San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-09-14
WHTTELEY'S PLACE.
A VISIT TO THE UNIVERSAL PRO-
WIDER" OF LONDON.

can beat. g.. from the Langham
hotel to the Metropole. Compared
to the trade kingdom over which
single proprietor, William Whiteley,
rules, such mere overgrown dry goods
stores as the Louvre and the Bon Marche
in Paris are but simple affairs. White
ley's Is not store, but a whole congeries
of stores, each as accessible to but as dis
tinct from the other as the dining room is
from the parlor on floor with folding
doors. What in the usual run of dry
goods stores occupies q counter or at
most but room-such as the silk depart
ment, the linen department, the costume
department, etc.-has at Whiteley's q
large and imposing store to itself. The
jewelry store is superb establishment,
the furniture house is magnificent; china,
glass, ironmongery, dressmaking, sewing
machines, coifures, toys, Japanese and
Indian curios, each and all have stores
devoted exclusively to themselves, large
openings giving communication through
the entire series of establishments.
ADDITIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
This would be wonderful enough, but
there are surprises at Whiteley's; O pro-
vision store Of extensive dimensions ad-
joins an excellent restaurant, the restau-
rant leads into the aviary, conservatory
and live stock establishments. There Is
o well supplied wood and coal Office. Pr
amos are upstairs in store of their own;
near them is large hall, decorated with
flags, statuary, tables and chairs In pro-
fusion. Here dinner of several hundred
covers may be given, or ordered for any
place, town or country, with every Access
sorry, from the banquet itself to the
waiter who serves it; all provided by
Whitley. had nearly forgotten to name
a charming picture gallery, where many
| original works of great beauty are dis
played, and where orders are taken for
copies of any masterpiece on the walls of
any of the great galleries of Europe.
Whitley is also banker. You may buy
or sell money ON his premises. You may
take your passage by any steamer for any
port. You may hire servant; bury de-
ceased friend; put your belongings up at
auction; purchase, sell, build or take down
house. In short, there is not q single
transaction In life relating to trade which
Whiteley Is not willing to make for you.
No wonder he calls himself 1.-The univer-
sal provider." Such business as White
ley's must speedily make man bank
rupt or millionaire; and as disaster has
not overtaken him, it is presumed that
Whiteley has a good account at his own
and other banks. His establishment has
suffered frequently from fires, whose
strangely persistent recurrence irresist-
IDLY suggests incendiarism.
In the matter of cheapness find very
little difference between Whiteley's and
other establishments which are not es-
pecially devoted to wealthy customers, as
are Gillow's in the furniture line, and
Lewis & Allenhy in the dry goods. An
honest price prevails, and If an American
visitor sees anything he or she likes at
Whiteley's, l would advise him or her to
purchase it without further ado, as 1t
would be a waste of time to run all over
London to try to find the same article at
a lower price.
AT THE BON MARCHE.
For one American who has heard Of
Whiteley's in London, ninety and nine
have heard of the Bon Marche in Paris.
Persons who know no other single word
in French are aware that bon marche
means cheap" This famous store is in
deed marvellous place. Outside Of
few little knickknacks known as articles
de Paris, the vast establishment is en-
tirely devoted to the sale of dry goods.
No wonder the American woman. with her
national love for shopping. revels in
hours spent in fitting from one counter
to another. Gloves are to the right of
her. flowers to the left of her. silks are in
front of her, lace is beyond. Are these
beautiful things really, or only in ap-
pearance, cheap Why, the truth is they
are sold at the market price. Examine
well anything that Is offered below the
current rates, and yoa will discover a
reason.
will call the attention of American
ladies to a custom which prevails at the
larger shops in Paris by which our coun-
trywomen are misled, though no deceit is
willfully put upon them; it arises simply
from difference. of custom between the
French and American merchant. When a
price is seen upon a remnant in America,
the purchaser knows that the marked
figure is the price of the whole remnant,
while in France the marked figure means
per yard or rather meter according to the
French measurement. Thus, if an Ameri-
can lady sees some attractive pieces of
lace or silk, marked variousl y, from 81 to
so, and decides to take some or many of
| these remnants, it comes, as a very dis
agreeable surprise, to find out that the
articles were at SO much per yard, and
| that the shopkeeper Will now measure the
yards. Often the price is but few sous
reduction per yard on the original figure
asked, and the purchaser \ finds herself
with awkward lengths of goods she was
tempted to buy only in the Mrs. Toodles
spirit. To be sure, at the Bon Marche
the privilege is given of exchanging
articles which a purchaser may be dis
satisfied with-.if no harm has come to
than Evan tS nnIar rtai, oil