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Mile.. Jane Renouardt, One of the Most Noted Parisian Beauties,
Who Accuses Her Enemies of Plotting to Send the Horrid Bouquet
PARIS, March 2, 1920.
ADElflGHTFULLY amusing, yet des
"perately serious battle between two
of the leading beauties ol Paris has
been diverting the laughter-loving people
f this city for some weeks and the end
Is not yet.
The two chief opponents are Mile. Jane
Renouardt, who is famed not only for her
beauty, hut for her extreme elegance, and
Mile. Clara Tambour, who has lately ac
quired A reputation as the daintiest act
ress on the Parisian stage. Her qualities
are summed up In "the French word
Mmtenonne.rt
Mile. Renouardt, it is said, felt that the
"mlgnonae" Tambour was progressing too
rapidly in the affections of the public and,
perhaps, of a certain Individual, and made
an effort to suppress her.
Then the "mignonne" Tambour made
deep laid plana to secure a cruel revenge,
according to a story that has been laid
before the judicial authorities of Paris.
Mile. Tanrhour plotted, it is said, to have
the most evil smelling bouquet ever
known, handed to the exquisite Renouardt
to such a manner as to make her eternally
ridiculous. Did you ever hear of such a
YtUainous scheme?
r By an exercise of almost superhuman
wtt and resourcefulness ' Mile. Renouardt
caped 'the worst consequences of the
plot, and then she boldly accused her rival
of being In the plot
Now the contest is still on and every
body la wondering from which, side the
next deadly blow will come.
In order, to appreciate the; full flavor of
the bouquet episode, it is necessary first
to know some of the recent history of
these' two beautiful and enterprising
ladies. -
Jane Kenouardt gave proof of her vig
orous character when she walloped the
clever music hall singer, St. Qranier, over
the head with her diamond-encrusted
parasol at the Longchamps racecourse in
front t President Wilson and other nota
bilities. She attacked St. Granler because
he had 'Mads a too intimate and personal
allusion to her private life in a song lie
sang at his theatre, the Potlnlere.
After that episode Renouardt appeared
with great success in that entertaining
play, Le Bonheur de ma femme XThe
Happiness of My Wife). Clara Tam
bour, who had been rapidly rising in poptt-
fill I -
larlty, was invited to
play Renouardt's part
in this production when
the latter was starred
in a new play, "Souris
d'hoteL' The creatures
referred to In this title
are women who sneak
into hotel rooms to
steal valuables or com
mit any wickedness
that is most conven
ient Renouardt almost
shocked the Parisian
audiences by appearing
as a hotel rat in a com
plete suit of gray silk
tights.
While Renouardt was
acting In her new play
Clara Tambour wen to.
.Brussels with the old
one. There she came
in contact with M.
Jacques Wittouck, an
Important capitalist,
who is Interested in
the varioits theatres
' that are controlled by
.M. 'Quinsoti, the well
known theatrical direc
tor of Parts and man
ager of Renouardt M.
Wittouck is one of the
wealthiest men in Bel
gium and is known as
the "sugar king there.
He is also an esteemed
friend of Mile. Jane
Renouardt.
While the dainty Mile.
Tambour was in Brus
sels the wealthy - M.
Wittouck, as & liberal
patron of all forms
mmtjf fit
-1 r rY -i .
Prince Ctiilra, of Rob mania,
an Expert on the Duel, Who
Wa Called Upon to Decide a
Very Delicate Poiat of Honor.
of the drama.
felt it -his duty to pay some attention to
mis promising young actress. He gate
banquets and other entertainments In her
honor; he presented her with magnificent
bouquets," and even more substantial
tokens of his esteem.
When the elegant lane Renouardt neard
of these attentions she . became furious
with rage, according to her associates.
Dainty slippers kicked against exquisite
pieces of furniture. The usually so per
feet costume, the "coiffure" so exquisitely
"soignee"-became sadly disarranged.
To we an . old-fashioned expression, It
v la said that the atmosphere of - the ex-
quisite artist's boudoir became tinged with
iblue fire and sulphur. Then she sat down
to plan revenge with her accustomed energy.
. Very soon the dainty, Clara Tambour xe-
MZe. Renouardty the
!
Famous French
Beauty Accuses Mile,
Tambour, Her Rival
Beauty, of Inspiring
an Attack Too
. Unpleasant for
Words to . Describe
Mile. Clara Tambour, the Other Attractive Parisienne Involved in
This Peculiarly Parisian Plot.
turned to Paris and was en
gaged to sing In a new and
entertaining operetta entitled
"Phi-Phi." She made a tre
mendous hit in this and drew
crowded houses for three
nights. .
Then the blow fell. Jane
Renouardt,lt is said, by exer
cising her influence and her
temper on the manager, M.
Quinson, and his partner, M.
Wittouck, induced them to
throw Miie. Tamoour igno-
miniously out of the cast and
put another star In her place.
Some defect in the contract,
it is believed, enabled them
to do it legally. It was not
perhaps that they admired
the talent of Mile. Tambour
any less, but that they feared
the tongue, the . temper and
the parasol of Mile. Ren
ouardt the more.
There sat little MUe. Tam
bour suddenly thrown out of
the cast in which she had
won such success. Oh, yes!
She knew well who dealt her that blow!
But not for long does a witty little Paris
ienne Bit helpless and' humiliated under
the assaults of her rival.
The awful revenge which Mile. Tambour
planned has been related by Mile. Ren-
oua,?dt in astatement before Judge War
rain, a Parisian "Juge d'instraction" or
magistrate. Naturally MUe. Tambour de
nied such parts of this story as charged
her with anything illegal.
According to Mile. Renouardt's story,
her enemy hired a "cameldt," one of those
disreputable and frequently entertaining
persons who sell all kinds of odds and
ends along the sidewalks of Paris, to do
the dreadful deed.
This camelot was hired to await the ar
rival of Mile. Renouardt at the Theatre
des Capucines, where she was playing, and
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throw a bouquet of flowers at her face. A
rather hasty presentation of a bouquet of
flowers to a popular actress might attract
attention.
But this bouquet was to be loaded with
a frightfully smelling liquid, something
like asafoetida. As it was thrown it would
scatter its evil perfume on the person of
MUe. Renouardt
As she was accustomed to arrive a few
minutes before her appearance on the
stage it would place her in a terrible pre
dicament. She would have to be un
dressed, bathed, scrubbed, disinfected, and
even then perhaps some of the evil odor
would cling to her. She, who had always
been noted for the exquisite daintiness of
her dress and person, would henceforth be
associated in the theatrical world with a bad
smelt It was likely to be the ruin of her.
But somehow Mile. Renouardt got wind
of what was coming to her. A mutual
friend of Mile. Tambour and herself
learned that the camelot had been hired
to do the deed. MUe. Renouardt located
the canielot .and tried to find out abdut
the plot. He would not mafae any damag
ing admissions, but he displayed that wit
and intelligence which are so common
even among Parisians of the lowest class.
.When1 Mile. Renouardt waved several
hundred-franc bills at him he grew more
communicative. An ingenious scheme oc
curred to him by which he could collect
as much from one side as the other and
avoid any unpleasantnesses with the law.
Re proposed to accept the horribly per
fumed bouquet from his first employer,
but he would change it for an innocent
one of similar appearance and this he
threw In the face of Mile. Renouardt.
She agreed to this proposal, but Mile.
Renouardt made some improvements ot
her own. i She persuaded her friend. Mile.
MarceUe i Marion, a girl of very similar
figure, to-wear her costume and wraps
and arrive at the theatre before her, so
that she! would be mistaken for Mile.
Renouardt. ; Then the latter, coming along
in disguise Just behind her, could surrey
' Great Britain Birhtt
"As the charming actre approached the theatre entrance
the hired desperado hurled the bouquet in her face."
the whole scene and, take the
necessary action.
Marcelle Marion acted as di
rected. Jane Renouardt took
up her position in a quiet
'closed automobile standin by
the sidewalk, so that she could
see everything that was going
on. She saw the camelot walk
ing up and down on the side
walk, conspicuously display
ing the evil-smelling bouquet,
while he kept the other con
cealed under his coat. '
She saw a fashionably
dressed man come up and cast
an eye over the camelot to see
that he was attending to his
duty properly. The fashion
able One assured himself by
means of his nose that the
camelot was carrying the bou
quet prepared for his use.
A little farther along, by the
sidewalk on the boulevard,
Renouardt asserts that she saw
Mile.
Clara
Tambour in another automobile.
watching the scene, with her friend. Mon
sieur Degoulet.
"Clara could not miss such a good
premiere as that which sher had prepared
for me," remarked MUe. Renouardt after
ward. Marcelle Marlon stepped from her car
and leisurely crossed the pavement toward
the theatre. The camelot stepped forward
and firmly slapped the innocent bouquet
which had been provided to supplant the
"perfumed" one on the face of the young
actress. At thesame time he said:
"Please accept this bouquet with the
compliments of Madame Quinson."
At that very moment a -policeman,' who
had been warned by Mile. Renouardt ar
rested the camelot "with the goods on
him" that Is, with the ill-smelling bou
quet on him. Mile. Renouardt accompa
nied him to the magistrate's court, where .
she related the astonishing story of plots
and counterplots, most of which have been
mentioned here. The proceedings were
private, according to custom, out most of
the details have leaked out through the
persons concerned.
In the course of his examination the
canielot stated that he had been hired by
an elegant gentleman to pass the mal
odorous bouquet The judge sharply asked
him to name the person, but the peddler
fell back on "professional ethics, "pro
fessional secrecy Just like any doctor or
lawyer asked to answer an embarrassing
question.
t am frequently engaged by gentlemen
of position, by noblemen, to carry notes
for them to artistes; said the scoundrel.
"If I should reveal their names toy repu
tation would be lost I should be 'ruined!
The magistrate seemed to think the ex
cuse was as good as when offered in many
other cases and let the matter pass.
He warned all ; the persons concerned
that they must not allow the keenness of
professional rivalry to Interfere with pub
lie order.
The drama was not yet over. In the
next act M. Degoulet, the latest champion
of Clara Tambour, appointed seconds, who
Informed M. Wittouck that their principal
had been offended by him and- that he de
manded satisfaction on the field of honor.
M. Wittouck appointed his seconds and
the customary discussions ensued.
The seconds who acted in this affair
are said to have been Prince Ohika and
the Duke de Vallombrosa for M. Degoulet,
and Pierre Wolff, the dramatic author, and
Jean Renaud, the artist, for M. Wittouck.
Prince Ghika belongs to a former reign
ing family of Rumania, which is said to
be the oldest princely family in Europe.
The Buke de Vallombrosa is a youmt
French nobleman of ancient family who
is very prominent in artistic circles at the
present time.
After a long and solemn discussion the
teconds decided that there could be no
duel because there had been no offense
between the two iHncipals. If the wo
man friend of one man charged that the
woman friend of another man had plotted
to Inflict a bad smell on her it was not a
proper cause for a duel between the two
men. Courts of honor could not take cog
nizance of mere unpleasantnesses solely
between the women friends of men.
If a duel should take place every time
a man's wife made a cutting remark about
another man's wife, what would be the
consequence? Frenchmen would not have
time enough to fight their duels and this
ancient institution would fall into dis
repute. .
In ordar that everything might bo In
order the seconds went before a magis
trate and filed a "proces verbal" or report
of the matter.
Jane Renouardt's spirited encounter
with St. Oranier last year is still dis
cussed. The singer is noted for the auda
cious mnnnor In which ho inC-ndnAs rit.
tonalities about the leading characters of
the day Into his songs. When be opened
a new cabaret he Invited Renouardt with
other artists to the dress rehearsal. To
her amazement she heard him reciting a
lot of annoying if entertaining details
about her private life. She left in anger.
The next day she happened to meet hinr
at Longchamps, and with character
istic impulsiveness beat him over the head
with her Jeweled 'parasol till it was broken
to pieces. ,
St Granler, somewhat stunned, re
marked when he had recovered, "You're
not acting like a lady."
To this Jane replied, "Do yon think
you're acting like a gentleman! You had
better have done your duty at the front
and not stayed in Paris to Insult its
women."
Then St Granler apologized and every
body cheered.
"And Just look at my
exclaimed the beauteous
walked away.
dear paragon"
Jane as she
it