Chariton courier. (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.) 1878-current, 1878-10-19
How the French Have Elevated ExtOr-
tiOn to Fine Art.

A family of friends of mine, says
London letter in the San Francisco
Cali, have just been though the mill in
Paris. The gentleman is prominent
official in New York State Government,
and in any well regulated country is
pretty competent to manage his own
business. But Paris ways beat him, he
says. He has been made to pay thou
sands of francs damages for injuries to
the apartments which he occupied
couple of months-injuries which any
unprejudiced observer can see have
been the work of years in the rooms and
long succession of untidy dodgers. He
and his wife and two grown sons-al
very neat people-are charged with
having made grease oceans with their
heads upon the wall papers and paint OF
the different rooms, one of which they
never occupied at all-never sat down
for a moment there, there being more
than enough rooms without it. And
the sums they have had to pay for re-
pairs are so large that for many months
to come their income will be terribly
crippled, as they are not rich people.
Naturally they don't take such rap
tuous enjoyment out of the Exposition,
the salon, the theaters and the other at
fractions of Paris as they might if they'd
had comfort and peaceful state OF
mind there.
The last trick I have heard of to
screw fl lal penny out of departing
strangers IS to send a small boy or
small girl with a sympathetic appear
ance to the train Just as it is starting,
with claim of few francs, as few
sometimes as three or four, say so or 81
cents, saying that little bit of washing
has not been paid for, or you forgot that
the garcon bought few papers for you
| Cor something) and was never paid for
| that. With the full knowledge that you
! have paid an enormous price for every
| thing, and have the landlords receipted
bill for a frightful figure in your pocket,
and that you have stood the squeeze of
% drink-money" to every hound about
the establishment besides, you are of
course indignant, and say you will not
pay one centime more to any living soul.
Then the sympathetic messenger be-
gins TO whine, and SAYS he was sent to
get this by the landlord, and, if you
don't pay it, he will be forced to out of
his poor earnings.
All this makes you the more furious,
for YOU see, and have seen from the first,
that the thing is a deliberate fraud on
the part of the landlord, and that the
messenger is honest enough about it,
and knows nolhing except that he has
been informed, on pain of dismissal, to
bring back that money. The disagree
ment makes a row, of course, and the
first you know some police officer is on
the scene, who gives you the alternative
of leaving the train at once in his Gus
tody, with your whole party and your
baggage, or paying instantly whatever
sum is demanded. 1t is no use for you
to show him your receipted bill for more
money, probably, than he ever saw; the
particular item is not on your bill (why
should it bePJ. You nave got no re-
ceipt for it (why should you haveO, SO
of course you owe it!
Furious as this false and ridiculous
reasoning makes you, you still see thai
the cheapest way is to pay the petty de-
mand, and as that was the only thing
your screw was after, you are allowed
to hustle on the train again, breathles'
! and angry, just as it is off, and all thu
good seats are taken.