=eeE granted -her-piea=that=the
offending film be ordered Withdrawn
from the boulevard theatre where 1t
was being shown until final decision
is handed down.