MR BENT IN PARIS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8921, 14 September 1907, Page 1

MR BENT IN PARIS.

Mr Bent, Premier of Victoria, ad- ( justed his belltopper with goometriI cal accuracy, says the Sydney Daily | Telegraph. j “I wont to Paris,” ho said, ‘‘a ' utilitarian. I had heard of their briquettes as. fuel. ’ ’ “How long were you there?” i ho was asked. I He tilted his top hat at an angle jof 45 degrees. ‘ ‘ Two days and three nights, ” ho answered. “What is the chief industry of Paris?” solicited the interviewer. Mr Bent put his hat ou the back of his head aud dreamily remarked, “Motor cars. ” He was seated in the louugo of the Hotel Australia. 1 ‘ What I observed about the women of Paree, ” he said, taking off Ins hat, and holding it in ;his hands—it w T as an English make—“was that they had long flat feet.” He put; liis hat ou, tilting it rakishly. “They were that long,” Mr Bent’s illustration was his walking stick. He held it in his left hand by the handle, aud libelled ma belle by putting bis right finger and thumb above the silver baud, circling his support two indies below the crook. “Paree,” lie remarked, dwelling ou the word, “is a city of delight. There are thousands of motor cars there; yes, thousands. But I did not know tlio language. To me Paree was a play without words. I went down and looked in the shop windows where the diamonds were. There were carriages galore drawn up. I also looked at the millinery. There were hats there worth 100 sovereigns. And I went to the comic opera. They would never stand it in Australia. It was wiiat the French call risque. ” He sighed and put liis hat ou at the'severe perpendicular. “Aud there was Napoleon’s tomb,” ho said with an effort. “It is constructed so that everyone who visits it lias to stoop. I stood off. I was not going to how to anything in Paris. ” Then, rousing himself, aud pulling his coat by the lapels tight about his collar, no confided ; “I would like to have stayed two mouths in Paree. ”