Essence of Good Will

France is aware that its prestige has waned; last week in Paris a Franco-Allied Good Will Committee tried to find France's way back to the world's heart through the world's nose. TIME Correspondent Joe Weston was among 800 U.S. civilians and soldiers who attended a good will lecture on French perfumes. His report:

Tall, nimble Lecturer Marcel Labourdette began:

"American girls do less with perfume than any white woman in the world." A soldier asked : "Do you mean that American women use too little or too much or do not use it judiciously?" Replied Labourdette: "American women collect perfume bottles as Indians collect scalps. They like to have plenty of expensive bottles on their boudoir tables, but they don't know how to use it."

The lecturer said he would make a bet that the same perfume on the skins of three different women would smell differently.

American girls from the audience served as scented guinea pigs. Sure enough, the same essence on three different skins smelled differently to G.I. judges. Labourdette put some on my hand. A G.I. smelled and passed judgment: "On you it stinks." Whereupon, we all had some champagne and the party broke up bubbling with good will.

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