they turned out to see Jacqueline , say surprised police . 200,000 Parisians go wild over Kennedy . confetti welcome in Rue de Rivoli . Paris gave President and Mrs Kennedy a gay welcome today , and crowds estimated at 200,000 cheered them on their drive from Orly Airport . President de Gaulle sat beside Mr Kennedy in an open car as the American leader - 26 years his junior - stood up to acknowledge the cheers , flag-waving and hand-clapping of the crowds . surprised police said there were more people in the streets than for ex-President Eisenhower or for Mr Kruschev . as soon as the official motorcade entered the city limits a 101-gun salute began to boom out . cannon beside the Seine were still firing as President Kennedy reached the Quai d&apos;Orsay , the French foreign ministry , where he will stay until Saturday morning . Mr and Mrs Kennedy received a particularly hearty welcome from students outside the Sorbonne University - where Mrs Kennedy once studied . confetti was showered down the Rue de Rivoli , where Parisians thronged office windows as well as pavements . at the airport , Mr Kennedy praised his host as a captain in the field in the defence of the west for over 20 years , adding that his leadership and sense of history were needed more than ever today . it was Mrs Kennedy who drew the crowds , said police . the President stood bare-headed in his car to acknowledge the cheers , but Mrs Kennedy , dressed in a pale blue coat and matching blue straw hat , was half-hidden from the crowds as she rode by in her enclosed car , waving and smiling . meeting . this three-day visit is President Kennedy &apos;s first to Europe since he took office . the first meeting between the Presidents lasted 40 minutes . they began their discussions , which will take up nine hours in five meetings over the next three days , two hours after Mr Kennedy flew in . General de Gaulle greeted Mr Kennedy on the steps of the Elysee Palace and republican guards gave full military honours . later President de Gaulle gave a luncheon party in the Palace in honour of Mr and Mrs Kennedy . the 40 guests included M Debre , the French Prime Minister . of his planned three-day discussions with President de Gaulle , Mr Kennedy said : I have neither held nor planned any talks that are more important . he added : I am here to pay tribute to France , not for her past glory but for her present greatness - her leadership in Europe and Africa , in science and industry , the productivity of her workers , the brilliance of her universities , the grandeur of her mission in carrying the torch of liberty to new nations throughout the world . in his reply , President de Gaulle told him : we have never known Americans here other than as friends and allies , and as such we welcome you . cheers all the way for President Swart . thousands of South Africans , citizens of a republic since midnight , today saw 66-year-old Mr Charles Swart drive in procession to the Groote Kerk Church in Pretoria , where he took the oath as their first President . representatives of all sections of the population had places in the church to witness the President &apos;s inauguration ceremony . they included Africans , coloureds ( mixed race ) , Indians and Chinese . leaders of eight African national units were headed by the Paramount Chief of the Zulus , Cyprian Dinizulu . Mr Swart drove to church with a guard of mounted police in front and behind . the crowd , six deep in places , cheered him enthusiastically . many had waited since 6 a.m in the rain , and the square was a sea of umbrellas . 11-gun salute . salutes of 11 guns and the peal of church bells greeted the birth of the republic at midnight , ending ties with the British crown that went back 155 years . in his inauguration speech , Mr Swart said South Africa wanted to decide its own domestic policy without interference from outside . he paid tribute to the Queen , expressing appreciation of her courtesy , friendliness and graciousness , and said he hoped for cordial relations in the future . the Queen sent a cable of good wishes , and Mr Macmillan sent a message to Dr Verwoerd , the Prime Minister . Mr Kruschev in Czechoslovakia . Mr Kruschev arrived today in Czechoslovakia on his way to the weekend meeting with President Kennedy in Vienna , the Soviet news agency Tass reported . Tass did not name the town in Czechoslovakia where the Soviet Prime Minister had arrived . Mr Kruschev left Kiev , in the Ukraine , by rail . conservatives put their man in at hectic meeting . labour outvoted - so a tory gets the chair . by Michael Pickering . our municipal correspondent . conservative Councillor Bob Henderson was elected chairman of Newcastle housing management committee today - but he will hold the position for only one meeting . his election followed a hectic half-hour during the meeting when the labour group , with only three members out of ten present , fought to keep control of the chair . they were out-voted by the conservatives who were at full strength with five members present . following custom , the Lord Mayor , Ald Henry Russell , took the chair at the beginning of the meeting during the election of chairman and vice-chairman for the coming year . the labour group was represented by Coun Mrs C M Lewcock , Coun A P Gurd , and Ald R W Hanlan . five votes to three . Coun Mrs Lewcock proposed Coun Jack Johnston for chairman . he is at present on holiday in Paris , and was vice-chairman last year . the conservatives voted against . Coun Gurd then proposed Coun Mrs Lewcock as chairman for the one meeting . again the conservatives voted against and won . Coun Bob Henderson then proposed Ald John Burton , the former housing management committee chairman , who was voted out of his chairmanship by the labour group at a meeting shortly before last week &apos;s aldermanic elections . conservative Councillor Mrs M E Graham seconded the proposal , but as Ald Burton was not at the meeting and had not given his permission , the nomination was withdrawn . conservative Councillor Mrs I McCambridge then proposed Coun Bob Henderson and the tories voted him into the chair by five votes to three . Coun Henderson will remain chairman only for today &apos;s meeting , as members of the opposition party are not entitled to hold the chair of any corporation committee , and it is expected that at the next meeting of the committee the labour members will arrive in force to put matters right . Councillor accuses labour paper . Coun Mrs Ethel Chalk has protested vigorously against misrepresentation of the facts in the Newcastle labour record - a news sheet published at the time of the municipal elections . in this paper , she says , the socialists say they built the Mary Magdalen home for old people . the home was built by the schools and charities committee with money left to the City . the sentence in the paper reads : we have built old people &apos;s homes such as the Mary Magdalen homes . Mrs Chalk also complains that the paper stated that the welfare committee would complete two new homes for the elderly during 1961 . I challenged this statement at this week &apos;s meeting of the welfare committee , she said and the chairman was forced to admit that neither of the new homes would be open until next year . comic-strip Paris send-off . smiles , handshake as K and K meet . President John Kennedy , young leader of the west , today shook hands with Premier Nikita Kruschev , wily , experienced leader of the communist bloc , in neutral Vienna . Mr Kennedy was smiling , Mr Kruschev beaming , as they met for the first time on the steps of the American Ambassador &apos;s home . as they grasped hands at the top of the nine stone steps leading to the residence door , Mr Kennedy said to his interpreter : ask him if it would be all right to shake hands again for the photographers . Mr Kruschev agreed , and they vigorously shook hands again . then they went inside to the white-walled music room to begin their first talks - over lunch . cheers . as President Kennedy drove from the airport , people stood and cheered in the rain . some carried banners reading . help Berlin . one said : give him hell , Jack . Mr Kruschev drove into the grounds of the residence in a black Zil limousine with his foreign Minister , Mr Gromyko , about 25 minutes after Mr Kennedy and his Secretary of state , Mr Rusk . after lunch , the talks were to continue until 6 p.m round a coffee table in a small room furnished in red and grey in early American style . Mrs Kennedy reached the residence earlier at the head of another convoy of cars , having driven direct from the airport . comic strip . a series of comic-strip mishaps frustrated President Kennedy &apos;s attempts to leave Paris . eventually his aircraft took off - a quarter of an hour behind schedule . first the car carrying Mr Dean Rusk , Secretary of state , broke down on the way to the airport . it was pushed off the road and another one was produced , but the party was ten minutes late reaching the airport . then just as the presidential jet was about to taxi on to the runway another group of the party rushed on to the tarmac and a packet of newspapers was also thrown aboard . at last the plane &apos;s doors were again closed and it taxied off . but then a massive American secret service man ran after it , gesticulating and shouting for it to stop . he was breathlessly followed by Providencia , Mrs Kennedy &apos;s coloured maid , who had apparently got left behind while she searched for a lost suitcase . the maid . no sooner was Providencia on board than yet another late-comer was seen running across the tarmac . it was Tish , Mrs Kennedy &apos;s social secretary , Miss Letitia Baldridge . then , with all passengers apparently aboard , the jet finally got under way for Vienna . there were cries of goodbye Jackie and goodbye Madame as Mrs Kennedy , wearing a light blue woollen overcoat , a white straw hat and gloves , walked towards the aircraft just behind the President . with them were M Debre , the French Prime Minister , M Maurice Couve de Murville , foreign Minister , and the Austrian Ambassador , Herr Adria Rotter . new summit ? Mac and Kennedy weigh up chances . by Joseph Tobin , our political correspondent . Mr MacMillan and President Kennedy today considered the next critical steps towards a full summit conference of the major powers . with summit diplomacy revived in a spectacular fashion by the Vienna meeting with Mr Kruschev , the President considered with the Prime Minister the chances of a meeting of the big four soon . this was the highlight of the review of east-west relations in the meeting between the President and the Prime Minister . the talks lasted for three hours . this was a surprise , for they had only been scheduled to last two hours . but it is understood that the Prime Minister and the President extended their meeting to consider fully Mr Kruschev &apos;s tough attitude on several major questions at the Vienna meeting . the Russians are said to be taking up a tougher attitude on many problems , particularly on Berlin . there was complete agreement between the Premier and the President on the west &apos;s policy concerning Berlin . the two men met alone in the Prime Minister &apos;s study at Admiralty House . arrived early . the President surprised the Prime Minister &apos;s staff by arriving ten minutes early for the talks . in their man-to-man exchanges they also considered the situation in Laos . above all , they considered the future of summitry . they had to answer the question : does the Vienna meeting , with its vague goodwill , but no practical results , justify further steps along the same road . common market . the President also reported on Mr Kruschev &apos;s attitude to nuclear testing and disarmament . all reports are that Mr Kruschev was unyielding on these two issues . it is understood that Mr Macmillan also questioned the President on his earlier talks with President de Gaulle . this meeting may have a crucial bearing on Britain &apos;s possible entry into the common market . at the Palace . this evening the Premier and President will issue a communique on their talks . tonight the Kennedys will go to Buckingham Palace for dinner with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh . 