The Washington critic., 1886-07-21
CHICdGO FRENCH.
The Struggles OF n Chicago Woman
While Shopping Abroad.

Whtle shopping Abroad.
She halls from Chicago. She al.
ways interlards her conversations with
alleged French phrases, because, as
she declares, II gives her "distin.goo"
air. "Comblcn far est.il la shop dc
Madame Ducrong, le French modest ?"
heard her ask the porter In the hotel
the first time l ever saw her. She was
evidently acting as Interpreter to a
California friend, for when the porter
replied, with bewildered shrug of
the shoulders, "Je ne comprehends
pas, Madame" she translated his re.
ply as Its very far Madame" So
she hailed a cab, and handing the
milliner's card to the driver, she di.
rected him to "aler there" An
English spoken" sign on the Corso
allured Mrs. Doodle into a dry goods
shop. "Parlez zvous English ?" she
said TO the first man she saw, who hap.
pened to be gentleman who, with his
hat in his hand, and his hand behind
his back, was talking to lady. After
several desperate efforts he managed to
make Mrs. b. understand that he was
not a salesman. 80 excusez-m !"
she said. "Je vous took for une gar.
con de le store" To the first man she
espied behind counter she repeated
her inquiry:
"Parlez-vous English ?"
'Yees, madame" said the yardstick
man. 1--WE spoke zee English lei.
What will madame dayzeer 2"
ia ypz. ypIg La sillx utprli ipro ot'
He showed her some. She wanted
them with clocks. He didn't under.
stand. Her French came to her in
good stead.
"Avec horloge," said she.
lie looked at his customer, then at
the stockings, then at space. but he
couldn't extract a suggestion from any
of these objects. He pointed to the
clock. Mrs. Doodle bobbed her head
with a satisfied air. He was more mysti.
fled than ever. He finally resolved that
the lady was crazy, so he shifted her to
fellow. .tradesman who spoke the same
sort of English, but the new man soon
understood what madame wanted.
81 see by HarpCr's Bazar that the
finest black silk stockings with thin
yellow clock are Commo il Faut Are
these Faut's?"
IL do not comprehends, madame"
YES you do; you comprenez al
right. want to know If these art
CONNIE IL Fauts?"
90! Certainment, madame. Tees
are CONNIE IL faut."
well, where's his name or trade.
mark? I don't see it,"
They settled that question somehow
or other. Then Mrs. Doodle came tc
talk of the price, and she had an op
portunity of using her favorite word
"combien."
"Quinze francs Ia paire."
81 think that means 90 francs" she
said, soliloquizingly. Give into TWEEN
ty-five goes five times. Dear me
That's $5. OH They're much tot
high"
Comment, madame I"
They're too high trop haut."
"Ah I Zay are too high. Will mad
anne zee somesing lower 2"
Yes; she wanted to see something
much lower, the lowest they had II
silk. So he took down from shelf
green box, which he introduced will
this observation:
"'Tees are zee lowest we have; bu
zay are for dc gentlemen" thereupoi
exhibiting to her some mems socks.
1t required several minutes to pacify
Mrs. Doodle, who at first considered
herself insulted, and kept frequentl,
remarking:. ."To think l would wea
stockings that come no higher thar
my anklesI"
Mrs. b. tells me that she doesn't car
much for Rome, and that she is goins
to hurry back to Paris, where every
thing Is so gay and norway" "Ol
love Paris. They call 1t Paris tn
bell 1t suppose, because it's alway
ringing with noise. "-[ Rome Letter /
Philadelphia Telegraph.