Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-12-24
a French Alnarfemenf


Lucy Hooper writes In Lippincotts;-A
French GrpdrfesaeTit always reminds me very
much oil child's puzzle; every .piece' in il,
TO speak both literally and hguratively,
being so adapted as TO ut into every other
one. A single entry twists, snake-like,
round among the rooms, giving TO each a
separate and distinct entrance from the
Others. French kitchen Is an amazing
place 10 American eyes. Ii is usually a tiny
room, not much larger than good-siZed
china closet at home. The old fashioned
French yo,uaedtr have the top divided of
into square compartments, each of which
will hold half dozen small Jumps of coal,
meI Is rs she has dishes to prepare. The
saucepaDs. OF which quite variety is
used, are Of copper, and must be thor
ouehly secured To keep them from cor
rodiDg and becoming poisonous. In
old times there used to be an Inspector
OF saucepahs 10 each quarter of the city, APP
IL was To see that nobody ran the risk of
being killed by the neglect of an untidy cook
10 Keep these dangerous utensils Ia order. 1
co rot XII ow whether this important and use
full functionsry still exists or not. These
we'll polished pans always hang In a glitter
ing row against the Kitchen wall, as a sort
OF testimonial to the clean illness of the pre-
siding authority. Housekeeping in Paris,
on any thing except the most gorgeous scale,
is matter of bits ana morkels, not OF pounds
and bushels. The wastage OF an ordinarily
pTofuse American household would keep a
French family In ease and comfort. TIE
system of having two breakfasts is a sad
ideas, brea king in. as the last breakfast does,
upOA the most important part OF the day, To
call on your banker, your lawyer, or any
important man afars t mno traS soG may nave
the hours of twelve and one, and To ind
that he has gone out 20 breakfast, Is "A rather
eXasperating intolerance to the speedy CON
pletiOn of the matter in hand. Many husi-
ness men in Paris make a serious affair of
this second breakfast, devoting no less than
two hours to it-namely, from eleven to one
- Tha
carefully calculated expenditure of a French
household on an economical scale affords no
margin for unexpected guests. The pres
eDce, in fact, of every additional person
makes itself felt at once. Not only has the
extra food and wine TO be provided (tor the
Ola saying, Where there is enough for two
OF French housekeeping, but the extra
washing, where every piece has to be paid for
separately, becomes consideration. There
is no room, either in the purse or the dppar'e-
me7t, for free handed hospitality in accord
ance with American ideas. "Come home
and take pot-lLck with u.s." is an invitation
hardly possibly in the carefully gauged pro
vid1ng OF a French housekeeper, where even
the amount of bread required by each indi-
vldual is calculated beforehand. Hence
come the absence of bother and the posi-
blllly OF economy in Partisan housekeep-
ing, even at the present high rate of pro
visions. 1t is the fashion at nome TO waste;
mere waste is considered the height of folly.
A glance at the bucketfuls of half eaten POI
tatoes, bitten apples, bread crusts, cold bat
ter cakes, &c, which go to fatten Milesian-
Kept pigs in American Cities would make
The hair of Partisan housekeeper stand
straight on end with horror at the useless
extravagaDce. And we are eXtravagant in
our households at home-extravagant 10
space, in plenishing, in providing. For the
sake of the unused rooms and the useless
halls and staircases OF our houses, we burden
our souls with unnecessary servants and I'M
for cares. Till we learn to COPY the
trim compactness of a French dppd1feaeat in
our housebuildtDg, and the wise economy OF
French household in our housekeeping
American matrons will continue to be wor-
ried to death with rampant servant-galism
and American purses must suffer under I'M
called for depletion.