The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-01-09
A FRENCH APPARIEMENT.

Lucy Hooper writes in Lipp;ncots: 4
French appartenent always reminds me yer.
much of q childs puzzle; every apiece" il
it, to speak both literally and fguratively,
being SO adapted as to fit into every other one
A single entry twists, snake-like, round among
the rooms, giving to each separate and dis
tinct entrance from the others. A French
kitchen is an amazing place to American eyes
It is usually tiny room, not much larger
than q good sized china closet at home. The
old fashioned French fournea,tr have the tor
divided Of into square compartments, each o
which will no d half q dozen small Jumps o.
coal, and the cook lights only as many com.
partments as she has dishes to prepare. The
| sauce-pans of which quite q variety is used
are OF copper, and must be thoroughly
secured to keep them from corrodiDg and be-
| coming poisonous.
In old times there used to be An inspector
of saucepans to each quarter of the city, ap-
pointed by the government, whose function
it was to sec that nobody ran the risk of being
killed by the neglect of an untidy cook to
keep these dangerous utensils in order. / do
not know whether this important and useful
funcionary still exists or not. These we'll.
polished pans always hang in glittering row
against the kitchen wall, as sort Of testimo-
NAL to the cleanliness of the presiding au-
AAouoSNSoPAu6 40 "AAos VIA my sAAAA6
except the most gorgeous scale, is matter OF
bits and morsels, not of pounds and bushels.
The wasteage of an ordinary profnse Amer
can household would keep French family
ease and comfort.
The system Of having two breakfass1saiss a
sad innovation according to most American
ideas, breaking in as the last breakfast does,
upon the most important part of the day. To
call Oh your banker, your lawyer, or any bust
ness man with whom you have important
affairs to transact between the hours OF II and
l, and to find that he has gone out to break
fast, is rather exasperating hindrance to the
speedy completion of the matter in hand.
Many business men in Paris make a serious
affair Of this second breakfast, devoting no
less than two hours to lt-namely, from ii to
land never less than one entire hour.
The carefully calculated expenditure of a
French household on an economical scale
affords no margin for unexpected guests.
The presence, in fact, OF every additional per-
son makes itself felt at once. Not only the
additional food and wine to be provided (tor
the old saying, "where there is enough for
two, there is enough for three" was never
written Of French house-keeping), but the
extra washing, where every piece has to be
paid for separately, becomes q consideration.
There is no room. either in the purse or the
upIItfHenJ, ZOE IToe-uAuO0u hospitality III 6C-
cordance with American ideas.
"Come home and take pollock with us. is
an invitation hardly possible in the carefully
gagged provisions as calculated beforehand.
Hence come the absence of bother and the
possibility Of economy in Partisan housekeep-
ing, even at the present high rate of provi-
sions. It is the fashion at home to waste;
here waste is considered the height of folly.
A glance a. the buckettuls of half-eaten pota-
toes, bitten apples, bread crust. cold batter
cakes, ETC., 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 useles extravaganza.
And We are extravagant in our households
at home extravagant in 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 IN
necessary servants and uncalled-for cares.
Till We learn to copy the trim compactness of
a French appartement in our housebu,lding.
and the wise economy of French household
in our housekeeping, American matrons will
continue to be worried to death with RAM
pant servantgalism, and American purses
must suffer under uncalled-for depletion.