, 1876-02-19


the satisfaction my interest afforded him
and Offering to show me his wonderful estab
lishment from garret to cellar, rcmarking al
the same time that must not be afraid ol
u long walk, MS the night watch required
one hour and quarter TO gohis single round
This will give you an idea of the magnitude
of the place, and when we RECALL that only
ten years ago the Bon Marche was wee
little bit OF shop, ufone ground floor, served
b, half dozen clerks with this same Mon.
| sirur Boucicaut at its head, we cannot but
adult that commercial energy and success
can be lonud in the old world as we'll AZ in
the new.
The first and chiet cause of this success
has been the conscientious honesty with
which every thing is done. The employees
/ Qrmair us well as malr) are paid small
salaries, bnt all have an interest in the
business OF the house-.a percentage on his
or her sales. Anything Lought there can
he returned and the money refunded il 1t
has not been worn. Indeed, even II AN cx-
change is ull that is desired, the rule ls u
begin 10y retunding the money and eXrcu-
! ting the order afterwards, NJ BOuccaut
began hy conducting me TO the "B,blio'
| thrque' ro0m--a superb reading room,
where all French and foreign pnpcrs are at
the service Ut any one who wishes to read
them; where photographs at all the pictures
OF the Louvre Luxembourg and exhibitions
are arranged upon stands and easily visited,
und where husbands and friends can pass
their time most asreeably, while wives anti
| sisters do hours Of shopping. "The G'nius
Of Industry" pr,si'I,s over the charming
reading room, admirably painted upon the
ceiling 10y NJ. Maila'd Nrix de r mr),
We next passed into the pic,nre'golcry,
which is likewise u generosity on the part
of this wonderful manager who believes in
encouraging art an talent Whenever lie can.
and here he exposes gratis good works oil
good artists, nune, residence and price he-
ing affixed to each painting, aud the Bon
Marche not retaining even rs much rs COM
mission on what is sold Pen and ink cun.
nnt convey an idea of the magnitude ol
this building; from each floor, from every
turn the coup d'Ia is quite hewllering-but
as silks, cloths, carpets, furniture, gloves,
linen and flncy articles are sold everywhere'
I will simply say here they are good, and
ut fixed prices, and that eight hundred
clerks wait upon the purchasers with unri'
vailed polteness and now let us follow
Mr.. Boucicaut iuto the heart OF the question,
which, to me, is by far the most interest
ing
On our way he tells me that the pe'aonneI
Of his establishment numbers from 400 TO
500, most OF whom are lodged in the house,
and all fed, the male portion at one table,
the female at another, These tables are
served with o'lclolh covers, knife, fork, spoon
and tumber, one.half litre (l litre is more
than a quarD of good red wine per person.
Al the two principal meals (twrlve and six
Il, ,clock) there are two dishes Of meat, veg
ctables and another extra dsh In the NOR,
ming there is coffee or chocolate, and all
through the day cold black coffee with WA
ter and sugar. and what they call "coco,"
y bitter drink made with hops, and much
urd in Paris at this time of year. From
The dining halls we pass to the kitchen. con
timing the most enormous furnace ever
behrld, one which hoird. just then, cop
per kettle of soup, the size Of which made
me feel like a Liiputian in the land of
giants 1t requires $50 kios (more than
700 pounds) Of meat to make this soup
Mutton outlets were cooking on gridiron,
500 at once. Fish and eels were swimming
about in a marble pond Vegetables being
washed in stone tub as big as house C)
and every thing else in proportion, Were
this in a hotel or public institution it
would not have surprised me, but certainly
had no idea that a store could be kept upon
such footing.
The sleeping apartments are for one per
son and contain n bed, an armorc, table,
wnshstan'l and chair, water and gas every
where, and cleanliness worthy of serving II
model to the rest of France. The occupants
of these rooms arc not allowed to go To them
during the daytime without permission,
remarked to VI. Bucicnut that he must
find it difficult to obtain 50 hrgen numhrr
of CLERKS willing to crnlnrm 10 such severe
diripliac; he answered that he had more
demands than he could tind place for, and
in what followed understood how he got
such good men and women about him.
The girls have II drawing rom where
they pNss their evenings and holidays ION
Sundays and tetes the stnro Is clostd).
There is piano, a guitar and differ Mt
games. No cards are allowed. The salon
Of the young men contains one billiard Ia
bic, chess, checkers, ETC., hut no cards.
Betting ia not allowed. Twice a week
there is "copr' for arms and all who wish