Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-04-17
CHARITY AND RED-TAPE.
Fivo Cashiers Required to Pay Brea Bill in Paris.

Five Cashiers Required to Pay q Bread
 Bill in Paris.
 During the winter months III Paris, says the Confectioners' Journal, various charita- ble societies issue bread tickets, called bons de pain, which are on sale at the tobacco nists, and cost ten cents each. Charitable people, who don't care about giving money to the poor, buy these tickets and distribute them to the indigent, and every baker in Paris exchanges one pence's worth of bread for one of these tickets. Business having called me the other day to the Caisse de la Boulangerie, or central bakers cash off1ce Itwas present at the refunding to the bakers of cash in exchange for the tickets they had received from the poor during the last month. This cash office is situated on the Quai d'Anjou, near the far-famed Ho- tel Lambert. The cashiers consist of five master bakers, who volunteer for the serv- ice, and these five were seated at long table. In front of four of these gentlemen were piles of oblong-shaped pleces of black cardboard, which had very much the ap- pearance of states without frames. In front of each pile of states was pile of money-one of copper, one of silver, one of gold. and one of bank notes. The fifth cashier, who sat nearest the door, had neither slates nor money. It was his duty to examine and initial the written bill pre- sented by each baker as he came in. The account he then passed on to his colleague at his side, who had the copper in front of him. ThlS gentleman examined the bill and then took from his heap of copper the amount of pence in the balance of the &C., count, placed them on the side of his states, and passed this to his colleague with the silver. who added the amount of loose francs marked on the bill and then passed it on, on the slate, to the gold cashier, who, having added the gold pieces requisite. handed it to the bank-note cashier, who added bank-notes to make up the amount of the bill and paid over the amount due in notes, gold, silver and copper to the baker, who had followed his bill behind the chairs.
 As a sample of old-world tomfoolery this account of how bills are paid in Paris will certainly interest Americans. Docs it not seem incredible that in a business age, when time is literally money, such custom, sur viving from the darkest middle ages, should be tolerateda It took just five minutes for each bill to pass through the hands of the copper, silver, gold and bank-note cashiers before the baker got his money. This ab- surd mode of payment, I am glad to say, exists nowhere else in Paris and is sur vival of the customs which were in force in the medieval ancient and worshipful con- pany" of master bakers in Paris. In those hoary times massive silver trays were used TOT carrW0S the 'DOOdle" from the COmpa- ny's cash box or treasure chest to the baker who had to receive it. On one tray gold was carried, on another silver, and on an- other copper. Stately nonsense of this sort was all very well in the days before Amer ica was discovered; in the nineteenth cent ury it is Q downright anomaly. The only sensible thing about this Caisse de la Boul- angerie is that on the premises is large oven in which any baker in Paris, at an emergency or in case of accident to his own private oven, can have his bread baked.