Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-12-28
HOW THEY MANAGE THINGS IN
FRANCE.
Exas?erafing Investigations os a
ENar.l.sseat:cd s.,gsis..Raan.

ENari-Rseat:ed Engsis.,man.
Paris Correspondent Of the Manchester Guardian
There are few resident PaTisians ID whose Ioi
il has not fallen during the exhibition to have
Il pilot foreign friend through the maryels OF
Paris. 1t was my fate 10 have to do the cIce-
rome for hard headed EDglishman. endowed
with large dose of the most provoking CON
mon sense. He WAS not inSe1Sible to the arch
ltectrral beauty OF the churches and other nl0a-
umentS he enjoyed the horticultural charms OF
the Champs E1yseeS, the TuillerieS and LuXem-
bOurg gardens, as well as those Of the Bots de
Bouiogne. the Pare M0nceau, and the numerous
public squares; the boIeyardS interested and
amused him. and the PaiaiS Royal was not
without interest for him: he admired the ar
tlStic form OF the bronze street lamps, and was
pleasantly surprised by the dazzling nlumina-
ton OF the Avenue de fOpera and other local.
ties by the electric light; but those were evil
IDENTITY not the things he had come out to see.
learned from him that he had the legitimate
ambition OF becoming town councillor In his
native city. and that he took deep interest In
such vital questions as 'treeS in towns" '.dwel-
lings for the working classes and other NUM-
cipai problems no less important. What he
wanted TO see chiefly was the working of the
inner organs OF Partisan administration. This
desire had no sooner been expressed than an
opportunity offered itself of witnessing how
one branch Of that administration works.
We found ourselves In small crowd assem-
bed in front of a Diapers shop. The draper,
red with anger, was giving piece OF his mind
to an employe of the gas company. ''Your com
paDy," he said, sis a swinde. You go and cut
u.
posted as security 800 francs with the COM
pany nine years ago; at present you owe me
135 francs interest, Of which shall never get a
farthng no more than the 100 900 other trades
men and landlords OF Paris who are in the same
pickle. In that way you have pOCHeted millions
on which you never pay sou OF interest. It's
a swindle. l say again. You are parcel Of
r0gues," &c. The employee. OF course, mildly
remarked that it was no fault OF his. and that
he was in no way responsible; the draper only
grew more indignant. "Wel," said my friend,
IL. Il
another company" ats impossible" said |.
And why?" was the TeiOinder because" |
replied, there is but one company in Paris.
and that company has monopoly" ''Ah so.'
he returned; ''well. I'm not obstinate, and a
COCO reason always satisfies me-"
We continued our walk, and in time came to
an establishment, from the windows Of which q
tri-COlOr flag was flying. My friend noticed
ilydieSsed persons Of both sexes constantly
entering, each with parcel under his or her
arm, q What is this institution" he asked.
This" / said. sis mont de pieic. suppose
YOU are short of money, you take up your bed
and walk in there with it, and you viii receive
in cash half its value" ''Ah, yes he said:
So" replied; ''only in France we call it my
auI is" And what interest has the customer
to pay?" Ten per cent Why" he eX-
claimed, 81 have always heard that the legal
rate Of interest in France was 5 per cent. aud
that uSuTy was severely forbidden" $50 it is
as regards private Individuals | answered.;
but the state may practice uSury under the
preteXt OF benovelence. II the ROthSc hld5
were to start paWnSnOp and charged only 2
Per cent. interest on the money lent, they
would be prosecuted condemned and arrested
1.-The French law is very fOreSeeing," dryly re-
marked my friend; and we walked on.
Instinctively feeling that / was DOW in for
serious examination on French administration.
determined TO get cigar TO help me reflect
| invested penny In one at the first tobacco
shop we came to. "You can, then, get cigar
for penny in Paris said my obServant friend
Even at that low price il Will make a certain
amount in year. Couldn't you get it cheaper
at another sliop?' No said |; sit is tarifed
by government, and government alone cult
Yates and sells cigars and tobacco in France"
'Oh. indeed he remarked. by the by" he
continued. do you believe tobacco is a p0iS0a?'
james J." said |, land the COunterbaSt AsSO-
citation, which has adopted his views, say it is;
but the doctors disagree on the subject" 1T
persisted my eXa5peratingly logical friend. ito
Dacco is poison, why don't You bring an action
against the state for poisoning you? If it is not
poison, why does the state which tratchS il
It prevent Others from tTafficking in it?1 It's
monopoly: 1t increases The revenue" ayes.
Out the monopoly of grocery, of tailoring, OF
baking would enrich the state still more" "You
are pushing me tt o hard" cried l. in despair
THAT'S another matter" remarked my tor
mentor unfceingly.
Just then hearse of the poorest class passed
down the street. 1t was followed exclusively
by working men, all baTeheaded and some with
tears in their eyes. The deceased was one of
their comrades, and they had eyideltly dubbed
their little savings to pay the funeral expenses.
WHICH amounted to more than any one OF them
could have saved in three months. s>HOw IS it,
asked my inquSltiye friend that the funeral
OF this pOOr fellow. who, as You say. leaves a
widow and small children unproyided for, costs
so much?" Its the fixed price" returned;
..yCu can't bargain with tie Compagne deS
POmpeS FunebreSn yet" he objected. ..jf
this company had not a monopoly-for per-
ceive it has one-the competition of other COM
panies would bring the prices down. After all
you know, if the man in the coffin were alive he
might go TO the cemetery in cab for Is pence
whereas, being dead, the same Journey will cost
nus 1IleIds, according TO your estimation, some
thing like fS."
was f1oored, and could say no more. "Let
us go home, said; heres a station where we
can get the bus we want. We determined to
ride outside, as that is one of the best ways of
seeing great deal OF Paris in short time 1t
came on 10 rain, however, before the bus came
up, and we therefore agreed to walk. "Why
on earth, began my prosecutor once more.
"aIe not the tops OF your buses sheltered
against the sun in summer and against the rain
ana and snow In -, winter. $50 they are" re-
to the railway companies" Then" he con-
tinued, "these other omnibuses, which are In
far greater request, are at the discretion OF
company which has monopoly? Now, doyou
know what / should do?" at once snapped
him up with, "You would start a rival COM
pany, with covered tops and sofas to reclne
upon" And wouldn't you ii you were capt.
tallst?" he asked, not in the least disconnected
The authorities would not allow u.s." returned
I conclusively. At parting my friend remarked
''GOCd bye old fellow. You certainly manage
many things differently from us In France; but
Ireally do not think you manage them better, ~
he said, and was gone.
MRS MHIER's SECoND.-The former wife Of
Joaquin Miller, the poet, married Mr.. Logan, of
oregon two years ago. Last week She returned
TO san Francisco with her daughter, and said
that she had parted with Logan for good She
used to be writer OF stories under the name
OF Minnie Myrtle. She says of oregon: "The
climate appears to be conducive to romance aud
sentiment; people are more loving there, and
fall In love more quickly than in any other
country know Of" However, the climate did
not make her get along very well with her Sec
Ond husband Of whom she SAYS: " He is one of
those warm-hearted, enthusiastic Irlshmen
daring, fond of adventure, and Jealous of dtSpO-
Sition, as you know ali IriShmen are. You ought
to hear him sing. He has a voice like an angel
and lovely mOuStache. / think he had the
gift Of mind reading and could decipher nv
thoughts In my face. / could not conceal any
thing from him, ana found it impossible to de-
Ceiye him. l could not imagine two men more
wholly disSilnilar than my first and second nus
bands. one was all fire, and the other all ice -
MilerS daughter Minnie is going On the stare
a PIGEON ROosT-Such a scene as is pre-
sented at tie great wild pigeon roost in the In
dian Territory, some fifty miles southwest of
his CITY, Is very uncommon and has no equal
anywhere In America. The ''rOOSt- includes q
space OF forty acres in the timber. and when
hey return 10 the rOOSt in the evening the trees
aic perfectly black with them. The Indians
Who own the land viii not permit other parties