Evening star., 1946-10-04
american Peace Delegation Lives and Works
Between Sessions in Little Known Paris Hotel
Byrnes, Aides Share
Small Meurice Hotel
With Regular Tenants


With Regular Tenants
BY NewboId Noyes. Jr.
stor stoff Correspondent
PARIS (By AirmaiD The Paris
home of Secretary of State Byrnes
is a small, first-rate but not very
well known hotel across the Rue de
Rivoli from the Tuilerie Gardens
the Meurice. He, his delegation and
his two congressional advisers, Sem
ators Connally and Vandenberg, are
regular paying guests there now.
AT one time they occupied the
whole building, but today the Meu-
rice is open to anybody who can get
in, and quite few people have
gotten in who have no connection
with the delegation.
A visitor could wander all over
the hotel without suspecting that
it is not only the headquarters OF
the largest delegation at the Peace
Conference, but also a combina-
tion NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
home and residence for a group of
men who ordinarily would spread
out into living quarters considerably
more spacious.
Meals Served In Rooms.
This economy in accommodation
is made possible by the fact that
the group generally sleeps where it
works and works where 1t sleeps,
and does practically nothing else
except work and sleep. They eat
too, of course. Everybody used to
eat in the dining room downstairs,
but since the hotel was opened to
the public at large Mr.. Byrnes and
the Senators have started taking
their meals in the rooms where they
also work and sleep.
On that kind of system, one does
not need a lot Of space to spread out.
What Mrs. Byrnes, Mrs. Connally
and Mrs. Vandenberg, each Of whom
is here, think about these arrange
ments is not recorded. They appear.
however, to bear up well under the
strain.
The French press goes in for init
mate reporting on highly COM
petitive basis and tried for long
time to make a sort Of journalistic
sideshow out of the lives and habits
of conference delegations, particu-
larly those of the Big Four.
McDermott Handles Press.
For weeks, French reporters
plagued Michael J. McDermott, Mr..
Byrnes' special assistant in charge
of press relations, with requests for
information as to what the Amer
leans eat for breakfast, whether they
sleep in pajamas or nightshirts, and
other matters Of similarly piquant
interest.
These advances were resisted by
white-haired, kindly and hardboiled
Mr.. McDermott, who works about
as hard as anybody connected with
the conference. 1t was not only a
matter of policy and taste-the
truth is that there is little if any
thing about the lives of our diplo-
mats here which would make good
material for a gossip columnist.
Theirs is a pretty drab. routine
existence. By now the French news
men have the idea.
Wives Live More Normally.
Because they have more time on
their hands, Mrs. Byrnes, Mrs Con-
nally and Mrs. Vandenberg are able
to behave a little more like "Ameri-
cans in Paris" than their husbands.
They spend a. good deal of time
these days making the rounds of
the coutouriers, taking in the fall
season fashion shows. They visit
each other constantly in the hotel,
chatting about this and that rather
like housewives over the back fence
back home.
They tried shopping and still drop
into store occasionally but have
found they are apt to attract too
much attention from local pho
tographers. The first time they went
into a store together they had just
started looking at piece of ribbon
when a battery of flash guns went
off. They went back to the hotel.
Mr.. Byrnes has four rooms on
the second floor of the Meurice-
bedroom, sitting room, office and re-
ception room-facing on the Tuil-
leries. There is no clear dividing
line between his working quarters
and his living quarters; visitors are
apt to wander from the Office into
the living room without bothering
to knock.
Byrnes Took No Servants.
Neither the Secretary nor Mrs.
Byrnes brought any personal serv-
ants with them from the United
States. His immediate staff consists
of Miss Cassie Connor, his personal
secretary; two stenographers and ].
Borden Reams.
The taciturn Mr.. Reams occupies
an unusual position. When Mr..
Byrnes first took over as Secretary
of State, he knew nothing about the
internal functioning of the depart
ment. Mr.. Reams, on the other
hand-a foreign service officer who
was also serving as department in
formation officer-knew everything
about it.
Mr.. Byrnes needed somebody to
tell him who to send for when he
wanted something done, what me-
chanical process he had to 60
through to achieve a certain result.
Mr.. Reams got the job and still
has it. His actual position today is
hard to name in English. The
French would call him Mr.. Byrnes'
chef de cabinet.
Senator Connally occupies two
SLEEP AND SIT
COMFORTABLY