The daily gazette., 1878-08-09
OUR PARIS LETTER.

CRUMBS THAT FALL FROM RICH MEMS
TABLEs-THosE WHO COLLECT THE
CRUMBS AND THOSE WHO EAT THEM
THE HALLEs CENTRALEs AND WHAT
CAN BE SEEN THERE-SO,OOO WELL
DRESSED PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON GAR
BAGE.
From our regular Correspondent.)
PARIS, July 25th, 1876.
Among the cnriosities of Paris life are
the small carts that call at the back gates
of the embassies, palaces, restaurants
hotels, and great houses in general. to
receive the remains of the dinners left.
not by the upper ten thousand only. but
likewise by their servants; and sold every
morning by the cooks to the emissaries
OF arace OF costerm myers whose stalls
at the great markets are furnished bv
these stale victuals, which have made
their debut on the tables of the wealthy.
These carts are closed in, but recopniZ
able by sort of chimney in the ton
which admits of free ventilation. The
secone hani vIands are thrown pel nell
into the carts, aud are paid for by weight.
Imagine the appearance of this not
pourrie called "Arlequins" when It
reaches the stalls of the market. The
first process Is the triage, or sorting. n
work OF no small difficulty when portions
Of lobster besmeared with SOUP, must be
extracted from the remaiu US Of fruit tarts.
in which they are imbedded. The most
presentable morsels are pared, cleaned.
and laid on a dish; this process, takes
place IN some remote corner out of sight,
but the selection is soon completed, and
strange to say, by twelve o'clock, these
scraps, from the places of the rich, are
eagerly bought up by a certain class of
the poor who prefer their savory flavor
to more wholesome, simpler, and cleaner
food. Whatever cannot be suffi ciently
pared and arranged for human food, Is
disposed of for pet house dogs, Italian
grey hounds, ami such like aristocratic
quadrupeds The bones, however found
in these deposits are laid aside and sold
TO the manufacturers of concentrated
meat lozenges; aud by them, after having
been boiled down, are got rid of to the
compounders of animal black, so much
in demand by house painters. But to re-
turn to the Arlequins; this trade of buy
ing the remaiDs OF dinners is by no means
bad one, many of those who pursu, it
retire at the expiration Of few years, on
comfortable little incomes of four or five
hundred year
To witness the preparation offood des-
no less curious aud interesting, it will
be necessary to go to the great markets
or Hall Centrdtes, between the hours of
four and five i'll the morning. This great
market place is opposite the celebrated
church of st. Eustache. The cellars are
well worth seeing, they are the recepta-
Giles of incalculable quantities of fish fowl
meat, game, cheese, butter, etc, and may
easily be visited upon application at the
overseer's lodge.
The next branch of this trade is the
bakers e., uieur. 1t i, also quite remuner-
ative. To collect the crusts thrown away
by school boys, or dropped by these care
less youngsters in their play grounds,
trainped on and oftentimes, edaubedwith
ink or mud, has proved to be a lucrative
occupation. The least filthy of these
soiled and uninvitiug fragments are
bought by second rate bakers, who after
having had them dried in an oven, sell
them for the croute an pot, with which
soup all familiar with French cookery
are well acquainted Furthermore, these
choice bits Of old bread are cut up into
three cornered morsels which, fried in
butter, adorn some of the vegetable
dishes we enjoy at the grand restaurants
But there yet remains mass of mud
stained, dust soiled scraps, VIII ch once
were bread. These, wo ked up in mortar
Aul DulNtIlLotli are SOll stS tllc cHuDStuFS
blanche wi Ia which outlets are dressed.
There still however remains dust which
II has been impossible tv work up, this is
blackened in the oven reduced to an i'm
palpable powder mixed vi h honey, to
which is added a few drops of pepper
ment, and sold as an infallible care for
tooth ache, for which agony it is said to
be quite as efficaclous rs anything re-
commended by the "flcul'y."
Many of the most delicate dishes found
at the innumerable restaurants are cou-
coct, d of things which we would reject
as garbage. The soups especially of which
there are as many varieties as there are
departments in France, are compounded
Of materials which we would never dream
of utilizing. Ildeed, there is no part of
an animal, horse, cat, rat, goat or crow
from which Certain restaurants in Paris
will not serve you asavory dish, assuring
you, of course, that your horse steak is
the best cut of beef. that the cat is hare,
and that the crow is pigeon.
About $1,000 of the Inhabitants of this
gay capital rise in the morning without
knowing where or how they are to get
meal. These poor wretches, who, for the
greater part, have no regular employ
ments, manage to dress decently never
theless, to keep up appearance, and,
between six ami seven o clock, you will
find them seated at some of the cheaper
restaurants enjoying the luxury of a
[ we nt fl va sOlls dinner. q. A s..