Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1884-08-08
THE PARTISAN POOR.
What Becomes Of the Fragments in
the Greet City.
Among the Buyers and Eaters .
CrowainG Around she Soup
Kettles.A Miracle Of
Multiplication.

| lhoDert LAIRD Collier in Boston Herald
Have you ever heard how thousands of the
very poor of Paris are fed, and how cheaply
they buy their food! l have been told some
thing about it, but did not quite get all the
social machinery of the matter into my head
until went and saw it.
You know well enough that there is no
such thing as wastefulness in all France, the
| French people not only have economy, but
they have more useful virtue even than
that. They have facility. They not only
can save, but they can make the most out of
what they save. Here is the way this
thing is managed. Everything that cannot
possibly he used and reused at the
hotels Is scraped together, and It be-
comes the perquisite of the chief Of certain
other domestiques of the establishment. Bits
of meat Of every sort, bread butter, vege-
tables, pastry and sweets are gathered to-
gether in heap ready for the buyer. Men
and women, young and old-usually Old
come round to these hotels and restaurants
and large houses and buy up all these leav
mgs, which they take away in great baskets
swung upon their backs The less prosperous
dealers, doing business on the capital of a
few francs, take their stuff away wrapped in
old newspapers; and all this food goes to the
markets. Here, in the night, it is assorted !;
meat, vegetables, pastry put into separate
piles and then arranged in due proportions
On plates to be sold. Many families-I am
told thousands of fam.lies-live wholly upon
these leavings, year in and year out.
The woman of the family comes to the
market and buys what she wishes for the day
or can afford to buy--and takes it home
with her, either III basket or in a bit Of
newspaper, as her means may enable her. In
other instances many come TO the market
and do their eating here, buying their plate
Of victuals, and usually getting piece Of
fresh bread from an opposite stall. These
plates Of food are sold anywhere from 2 cents
to IL cents. am told that family consist
ing of five persons can be fed on as little as p
cents day. You would suppose all these
scraps of food-the leavings of the leavings-
would look uninviting. Not So Remember,
a French hand has touched it all, and, us if
10y magic, it is turned intoa slightly and appe
tizing meal.
When was in the market saw old wo-
n,en bringing masses of this food wrapped in
newspapers, which they sold for few SOUS,
and in few minutes it WIS all assorted and
transformed into rather inviting dishes. Then
D.
in all there were 100 in the market where
was, eating their food standing at the counters.
Families Of working people sometimes are
bit ashamed to buy of these dealers, which
nevertheless they do under the prctext of get
ting the food for the dogs. However, this is
all perfectly understood.
BY this time the crowds of the INDECENT
poor were gathered around the soup kettles
4 -, l.
kets, and so l sauntered out and along with
the crowd. My eyes were opened. Here was
a side of Paris life / had never seem |
know the poor in London well--their animal
ism and border-land of starvation. / did not
know there was just the class in Paris |
really saw stones converted into people. 1t
was in this wise. Around one soup kettle
where an old woman sat, saw, should say,
ten half-starved, pinched, chilled men and
boys and girls. These were waiting for
some generously disposed person TO come
along and buy them bowl Of soup AS each |
gentleman or lady approached the soup
woman, these miserable creatures would |
crowd up, but would not persistently beg,
though their eyes would look imploringly |
toward the soup. Well, now for the miracle. |
l saw four miserable looking men, and as
many iiait nikeu boys, ana L handed the old |
woman franc to give them each bowl of |
soup. Instead Of my eight, instantly |
there were eighty around me!
Where on earth they came from l |
10 not know, how they came. and all the rest
Of it, left upon my mind the impression of a
miracle wrought before my very eyes The
stones were converted into people. went to
he other side of the market and selected a
oup-kettle about which saw boy and a
,irl standing and shivering wished to see
f again this marvel of multiplication could
10 wrought | cast about me and saw. other
han the boy or girl, a few passing and re-
,assing. As quietly as | could-almost as
lyly-I handed tine woman a franc, and lc
md behold, there were not less than a score
# like wretched men and women, boys and
,irls, imploring me for soup, and this-in all
Is seriousness WAS in the twinkling of an
ye. This soup smelt savory and looked nice
large bowl had bread broken into it, and
With ladle the bowl was filed from the kct-
lie, in which bone and a sausage and vege-
ables were boiling. Two cents a bowl
That is all Good, tasteful soup ut cents
| howl