Pearl among Cheeses

Why should onetime President of France Alexandre Millerand, 69, stand up in a pelting rain storm and deliver an oration about cheese?

The reason seemed simple, rational last week to citizens of Vimoutier, 35 miles south of fashionable Deauville. In their public square stood a splendid new statue, ready for unveiling, a statue of a peasant woman holding a pot of cheese.

With the portentous tread of a cheese gourmet and epicure, M. Millerand advanced to the base of the statue. There he spoke movingly of the woman now commemorated in bronze, Mme. Marie Harel. It was to her glory and to the glory of France, said Alexandre Millerand, that in 1771 good Mme. Marie Harel invented and produced that soft white pearl among cheeses, Camembert. Today, added practical Lawyer Millerand, the sale of French Camembert exceeds 75,000,000 boxes per annum.