FRANCE: Barlow’s Legacies

A bitter French peasant in a Hawaiian grass skirt was driving a span of oxen at Brissac near Tours last week. In the same held another team pulled a heavy plow under the vicious prodding of a gold-laced Spanish matador. Out in the same farm’s kitchen garden a Chinese mandarin was watering the kohlrabi. In the stable reporters found a sullen Frenchman in the bonnet and kilts of a Gordon Highlander forking manure.

Brissac’s sartorial brilliance was all due to the will of the late Rufus Barlow. Born in New Canaan, Conn, many years ago, wiry little Rufus Barlow became a jockey, then a horse trainer, finally a bookmaker. One or another of his positions took him to Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, China and India before he reached France as trainer for the great Gautier racing stables at Bordeaux. His hobby was to collect costumes from each country he visited.

Tired of the track, Rufus Barlow retired 15 years ago, bought a little farm at Brissac. To one thing he could never grow accustomed. Spending all his life in the company of wealthy and generous sports-men, the closefisted money grubbing of French peasants infuriated him. It was his boast that there was no indignity that a French peasant would not accept for $100. Dying, he proceeded to prove it.

In his will, probated last week, he left legacies of 10,000 francs each ($550 Roosevelt) to the 18 employes on his farm. Each employe was also given a costume from the Barlow collection. An ironclad clause in the will provided that none of the legacies should be paid unless the 18 legatees wore their fancy costumes continuously for one year. Chinese mandarin, cossack, matador, Indian rajah and Hawaiian went stolidly about their work last week, counting the days.