OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 45, 22 February 1930, Page 17

OUR PARIS LETTER

THE AIRSHIP

JUST 30 YEARS OLD

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

PARIS, 23rd December.

Airships are now among the practical means of navigation, but thirty years ago they were only begining to be talked about: It is, in fact, just that distance of time sinco M. Santos-Du-mont was making his first experiments in Paris with what was known popularly as a balloon cigar. Later it became known as a dirigible balloon. M. Dumout had made several short ascensions in the Bois de Boulogne with his balloon fitted with a motor, his object being to direct it from one point to another. There were many sceptics in those days, but many people rallied to his convictions when on 14th Kovcmbcr, 1899, he not only flow over the Bois de Boulogne, bat over part of Paris, and returned in his " cigar " to a point which had been chosen beforehand. That flight marked the birth of the airship, though it was not until a couple of years later that the great inventor wade the officially: controlled flight to and from the Park of SaintCloud after encircling the Biff elTower. M. Santos-Dumont had many exciting experiences during his' experiments, and old Parisians will remember his balloon being caught,'one morning oa the roof of a block of ; houses. PRIZE TOFIGHT DIVORCE. To the institution of literary prizes in Prance there would seem no end. .Recently there has been introduced a class of prize which has a social rather than a purely literary object in view. To this class the most recent addition'is a. prize offered with the object of arresting the progress of divorce. The founder is Mme.' Bei-i-iat-Saint-Prix, and she has given to the Aeadeinie dcs Sciences Morales et Politiques twenty 3 per cent, shares in the P.L.M. Railway, and a sum of 4UO francs, to found a,' prize to bo awarded every five, years to tho writer of the best book on French divorce laws from the point of the restriction of divorce and the maintenance of the family tradition. Tho prizo will be called the Prix Bcrriat-Saint-Prix. GUEST 14 VERY WELCOME. The story is told of a superstitious woman who, in the course of a dinner, counted the members of tho party and found that they numbered 13. She counted several times to make sure. Thirteen it was on each count. When she retired later tho matter preyed oh her mind to such a degree, it is .said, that sho died in the night. The tragedy was not, however, without a touch of humour. Tho party was actually composed of fourteen persons. The poor woman had forgotten to count herself. This episode was evoked at tho dinner given by the Association FranceGrande Bretagne. It happened that the party, which included diplomats, lawyers, professors, and journalists, was fixed at fourteen, but one of the latter, delayed by business, was not present at the appointed time. His absence'held up the dinner, and one of the party even took up watch duty outside the restaurant, closelyscanning every new arrival. At last our journalist arrived, and on taking his seat at the table he made the same error of count as the woman before mentioned, but was corrected. It was then he learned that he had been so anxiously awaited- as the . fourteenth guest. A MIGHTY WAITER. Trance is the home of original wagers, and Montmartre has been the Bccne'of many of them. One that waa made and successfully accomplished yesterday displays a particularly .fertile imagination. A waiter with a firm faith in his proficiency in his calling and in his physical fitness bet that- he would carry on his tray, supported by, one hand only, one of his fellow employees. The man on the tray was as big as the waiter, and the amused crowd that saw the start of the novel event did hot know which to pity ■ most —tho waiter or the man who balanced himself precariously like a wire-walker on the little round platter. Extraordinary, to relate, they both safely covered the course from the Place Blanche..to the Place Pigalle, and won the wager, besides bringing a good deal of custom to the cafo where they are' employed, in order that /their supporters could, toast the victory. A ZOOLOGICAL PUZZLE. "Take your children to the Zoo,'* might well be established as an-educa-tional motto. Such a view, anyhow, is supported by a singular incident which occurred in the Avenue VictorHugo, near the Eve dcs Belles Feuilles, in which some children distinguished themselves. They noticed a strangelooking form lying in the gutter, and were astonished to see it- uibye^ When it stood almost upright, supporting itself on two fins, one or two of the children and their nurses took flight. But by most of the young people the figure was immediately recognised as being that of a seal, and remembering that the animal is not reputed to bo dangerous, the children not only stood their ground, but tried to approach it. It was, in fact, a yotfng seal, which seemed to be very shy. Meanwhile the frightened ones had informed tho police of the animal's presence, and it was soon discovered that it had escaped from-the window of a neighbouring fishmonger, who had been exhibiting it for publicity purposes. DECLINE OF READING. Are people reading less than they, were? Booksellers in England will tell you that the sale of light literature has greatly fallen off in recent years. And now on tho French side we have the "Chronique de la Soeieto dcs Gens de Lettres" expressing tho opinion that French people, too, are reading less. In support of this view, figures ara quoted from the report of the municipal libraries in Paris, which show that ia 1928 there were 52,600 fewer books borrowed than in 1927. On the other hand it is* mentioned that books are printed in greater numbers than ever before. The writer, however, is not of the opinion that this necessarily means that people read more.. . Numbers of people to-day, ho says, buy books which .they, never read or, if they do read them, never read them through.