The Republican., 1889-02-02
SYMPATHETIC WATERS.
where the Art of Serving Has Become &
Dramatic Accomplishment.

| where the Art OF Serving Has Become a
| Dramatic Accomplishment.
have always boon amused by q trick
which the walters practice to absolute
perfection in Paris. The Gaul is a
natural actor, and he rehearses with
much assiduity. The scheme of the
walters OF the French capital is to pre-
tend to have tremendous interest in
the guest. remember one day walk
ing in the Avenue de rOpera with
lady who had been shopping in the
Louvre, and who was bit fatigued.
She did not want to eat luncheon as it
was about five o'clock and it would
spoil her dinner, but she said she felt
as though she could eat a chicken sand
wich. We went into Bignons, which
is perhaps the most pretentious of the
Parlsian restaurants, and found it de-
serted except for the white-aproned at
tendants. AS we entered the head
waiter made profound bow, and five
or six other walters rushed ahead of
US and stood in picturesque semi
circle around corner table. One of
them hauled back chair for the lady;
another got hassock for her feet; a
third shook out napkin; fourth
fumbled with the window blinds, while
the head waiter himself and another
OF his assistants rushed off after the
menu card. l told the man shortly to
bring some chicken sandwiches and he
communicated the order to an assistant
There was great rushing around
while the head waiter talked to us
with some excitement-we had both
been there a good deal and knew him
well-about a winning his brother had
just made at Monte Carlo. He could
not understand what the lady meant
by eating at that hour of the day, as
he knew she dined at $3.50, and he was
in a state of almost painful solicitude
for fear she would spoil her appetite
for dinner. He begged to suggest that
only ore sandwich should be brought
upon the table, and when dish of
them came he hurried the waiter back,
got some lettuce, placed it between the
chicken and the bread, gave it dash
of mustard, brought small glass Of
iced kummel and put the sandwich be-
fore my companion. 1t was at this point
that the walters began to act. AS the
guest reached forward and cut bit off
the sandwich the five or six walters
leaned forward with clasped hands and
faces indicative of the utmost anxiety.
/ watched them amusedly from the
corner of the table, where l was smok-
ing cigarette. There were six of
them, including the head waiter. any
iety, trepidation, fear and excitement
were depicted upon their mobile feat
ures. The pantomime meant that they
were afraid that the guest would not
like the sandwich. She bit piece out
of it delicately, found it her liking,
nodded her head and said, with an
amiable air: Very good" In an in
stant a mighty change swept over the
group. There were grunts of satisfac-
ton, a general lighting up of eyes, an
array of six broad, extensive and in
tense Gallo smiles, a general happy,
Struggling of shoulders, and the walters
hurried all about the room chattering
in whispers and expressing by every
conceivable sort of tomfoolery their in
tense delight over the fact that madame
had found the sandwich to her salts
faction. OF course it was all the rankest
sort of nonsense, because none of them
really cared rap whether she liked it
or not. But it was tremendously fiatter-
ing to madame, and she told me that
although she had lived in Paris for eight
years, she had never succeeded in re-
covering from the charm Of it.
"lt makes one eat like pig" she
said, "for it seems cruel to disappoinb
the VILLAINS after all their mugging and
THE EOOI ERlEND