Lisbon, May 30.
I asked a barman I knew in Paris if he could get me a Havana cigar. He just laughed. I insisted. Finally he said: "Well, I'll try, but it will cost you blently if I am able to find one at all."
He whispered instructions to a Chasseur who, disappeared for about 30 minutes. He came back with the cigar, The bill was Fr. 150 (about.S. $3.50). You can still get almost anything in France if you are able to pay the price sto the Black Bourse.
The Black Bourse has become a great business in France. Thousands of people make their livelihood at the illegal business of selling everything from money to soap and clothing at unofficial prices and without requiring tickets. A few big operators, mostly German, have made fortunes, But the vast majority of people engaged in this traffic are little people, waiters out of work, housewives" and former clerks, who just make a living. They risk up to three years imprisonment if caught.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.