The Arizona sentinel., 1888-09-29
FLEECING AMERICANS.
nome of the Tricks Which Parisians Play
 Helpless Victims.

l ne ldCG Is GndG AH6rlCd0S WHO COul0 to Paris and don't know the ropes do get most mercilessly swindled. Fully 50 per cent. of the large sums spent by Americans in this city brings no return in value of any sort or kind. Many leave Paris indignantly and VOW never to set foot in it again. They set Paris down as a regular fraud" This is a pity, because it is hard lines on a man who comes to a city for change and a holiday to be sent away with his temper spoiled, and all the more so that with little precaution he could easily avoid the harpies who infest Paris, perhaps, more than any other continental city, including Naples.
 Much good money is wasted on guides and couriers. The regulation fee for the services of these is $2 day and a meal. Very few, however, content themselves with such salary. It is to the extras that they look for their profits. Thus it is very usual at meal times for the courier to take his client to an expensive restaurant. His client can't speak French, wants to sample French cookery and bids his guide order. The guide orders every thing that he likes and what is most eX- pensive. If the client has not the same tastes as he, so much the worse for him. When the bill has been paid the courier pockets the document and will call in the evening to get 20 per cent. commission.
 The American I refer to had in this way been taken to all the best restau- rants in Paris, and had spent on him. self and his guide what would suffice to keep a French peasant and his fami ly for year. At one house, which is noted for its good cookery and the moderateness of its prices, he had paid unable to eat. Elsewhere he had spent $40 on a dinner, which he valued at 75 cents.
 To convince him that one can dine well and cheaply in Paris, took him to a restaurant 1 frequent, consulted his tastes, and gave him dinner which cost me for the two of us just $1.40. He said he had not dined so well since he had been in Paris.
 There is absolutely no necessity to take One's guide to lunch or dinner, and if visitors would remember this they would save much money and fare very much better. In every good res taurant in Paris there are walters who can speak English to translate the items on the bill of fare.
 Much annoyance would also be saved to visitors who dine at the restaurants if they would avoid visiting houses where the prices of dishes are not marked on the bills of fare. At such houses the amount of the bill depends on the appearance of squeezeability or otherwise of the customer. The very celebrated houses should be strictly avoided by the American vis- itOr, unless he is accompanied by habitue. Barring the pleasure of a tickled vanity, there is scant profit in paying $50 for dinner barely worth $5
 It should also be remembered that prices of dishes are for quantities sufficient for two persons at all the better restaurants.
 Items not marked on the bill of fare which may be offered by the walters should be left untouched. Two or three prawns on a plate, few olives on another and such kickshaws, will, if touched, bring the bill up 25 per cent. Walters are in the habit of put ting these on the table without being ordered to do so.
 In the matter of change visitors should be very careful. Certain moneys which have no legal currency in France are invariably at certain establish ments offered to foreigners in change for good money. It should be noted that the only moneys current in France besides French coins are those of Italy, Greece, Switzerland and Belgium. Russian and Austrian gold is also currency. Roumanian, Spanish and South American coins should invariably be refused. They can only be disposed of at loss of 20 per cent. The coins of the late Papal States can be passed at nominal value. but should be avoided if possible
 In ordering goods made to measure, such as ladies or gentlemen's clothes, a written contract should be made. otherwise the amount charged will very probably be doubled on the bill. The tradesman, if payment is refused, has the right to prevent him from leaving Paris. Tickets for theaters should never be bought at any of the theatrical agencies in the city. These charge about double the right prices. Visitors can always procure tickets at the booking offices of the theaters in advance.
 These are a few indications of how to avoid being swindled in Paris, and if people would observe them one would hear less complaints from visit ors. Their is no city, perhaps, in the world where so much pleasure can be got for as little money as in Paris, but in no city either is the systematic swindling of foreigners, and especially of Americans, more extensively car ried out.-R. 4. Sherard, in ~. F. World.
 A Lesson in Grammar.