Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-01-01

Il Counsry where EverytAiag u
utilized and Nothing Wasted.

GtSEN( HI ECONOAYs
A Csuntry Where EverysAiag 10
Utilized and Nothing Wassc1.
Paris Istter ia Bradstreet1a
Inc French people have been called 80 pc lny
people. but the real expresstveness OF rh Il
phrase cannot be understood except b. RS
dt.noe among them. Living In q hotel or ,n
sion de Camille, one learns oOmpe ratively lttI-
OF IT'S meaning; but 10 making home with
french families In going to market and ouying
1t the small, as well as large, shops, q stranger
realizes the very One line drawn between econ
@ 1my ana s. Stinginess SO fine. iaaeed. Is this
HE, that it Is hardly strange that the former
should frequently run into the latter.
Inc nrSt Item or economy that strikes one Is
IN me use OF Wrapping paper. Every good
on her arm or carried by q servant, not so
much as convenience for holding various pur-
/ chsseS, but because they will be handed her
eggs, fish, bread. rolls, etc. are carefally
weighed and placed directly In your basket ana
II, pushed by Sense OF Mise y. you ask for a
scrap OF paper. the usually CHEEKY face OF the
stall Keeper clouds over as she hands you a
scanty piece or Old newspaper, Or perGaance,
OIL OF common GROW wrapping paper. xnic1,
1t Is evident in giving She regards as clear
DEDUCTION Oh her profits.
Then when 1t comes to but g., cheese or lard,
you see IL rolled In q leaf from an Old accouut-
Dock or ledger which has one upwritten side.
Inc vendors ON the street sell their wares in
little bags OF newspapers, which they paste
themselves In spare moments: and. apropoS OF
tbis class, may be mentioned The first lesson
your correspondent received in French econo ny.
Passing stout old woman with red cheeks
ana white cap. who Was wheeling little
wagon OF pears along, l asked her If they were
show y0u.' And with knife she cut one open
and began to eat It. AS the fruit disappeared
down her capaclOus throat asked: "BuS, Ma
Dame. why did you not permit me to TASTE igT"
''because," she replied cooily, III Monsieur did
not like the fruit he would not wish TO pay for
bite OF 1t, and should lose SO much; there
lore, taste for him. and nothing Is lost. Ii is
30 much OF my dinner"
Speaking OF things being sold by weight,
winch Is the rule here from a bandfli OF wood
to basket Of eggs. 1t is amusing 10 note the
exactness of the tradesman. More than once /
have seen fruiter apOil the looks of ine
bunch Of grapes by breaking of three or four
because that tri1e overweighted; and as to
butter, they Will cut 1t with cord almost into
splinters-
The tradesman has, however his match In the
frugal French housekeeper, who considers it a
duty 10 weigh ner purchases on reaching home,
and should she have bought anything like
money or pickles, requiring dish. sac knows
the exact weight OF the same and II the shop
keeper has BOT amply allowed for 1t, woe be TO
him. This household economy extends to the
veriest trifies-eyen to the pairing OF vegetables.
which is SO carefully done tnat Mr.. Pig profits
As TO fuel, 1t Is collected and cut and weighed
and sold like gold. Driving through the beau
dIul wood or the Bots de Boul0gne. the great
pleasure resort OF Paris one notes the workmeu
cutting down dead tree here and there. After
1t falls 1t is measured and cut into logs and
sticks, forming bundles OF different Sues and
even the tw1gS finger In length and as large
round as StrawS are sold by the ClarbJanier- for
i've cents bundle.
There could be no more meaningless adiura-
ton to lighting Frenchmen than TO tell them
Strike for your affairs and your IireS.'' for lust
at present they aeem very much at variance as
to what their affairs are. and fires, an American
would say they don't know the meaning Of
and for this reason the cost Of fuel Is much
more matter OF Indifference TO them than ii
could be otherwise There are numberless FAINT
lies here who. except IN their Kitchen never
nave fire from one years ED to the other In
their houses, and Ii must be remembered that
+ ance Is by no means land OF perpetual SUM-
shine and oalmy oreezes, but that the winters.
while without the sharp severity OF our own,
are chilly. rainy and forlorn
Looking little deeper, however. one can
understand that this lireleSS condition is due,
10 great measure, TO the fact that the French
people have no homes In our sense OF the word.
Coffee AND rolls in bed in the morning does
away with breakfast; at dejeuner or lunch the
town, and to dine out Is the rule After dinner
comes the theater: frequently the husband
going to one and the Wife to another, and there
are no children to demand family reunion.
The Kitchens here are cold and comfortless.
the lorg range OF blue and white tiles having
three or four small iron. 81 ated pits for the
cooking. generous handful Of charcoal will
I'LL one, and In the lighting OF these little fires
| one sees another stroke OF economy. At the
charb0nnier's can be bought for one cent box
Vi pihe SplthteTo tnaI nave Deen dipped IN some
1niiammable liquid and of which there are
enough to light half dozen fires One would
consider this kfndling sufficiently economical
to be within reach OF every one yet l have
Sc en- women In comfortable circumstances, and
with snug little sum laid by, spend fifteen or
twenty minutes tgniting charcoal With bits OF
paper-a most labortOuS process.
The French people work TO save. and not to
spend; the consequence Of which is you Ind
your butler, and your barber. and your milk
man living. perhaps, In two rooms and wearing
the plaineSt Of garments. yet having comfort
able account at the bank or owning fair num-
Der OF shares In railroad stock.
That there Is nothing wasted 10 France is
certain: Every night the streets Of Paris are
swept. but not until they have first yielded
harvest to the army OF cOllect0Ts-whom moth
ing escapes-be 1t leaves from the trees for
compost, stray pins to be stuck On papers and
sold to the poor, cigar stubs to be chopped up
for smoking tobacco, bread crusts to be dried
,, and ground for cooking purposes. hair-comblngs
TO be assorted at the hatr-dreSSerS, while bones
rags, old TIN and iron, paper and cinders ali
yield to hook ana bag. And these wretchei
rickers.u up OF unconsdered trlfles, generally osi
and bent and grizzied manage to derive sucn
profits from their labor that not unfreQuently
the rag-picker's daughter receives dot that