Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-10-25
SHOPPING IN PARIS.
Olive Logan says II IL . wild ant
Promiscuous scramble.


Promtscuous scramble.
Mark Twain Is not tho only Ameri-
can who has been disguised with the
pushing. the serambling. tho incvility
of the whole mob at tho great French
shops. buyers as well as sellers.
counter-jumpers as well rs purchasers.
Tho crowds at the Louvre. the Bon
Marohe or the Printemps. on any tino
afternoon, Is something that must DO
seen to be believed. The manners
that prevail! exclaims Olive Logan In
the Boston Transcript. Customers dis
pute the ownership Of various things
by pulling thom out of each others
hands; toes trodden on; inspectors eye
impertinently young and old to dis
cover thieves; then tho elbow digs,
and flushed faces, the torn clothingi
Finally comes tho push of the people
up TO tho pay desk. in line. like pigs
to tho slaughter. house. Your purchases
have boon taken from you to ito mp.
Mistakes must DO frequent in this de-
partment A list of tho articles Is read
out by perspiring clerk aud n total is
given. You lay down money and II is
immediately snatched up. No receipt
Is given, You have como. seen aud
had your funds conquered from you;
now y on may go or stay; no ono needs
you further Perhaps you will feel
disposed to rest awhile, in tho luxurious
ly furnished salon dc lecture of tho
establishment and read tho morning
papers Unfortunately. II Is crowded.
Ike every other place on the promises,
The reading rooms of the great French
shops are beginning to figure IN tho
works OF contemporaneous French
noyelsts rs II convenient place Of
one Of them often shows couples OF
fact, not fiction. whose domoanor
favors tho superstition that they have
met by appointment and not "by
chance,
Shopping Is q great enjoyment to
some women. II great bore TO others;
both classes prefer tho shops to which
they are accustomed. There aro hun.
dreds OF women In New York who
1.-Two in hotels aud boarding houses who
spend tho whole day aud every day in
what thoE call shopping. that Is tosar,
they go into stores and look at goods
for hours just rs an amusem They
don't buy what they see; they only SEQ
what they would like to buy. The pas
sion has other varitios know man
who used to go aud look ut every house
ho could hear Of that was to lot or for
sale. trying to see how near he could
find house that was like tho house he
would 1.-Two In II no was rich, Ho found
good many houses the only trouble
was to find the money for them. So II
is with many Now York women who
go shopping. Fortunately for them
the clerks In New York arc patient.
and will take tho loisurely murmurod
excuse, swell. I'll think II over" as
sullic ont Offset for getting down and
doing up again whole cargo OF dry
goods.
London shop-kcepers expect Their
customers to know what they want
and take IL II they find il; French shop
keepers display more wares on their
counters than thoy have got on their
shelves. In tho hope Of tempting weak
human nature--tho weak feminine ma
turc--to buy what Is shown, whether
needed or not. In II London shop
customer will always DO treated with
great cvility; in II French shop Gus
toner will not be treated Mt all; she
will simply be endured. Something of
thu passive disrespect of tho custom
or IL to DO encountered in those great
private shopping institutions of Eng
land. tho cooperative stores. A set
of for its unpleasantnoss in this case.
however, is tho undoubted choapness
of the articles, which are actually sold
at Wholesale rates.
by the way OF concluding what
have written on shopping in London
and Paris. | may quote the excellent
Spanish proverb. nowhere more appro-
pirate than in this connection: "Tho
way to be poor Is to buy what you
don't want"