RISE OF THE FRANC.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 10, 9 December 1926, Page 7

RISE OF THE FRANC.

PARIS TRADE BEING RUINED. CAFES DESERTED. FALLING OFF OF TOURISTS. PARIS, Dec. 7. Shopkeepers’ faces are growing sadder. Paris is virtually devoid of foreigners. The continued improvement in the' franc is rendering prices extortionate. While complaining plaintively of lack of custoniers, shopkeepers sell for 75 francs a necktie which could be purchased in London for half the price. The cafes are deserted and the hotels are only half-full. Mofitmartre, which relies almost exclusively on foreigners, is lbudly complaining. Coal-black leaders of coal-black jazz bands see their occupations fast disappearing. The only hope of the proprietor as he gazes over his ample shirt-front at deserted tables is that M. Poincare will come to a sudden end.

Only 80 passengers from London were on the train at the Gare du Nord, whereas hundreds came previously. Hotels which charged exorbitant prices when the franc was down and Paris full of foreigners are besieging tourist agencies to participate in the few orders going. Prices everywhere are over-high for the Parisian; hence business is at its lowest ebb since war days. The Frenchman’s one consolation is that he has the boulevards to himself after loudly complaining that they were chock-full of barbarians.—-A. and N.Z. cable.