River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-11-04
THE PARIAHS OF PARIS.
Their Peculiar Resort i'm the Rue DIES
LyOnnais.
London Globe.

London Globe.
Right in the very heart of Paris, in
the Rue des Lyonnais, the next door to
the Church of st. Medard, the visitor
who has courage enough to see such a
sight may find a lodging-house and res
taurant frequented and patYonized by
the Pariahs of Paris. The somhre build
ing, covered with smoke, and begrimed
without and within, has no flaming
placard Its owner has not vhristened
his house with any high-sounding name
to qualify the word "hotel," and the
lantern which hangs out at the first
floor alone indicates that lodging may
be had within. The windows of the
ground floor are closed, and the panes
have been carefully whitewashed to
save curtains. Now and then man
comes slouching down the street,
pushes with his shoulder against the
greasy door, and enters.
The hesitating wanderer, who casts
his eye up at the lantern and shudders
when he reaches the door as if all
hope were abandoned, has. perhaps,
seen better days. His demeanor con-
trasts strangely with that of the next
conner, who has his hands in his pockets
jingling the few coppers which will en-
able him to eat and drink, as well rs
obtain a bed. All sorts and conditions
of men find their way to the Rue DIES
Lyonnais. The place has areputation
for cheapnesS, and poverty gives men
strange bedfellows and companions, so
that the fastidious must put all their
finer feelings in their pockets when
they find that their ideas are not coun-
ter-balanced by certain sum ofmoney
sufficient to enable them to maintain
their reputation.
Follow the man who has just gone in,
who looks like a student of the Raoui
Rigault school, and who carried a bun
die of manuscript under his arm, as if
he had been taking copious notes at
some lecture, or had been copying
some data from the well-thumbed folios
in the public libraries. The door,
when pushed open, leads TO i passage,
the floor of which is caked with dirt.
In front are the stairs, and Il lantern
hangs on dark days at the turn so as
to prevent the dodgers from breaking
their limbs. On the left of the door
is the restaurant, with its low ceiling,
dirty floor and green tables, while an
indescrihable odor Of damp straw, old
clothes, etc, peryades the place.
Honesty does not appear to he Il
prominent trait III the character of the
customers of this establishment. The
pewter platters, which are used to pro
tect the food served from amy contact
with the tables, are attach, to the
wood with thin but stout chains, for
the proprietor knows that the mercst
trihe has some value in the eyes of a
man whose cravings and stomach
cause him to rise against his leighbor
take what belongs TO him, end find
some customer for the stolen property.
Benches, worn and stained with use,
are the only seats provided, and the
luxury of knives and forks is unknown.
| True, every customer carries his own
knife, and knows how to use il
in pinch, while more than one
has been arrested by the police,
dragged from his lair, his hands and
finger-nails bearing traces Of the blood
shed he has committed. Forks are
quite superfuous where fingers can be
used, and then meat is not sold in the
restaurant Portions of vegetables,
fried in some nam elcss fat, can he had
for penny, while the bomLiOa, or broth,
which has some "eycs" of grease on ii
for the sake of appearance, is sold for
about half that sum.
Contrary TO the custom prevailing III
other establishments of this descrip-
ton, neither wine, coffee nor brandy
is sold here The only beverage the
customers can obtain is what the pro
prietor has been pleased to denominate
''beer, made without hops, by the own
err of the place, in some dark cellar
and sold for two pence a quartz price
which efiectually prevents any grum.
bling. Bread is generally brought into
the house by the customer, who car
buy old crusts and leavings from the
restaurants for three halfpence Il
pound.
So much for the restaurant, which
has peculiarities of its own unlike the
house in the Boulevard de Ia Care,
where the customer enters, takes n
penny from his pocket and places it on
the plank, when it is swept in hy some
unseen individual, and ia return n tin
pannikin, full of fiery spirit, more than
half vitriol, called ''cognac," is handed
out while the receptacle which con-
tains it is chained to the counter, or
like that in the Rue de Anglais. where
men may pay so much an hour and
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