Sharp County record., 1890-02-27
PARTISAN BIJOUTIERS.
Sights and Scenes in the Poor Quarters
of the French Capital.

Sights and Scenes in the Poor Quarters
of the French Capital.
Those who know the poorer quarters
of Paris are aware that there are places
where plate of meat can be obtained
for couple of sous (equal to one pcnnyG
and a plate of vegetables for another
sou, and that, lacking this amount OF
capital, it is possible to procure a draft
of bouillon from spout continually
flowing, for just so long as you can man
age to hold your breath, for a single
sou. Those who prefer more solid food,
and are withal Of speculative turn, can,
for the same small coin, run what is
called the 'hazard Of the fork" This
is, single plunge of this useful in
strumont into smoking caldron,
with the privilege of banquetfng upon
whatever you may fish out should you
chance to fish out any thing. If, how
ever, you prefer the bird in the hand,
and require to see your sous worth be-
fore you part with your money, you can
patronize "biioutier" (who is not a
ieweler), and invest it in ''harlequins,' y
which have no relation whatever to
pantomime. The "harlequins" Of which
we speak are simply scraps of every con-
ceivable edible substance, served up by
Partisan cooks, that chance to be left by
dainty feeders on the sides of their
plates. OF all colors and shapes when
mixed together they present certain
resemblance to the parti-colored gar
ments of the citizen of Bergamo,
and hence the name by which they
have come to be known. The dealers
in these delicacies have contracts with
the scullions employed at the different
ministries and embassies and in all the
more wealthy households and the chief
hotels, but more particularly with those
engaged at the great restaurants-men
who spend the best part of their lives in
species of Turkish bath at tempera-
ture of from one hundred and forty to
one hundred and eighty degrees, for n
salary of twenty-five francs IL month, on
condition that all the scraps on the
plates they have to wash up are their
perquisites, said scraps being usually
worth at least ten times tho
amount of their salary. Three
francs a basketful is the average
price they obtain for the scrapings of
the platters that pass through their
hands, and all of which, from truf1led
turkey to trotters, from hare to hari-
cots, is thrown pell-mell into common
receptacle. Every morning the dealer
or his agent dragging behind him a
closed cart, furnished with ventilators,
visits all the establishments with which
there is a contract, and basketful after
basketful is flung into the cart, which,
later in the day, deposits its contents at
pavilion of the Halles Centrales set
apart for the sale of cooked meats.
w. 'l"" sorts his name
s>-,l hOrs d@urres
J. P. Cochran & Some roasts, and
w.; u.S.sz--l.5' with entremets, and
where fishes heads, scraps of outlets,
fricandeaus and fllets, half-picked drum
sticks and portions of ragouts and mayon-
naises are intimately blended with frag-
ments of pastry, salads, macaronieS,
vegetables, cheese and fruits; the whole
being, moreover, impregnated with at
least twenty different sauces. All that
is recognizable in this conglomeration is
carefully put on one side, cleaned,
trimmed and placed on plates. Out of
regard for the stomachs of their GUS
toners, the "bijoutiers" perform this
delicate operation of sorting in
private, and it is only when all is
finished, the discordant pieces duly
assimilated, and the "harlequins," ar
ranged in little piles, with the best
pieces, or Jewels as they are termed,
temptingly displayed in front, that tho
public are invited to inspect and pur-
chase. SO much are these "harlcquins'
in favor among the poorer classes, that
by one o'clock in the day every
dealer in "harlequins" is nearly certain
to be cleared out. That the trade in
these scraps is a good one, is evident
from the fact that there are many re-
tired "biioutiers" in the city of Paris
Galigani's Messenger.