Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-31
LEGION VANCUARDS
filter into PARIS
First Arrivals Are Free
SpenderS and Bring "Sun-
shine" to Business Men.
BY WILLIAM BIRD.

BY Radio to The Star
PARIS, July 30.-The vanCuards
OF the American Legion army which
is expected to beleaguer Paris in Sep
TENDER are filtcrinG in, bringing to
Partisan merchants ana innkeepers
about the first ray of III shine they
have had this season.
The sunshine Is literal as well as
flgurative. too. Until now the weather
has been AIT as bad as sum
mer weather in Pari. can be. and
there is nothing like bad weather to
put damper on joymakinG.
Since the Grand PriX at Long
champs. which marks the official
opening of the Summer tourist season,
when rain came down in torrents
about two-thirds of the days have
been "..iny and the rest have been
what the weather bureau calls
't' 'ateninS"
Sh;vered in Rain.
Tourists have arrived in droves, to
be sure, but the constant doWnpour
caused a collective crouch which is
estimated to have Curtailed their
spending proclivities by half.
The fashionable restaurants in the
beautiful Bots de Boulogne, as we'll
as the numerous road houses within
G-.sy motoring distance of Paris, have
been utterly deserted most of the
time. Coast resorts like Deauville,
largely dependent on week end trip
pers, have shivered in the chill rain
and waited in vain for customers.
Add to this that thousands have cut
short their stay in Paris, not alone
on account of the weather but be-
cause of the general upset of steam
ship schedules due to the charterins
.>f rInl nv
Legion and it will be seen that Paris
caterers to the tourist trade have rea-
son to complain that the season has
been diSaStrouS-up to now.
Well Stuffed Pockets.
But now, with the advent Of better
weather and the arrival of the Lee
gion's advance guard, thousands are
looking better.
Judging by the behavior of the first
arrivals, the legionnaires are coming
with we'll stuffed pockets and will
maintain the American reputation of
free spending. Cautious calculators
give warning that the members who
arrive early belong to the leisure
classes, and that later on. when the
convention really opens, many of the
delegates will not be so literally pro-
Vided with letters Of credit and travel
erS' checks. But the expectation is
that they will make up for it in num-
hers
Just how many Americans-legion-
naires and their families and friends
are really coming nobody knows. and
perhaps nobody will ever know.
The Legion's press bureau has
stuck to the figure of 10000, declaring
that accommodations have been re-
served for that number. Rumors of
extensive cancellations, due in part to |
the flood disasters in America, indicate |
that the number may be smaller, but |
on the other hand there are we'll con-
flrmed reports that many individuals |
have made their own arrangements |
without clearing through the Legion |
headquarters, and therefore are not |
counted in the official statistics |
There are also thousands of legion |
mares now travelling in all parts of !
Europe, many of whom may be ex-
pected TO turn up in Paris around |
convention time.
Phone Service Facilities.
The French telephone service, usu-
ally morally slow, is speeding up work |
on the installation of Iodine switch |
board in the Legion's Paris headquar. |
ters, possibly the largest private |
switchboard ever set up in France. |
Tho French Government is co-operat- |
ing in other ways, even to the extent |
of offering the Trocadero, the largest |
concert hall in France, as a meeting |
place.
Emphasis is laid on the pilgrim |
age" character of the convention, and |
Legion officials state that more than |
hall the delegates already have signed |
UP for trips to the battlefelds and |
military cemeteries. If these esti- |
mates are confirmed. the battlefelds
are going to see the biggest invasion
since 1914.
But many people think most of the |
delegates will find time to visit |
Montmartre just the same.
(Copyrizht 1927