Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-11-08
THE PARIS GRISETTE.
George Augustus SaIa Wants TO
Know What Has Become
of His Old FaVOrite.
pArIs LeLtor 70 tho london Telegraph. ]

hilS LetteI 10 the LONDON lelegraph,l
What has become of the Partisan
grisette? Paris, we all know, is a city
Of ephemera; but the grisette should
not be considered as an eyanescent
parsonage, for La Fountain, in some
Of the daintiest stanzas that French
poet ever penned, sang her praises
more than two hundred years ago, and
in my own Partisan adolescence [ was
habitually and pleasantly aware of the
grisette The good-tempered, saucy,
hard-working, harmless little body !
How fond she was of flowers; how
she stinted herself in her own scant
rations to feed her much-prized cat !;
how she went without sugar to her own
coffee in order that the due lump
might be thrust through the bars of
the cage of her pet canary. Few sor-
rows had one of her own, that little
grisette, when work was not slack, and
she could get enough to eat. Ellie Sc
contentait de peu. Her coffee and
plenty of milk-oh! she must have
plenty of milk-in the morning, a
hunk of bread, bunch of grapes, a
morsel Of frontage de Bric-the Still
ton of the pOor-for breakfast, and
for dinner the pot au feu-not much
more than so much hot water, favored
with a little fat and some vegetables
and bread-with perhaps an apple OF
a pear She was content with little
A pennyworth of fried potatoes from
that well-remembered stall on the
Pont Neuf-thore are no stalls on the
Pont Neuf now--or three -halfpenny.
worth of ready-boiled spinach, stained
and pressed so smooth that it looked
in the fruitier's window like 81
much green paint, were quite {
feast to her; but on high days anC
holidays she RECALLED herself with som,
tiny kick -shaws of charcuterie
Butchers meat she scarcely eyel
tasted. If she had little money left
after the stricte necessaire had beer
provided for, she RECALLED herself with
roasted chestnuts or with a slice o.
that incomparably greasy and tooth
some GAZETTE which they used to sci
at an open-fronted shop in the Plac,
dc POdeon-a GAZETTE which, withou
fear of contradiction, | contend t,
have been more succulent than tn,
flimsier and high priced articles solt
at the Renomme de la Galette" " ol
the other side of the water. Tn
grisette was as fond of galettes as Lon
don boys are of the peculiar form q
suety pudding with plums in it know
as "Spotted Corey" Not "Spotte
Duff, mind you that is quite anothe
eidOs of the pudding species. Anna
teurs consider it all the more deliciou
for a soupcon of pork gravy, and tn
most Jumping pennyworth of tn
dainty is to be obtained at a shop i
Longacre. The grisette took tin
modicum of wine, largely diluted Wit
water, at her breakfast and her Dime
"a teetotal Frenchman or French
woman would be regarded as next doc
to lunatio; but in those days yer
decent ordinaire, either of Bordeau
or Burgundy, was to be had, costin
ten sous the litre-a quantity slight
exceeding an imperial quart. A
present quart Of the vilest petit BILE
cannot be obtained for less than six
! teen sous, Outside the octroi barrier
quite drinkable wine was to be had fo
Six sous the quart; and the halcyo
time Of cheapness was commemorate,
in song beginning
Pour eviter Ia rage
DE la femme don't je suis lcpOuY
Je trouye dams 10 win a six sous
L'esperance du vouvago.
NeneE, venez, sagos et fous,
Venez, venez, boire avec nous
Le vim six sous"
The song is sung no longer, and tn,
guingettes, where tho wine at six sou
used to be sold, have been pulle,
down, and the octroi barriers hav,
, been enlarged to give Paris NOR,
elbow-room; huge blocks of house
FIVE blocks high have been erected il
place of the humble but joyous littl
tayerns where on Sundays and fet,
days the grisettes and their sweetheart
came to enjoy themselver, and to dane,
to such strains as those discoursed b.
the ding of itinerant fiddlers tn,
Menetrier de Meudon. Pleasant littl,
guingettes. You fancied that the bon
ME, buxom hostess sitting behind tn,
counter was Madame Gregoire, tina
it was the Petit Homme Girls" VIII,
had just ordered another chopine. anC
that it was the "Gros Roger Bon
temps who was playing at tonneau,
in the garden with Lisette:
From the beginning until the end o
the chapter she was a grisette-noth
ing more and nothing less-and | wan
to know what has become of her. III
to the present, in new and regeneratec
Paris, | have only met with her tay
dry, haggered and fitful ghost. in al
extravagant toilet, very high -heeleC
shoes, with brass tips, and visage mucl
beplastered with white and red paint
Can this be Rigolette? Can this b,
Amanda, la brave file" who earned
one franc seventy-iiye a day, and wa.
content with little2 Can this be Lii
settle?
They Were Happy.
They looked sad, and doubtless fol
so, as they stood up against the horse