The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-07-15

leyaTd de ST. Ucrm9ln, draw our attenuOn 10
man hovering mysterlously round the outside OF
a cafe just closed for the night "He is not
searching so carefully" remarks one OF our
guides, "ior any chance halffrano pieces that
may have Deep accidentally lost; his object is TO
collect all the cigar ends that the smokers have
flung away. The commoner sort he will chop
email, make them into packets, and sell WORK.
ingman as much tobacco for "a sou as he can buy
at q shop for four times the money. The euds
of the good cigars he Will sell to cigarette
manufacturers at something like couple of
lit is lust about this time" continued the
police agent, chat other night-birts, styled
revellleuses' are starting on their rounds.
Their occupation is to wake up heavy, not TO
say drunken slecpers, who have to be up in time
for the opening of the 'halles at three o'clock.
Many OF these women have large connection,
and work gradually from the more distant parts
of Paris right up to the 'halles' themselves.
They only get two sous apiece from their Gus
toners, some OF whom give them no end of
trouble. For 1t IS matter OF duty with the
Teveilleuse never to quit her customers until
they are wide awake.o
We also learned that the Paris police are very
strict in apprehendng Vagrants whom they
catch sleeping ut nlght-time out or doors; the
consequence is that hundreds of poor wretches
without means OF procuring bell Will walk
about Paris all night long, when every one
except the night birds are sound asleep, hardly
daring to stop 10 rest tor a single moment. This
they will do night after night, spite OF the wind
and cold, but rarely IN spite of rain. In wet
weather they give themselves up in shoals, ard
the depot at the prefecture is crowded with
vagrants. Their haOit is to take their rest in the
daytime, at certain "CIemeres," where, after
spending two sous for cup of coffee they are
allowed tor sleep for certain time Or they
sleep on the seats in the outer bou!evards; the
miserable beings whom one 80 frequently sees
at midday stretched at full length on these
benches have rarely had single wink of sleep
the night before.
We had now reached the Rue du Jour at the
back of the Church of St. Eustache. The tramp
halted opposite No. II, tall, narrow, dingy
looking, old-iashioned stone house, with only
couple of windows on each floor in 'front.' and
tuPged at the bell until the door was opened,
when and my friend entered with him; the
two police agents, who thought we should get
on better without them, remained outside. Toe
three of us asked Tor beds, but the proprie or
told me and my friend that we were too clean
for the place. We thereupon paid eight sous
for bed for the tramp, and accompanied him
to his room, dirty, dlapidated-looklng cham
Der, some fifteen or sixteen feet long by nine
broad, where we found Fix beds onthe floor; III
several of which beds as many as three per-
sons were sleeping. Then there were three
more beds up-staiTe; that is to say, up a step
ladder leading 10 q wide shelf at one end of
the room. The proprietor, 1t seems, crowds
each bed with three persons when the ext
gencies of the establishment are extreme; COM
monty, however, tue smaller beds have only
two occupants. About the bedding and the
atmosphere of all the rooms it would be lmpos-
sibe TO speak truly and pleasantly. The
staircase was narrow, but the long and equally
foul-smelllng passages on the landings were so
extremely narrow thai two people meeting in
the middle could not manage 10 pass
each other. The internal arrangements of the
house had been sacrificed to obtain the utmost
possible amount OF space for sleeping purposes.
1t was on the landings of this particular hotel
garni, think that little cabinets had been con-
structed, each just large enough to hold a
bed i'll which one person could manage to turn;
these, with no windows in them save a few
squares OF glass over the doorway, were let out
by the month at from ten to dtteen francs. The
half or third of bed, whichever you chanced
to have allotted you, was at the rate of eight
sous the first night and six sous the nights fol-
lowing. This amount, paid of course, in ad-
vance, entitled you to sleep from O'clock in the
afternoon until 8 the lOo wing morning when you
were turned out. Those who slept" u p-stars' paid
six sous the first night and four sous afterwards.
Everybody sleeps perfectly naked, hts clothes
being rolled up and placed beneath the mattress
at the head OF the bed. In this particular hotel
garni there were one hundred and fifty beds /;
and about three hundred people sleep ia 1t
every night. These details we got from our
tramp; Who when he was in doubt himself,
made no scruple whatever about waking the
person nearest TO him, to obtain from him tue
required information. Strange to say, no or e
complained, but readily answered the Questions
put TO him,
The tramp, whom we carried off with us, next
conducted ussto the Hotel Rambuteau No. 94
in the street of that name, Immediately facing
the Halles Centrales, where we found six or
seven men and boys sitting on the steps, several
of whom had fallen fast asleep. On entering,
we passed along narrO passage and up three
flights of stairs to the bureau Of the hotel Here
we are again informed that we are too clean tor
the establishment. We therefore pay tor bed
for our guide, as we did previously, but this
tine the charge is ten sous. On quitting the
bureau the tramp rejoins us, and descends with
us to the floor beneath, whore he unocks the
heavy door of sleeping apartment, aud invites
us 10 enter.
We find ourselves in q room with q single
window as usual, and containing seven beds, In
which We count ntteen sleepers, men and BOYS
the tramp would have made the sixteenth. All
were sleeping stark naked, in accordance with
the custom which prevails at these es tablish
ments. This hotel makes up something like
ninety beds in dozen or fourteen rooms; the
terms, according TO the propretoG's card, being
ten sous the night or twelve francs the mon n
about f6 per aunum for the privilege of sleep
ing more wTetcbedly than many a brute.
We next went win the same guide TO what is
styled q "Hotel Modele." The entrance was
through large, heavy porte'cOchere, with
boldly carved Cherubim ornamenting the
panels. Here there was no percepuble difference
in the accommodation offered beyond a sink on
each floor, with water laid on Tor washing, and
small square OF looklng.elass let into the
wall. The charge at this establishment
amounted to twelve sous for the first night, and
dropped to eight sous per night afterwards.
Most of the occupants of the beds were
asleep, as it was now past one O'Clock, but our
guide woke them up whenever he found II
necessary 10 procure any information from
them. They were however, the reverse o
communicative. II is not improbable that they
were annoyed at being disturbed: or perhaps
! independence begins when you pay twelve sous
per night for q lodging; any way, to the
! inquiries addressed to the lodgers of the
! Hotel Modele" they responded with, ''Who are
| you? what do you WanR 'dec9rrez' y slang Tor
"be oh"-or "je tie aunqueral une vollee"; and
| with these words one iellO " sDranu ont Of he'd