West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1880-06-26
French Meat Market. aud Ro.,.uran,..


The restaurants hotels, and pastrycooks.
! shops in Paris are visited by a special set
/ OF inspectors, whose business it is to ascer-
\ tam whether the kitchens are clean and the
/ cooking utensils free from verdigris The
| Grand Hotel and Cafe Anglais are amend
/ able 10 this inspection equally with the
meanest eating houses OF the suburbs: and
/ if the inspectors discover any ground of
| complaint they visit the house day after
| till the owner mends his manners Butchers
iishmongers poulterers and pork butchers
have also a set of inspectors specially APP
| pointed TO watch over them and many ex-
cellent laws exist in France for keeping
the premises of these tradcsmen i'm healthy
condition. Thus the butchers shops must
have nothing wooden in their fixtures ex-
ccpt the chopping block The floor must
be covered with enamel tiles, and i'm place
of shutters there must be iron bars. that
fresh air may pour into the shop at all hours
OF the night. No slaughtering is allowed
on the premises of butchers OF pork.
the giant slauChter-houseS at La Villettc
| beng sufficient TO meet the requirements
| OF all Paris. Here the cattle and pigs ale
brought along the outer boulcyards between
ten O clock at night and nine i'm the morning.
SO that there may be no passing of focks
and herds through the city in broad day
light; and all the delivery of meat must bc
effected before ten A. NJ, i'm carts having
white cloths TO cover the quarters OF beef
and mutton. Bad meat may be so chop-
ped up with pepper, spices and garlic that
all tell-tale flavor will be disguised; but the
meat must be bad for the pork butchers so
undcrsell the butchers, that they would ap-
parently have us believe that halt n pound
OF veal and similar quantity Of ham can
he mixed up with spices and sold AS pic.
for about three pence cheaper than pound
OF plain veal Let us pass lightly over this
delusion. The inspectors can only do their
best, and If they discover ofTal or tainted
meat on pork butchers premises they i'm
mediatey report the man 10 the Tribunal
de Simple Police where he is scolded end
fined; at the same time his shop will be
watched for weeks. till perhaps on some
dark night lad will bc discovered stealing
in with "A sackfu Of dead cats. dogs and |
rats, all ready for consignment to those |
terrible steam mincing machines, which |
make chopped dog look like hashcd beef for
you in a trice.
coming now TO the pastry cooks grocers,
and bakers, the honest folks have TO nut |
up with great deal Of inspection, the gro. |
GERS and bakers in connection with their |
weights the pastry cooks because of the |
poisonous colOnng matter which they |
sometimes put into their sweetmeats Be
fore the 'liberty of baking" had been de
creed, which was only about dozen wears
ago, absurd raids used 10 be made upon
bakers 10 scvif tiiOJ ",'ld paoti >, I,s..,s
ry cooks were heavily fined il they sold
bread. To this day the bakers form a cor
poratiOn governed by rather peculiar laws
which compel them TO sell common bread
in two-pound or four pound loaves accord
ing TO the tariff, which never varies i'm best
or worst wheat seasons. A "Casse dc la
Boulangerie" indemnifes the bakers for
the losses they may sustain in time OF war
or famine; and they repay the fund out Of
the profits they clear in years Of plenty
Thus the gains Of the trade lie wholly i'm
the sale of fancy bread, which IS not tariff |
ed, and IL was because the profits i'm this |
direction were 80 small that the state ended /
by reluctantly conceding the principle that /
no harm would be done If bakers took TO |
baking cakes and tarts i'm their ovens.
French pastry cooks enjoy the privilege Of /
selling liquors, wines and beer without a |
special license, provided they retail it TO |
customers who are eating on their prems- !
cs; but the only ones who seem TO make |
an extensive use of this faculty are the |
proprietors Of two OF three big Parlsian
houses patronized by the English These |
sell great deal of port and sherry. To
conclude with the inspection Of food, an
admirable feature in connection with it is
the perfect incCrruptbility of the agents
employed in this work They are armed
with very wide powers; they are poorly
paid, and consequently exposed TO many
temptations; yet the cases in which they
have bqou known tO abuon tbptr frucf oro
so rare that they must be regarded as inev-
liable exceptions 10 a rule Of entire blame
lessness. In the halls where quantities Of
edbles-and notably fsh-are condemned
every day, the market women loathe the
inspectors, but no one ever ventures 90 ac-
cuse these useful public servants Of tamp-
ering with their duty, either for fear or
favor.