Evening star., 1924-05-02
EUROPEAN LETTER
BY WILLIAM IVY

PARIS, April 2o.-"No F'renchman
served" has been general rule in
German shops and restaurants since
| the occupation of the Ruhr. There
was one Berlin restaurateur, in par
ticuiar, whose establishment was a
rendezvous for allied diplomats and
| the well-to-do section of Berlin's
| foreign population, and he was among
the ringleaders in the boycott against
the French.
A few weeks ago, when the French
franc was tumbling, this purveyor Of
caviar. shell fish, terrapin, cocktails
and other table delieacieS, decided
that 1t would be to his advantage to
| take trip to Paris and lay in pro-
vision of French wines and cham
pagnes, since rentemarks were fetch
| ing fancy prices on the Paris exchange
market.
At the same time he determined to
visit those Paris restaurants that are
particularly noted for their ingenuity
in separating their customers from
their bank rolls. A few tips on the
successful management of his own
establishment might be picked up in
He probably thought he was travel
ing incognito, but his fame had pre-
ceded him. And so on the day after
his arrival in Paris, as he was lunch
ing in a place not far from the bou-
leyards, renowned the world over for
the magnificence of its prices. he was
surprised when the head waiter ap-
preached his table and said:
Are you not confrere? Don't
you run restaurant in Berlin"
He was not only surprised, but fiat
the case He not only ran a restau-
rant in Berlin, hut he thought he
could say he ran the best one.
7 thought So" the head waiter
short time ago, and intended to
dine at your place, but I was told,
you had some peculiar rules that
might make it difficult for me to do
so. Well. we have no such rule here,
and do not wish to interrupt your
enjoyment of the food you have before
you, but it might be more agreeable
for both of US If you did not come
here again." .-.---
Needless to say, he did not go
again. But when he returned to Ber-
lin. he proclaimed loudly to all who
would listen:
The French are wonderful people.
l was treated like a prince in Paris.
We have been very stupid, we Ger
mans. We have treated the French
example. and treat them Just as we'll
in Berlin as they treat US in Paris"
And the sign. NO Frenchmen
served" has come down.
*
It certainly is true that Germans
are treated better in France than
certain Germans in Paris against
whom the police have decided to act.
and act severely. Nor is anybody
likely to complain except the individ-
uals affected.
These are the pestiferous guides"
who loiter about the tourist and
steamship Offices and offer their serv-
to show the Louvre. or Napoleon's
tomb, or Montmartre, or the other
and less innocent tourist attractions
or the capital, according 20 the taste
asking for years why they were not
swept of the streets, for every visitor
has the annoying experience of being
followed by these rather doubtful
looking individuals who whisper sug-
gestions of the sights" they will re-
veal for so francs, and furtively offer
to sell obscene postcards.
These guides speak all languages,
it seems, but the police say they are
mainly of German nationality. 1t is
feared that they do France a great
deal of harm by running down the
art treasures of Paris, by emphasiz-
ing that Napoleon stole this statue
from Germany and that one from
Italy" and by placing too much Stress
on the wickeder aspects Of Partisan
night life.
And so henceforth, the police have
decreed, nobody can act as a guide
without special license and badge,
and, furthermore, no licenses win be
issued except TO French citizens. And
the police record of the applicant will
be carefully Investigated, which is a
precious guarantee to the visitor who
wants to be spared the risk of having
his cicerone "pinched' in the midst
Of an evenings entertainment, and
himself taken into custody as a pos
sible accomplice- 1t is a thing that
has happened to some tourists in the
past