Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-27
THE PARIS POOR.
How Cheaply Thousands of Them Buy
Their Food

Robert Laird Collier ia the Boston Herald.
Have YOU ever heard how thousands
upon thousands Of the very poor OF Paris
are ted, and how cheaply they buy their
food2 / have been told something about
it, but did not quite get all the social ma
chinery of the matter into my head until
l 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 ecouo-
my, but they have a 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 be used
and reused at the hotels is scraped to-
gether, and it becomes the perquisite of
the chiefs or certain other d0mes-
tiques of the establishment. Bits of meat
of every sort. bread, butter, vegetables,
pastry and sweets are gathered together
in heap ready for the buyer. Men and
women, young and old-usualy old
come round to these hotels and restau-
rants and larger houses and buy up all
these leavings, which they take away in
great baskets swung upon their backs.
The less prosperous dealers, doing BUSH
ness on the capital of a few francs, take
their stuff away wrapped in old news
papers; and all this food goes to the
markets. Here, in the night, it is assorted;
meat, vegetables, bread, pastry put into
separate piles, and then arranged in due
proportions on plates to be sold.
Many families-I am told thousands of
families-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
in a 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 there, buying their plate
OF victuals, and usually getting piece of
fresh bread from an opposite stall. These
plates of food are sold anywhere from two
cents to twelve cents. / am told that
family consisting of five persons can be
fed on as little as twenty-five cents day.
You would suppose that all these scraps
of fOod-the leavings of the leayings-
would look uninviting. Not so. Remem-
Der a French hand has touched it all, and
as if by magic it is turned into slightly
and appetizing meal.
When l was in the market saw old
women bringing masses of this food
wrapped in newspapers, which they sold
for a few sous, and In a few minutes it
was all assorted and transformed into
rather inviting dishes. Then there were
the buyers and the eaters. Perhaps in all
there were 100 in the market where | was,
eating their food standing at the counters.
Families ofsworking people sometimes are
a bit ashamed to buy Of these dealers,
which, nevertheless they do, under the
preteXt of getting the food for their dogs.
However, this is all perfectly well under
stood, and though it is lying, yet it is not
lying.
By this time the crowds of the INDECENT
poor were gathered around the soup ket-
ties ranged along the sidewalks outside
the markets, and so | sauntered out and
along with the crowd. My eyes were
opened. Here was a side of Paris life /
had never seen before. l know the poor
of London well-their animalism and
border-land of starvation. did not know
there was just the same 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-StarYed. pinched,
chilled men, and boys and girls. These
were waiting for some generously disposed
person to come along to buy them a
bowl of soup. As each gentleman or lady
approached the soup woman, the miser-
able creatures would crowd up, but would
not persistently beg, though their eyes
would look imploringly towards the soup.
Well, now for the miracle. | saw four
miserable looking men, and as many half
naked boys. and i handed the old woman
franc to give them each a bowl of soup.
Instead of my eight, instantly there were
eighty around me! Where on earth they
eame from | don't know; how they came,
and all the rest of it, left upon my mind
the impression of miracle wrought be-
fore my very eyes. The stones were
converted into people. L went to
the other side of the market ami
selected a soup-kettle about which l saw a
boy and girl standing and shivering. l
wished to see if again this marvel of null
tiplication would be wrought. l cast about
me and saw, other than the boy and girl,
a few strollers passing and repassing. AS
quietly as IcOuld-almostsl yly-I handed
the woman a franc, and 10 and behold,
there were not less than a score of like
wretched men and women, boys and girls,
imploring me for soup, and this-in all
seriousness-was liz the twinkling of an
eye. This soup smelt savory and looked
nice. A large bowl had bread broken
into it, and with a ladle the bowl was
filed from the kettle, in which a bone and
a sausage and vegetables were boiling.
Two cents a how'll That is all. Good,
tasteful soup at two cents a bowl.