Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-03-02

olive Logan Says II Is a wild and Pro.
fniscuous Scramble.

fniscuous Scramble.
Mark Twain is not the only American
who has been disgusted with the pushing.
the scrambling, the incivility Of the whole
mob at the great French shops, buyers as
well as sellers. COlnter-iumpers as well as
purchasers The crowds at the Louvre. the
Bon Marche or the Priptemps, on any fine
afternoon, is something that must be seen
10 be believed. The manners that prevail !
exclaims Olive Logan in the Boston Trcn-
scrtP. Customers dispute the ownership
Of various things by pulling them out Of
each others hands; toes trodden on; in
spectOrs eye impertinently young and old
70 discover thieves; then the elbow digs,
and flushed faces, the torn clothingl Fl
nally comes the push Of the people up 10
the pay desk, in a line, like pigs 10 the
slaughter-house. Your purchases have
been taken from you 10 be tied up Mistakes
must be freqent In this department A list
Of the articles is read out by perspiring
clerk and total is given. You lay down
money and it is Immediately snatched up
No receipt is given. You have come, seen
and had your funds conquered from you;
now you may 90 or stay; no one needs you
further. Perhaps you will feel dispoged 10
rest awhile in the luxuriously furnished
sdion de lecture Of the establishment and
read the morning papers. Unfortunately,
IL Is crowded, like every other place on the
premises. The reading-rooms Of the great
French shops are beginning 20 figure III
the works Of contemporaneous French nov
elsts as a convenient place Of Illicit rendez-
vous. A glance around one Of them often
shows couples Of fact, not fiction, whose de-
meanor favors the supposltion that they
have met by appointment and not "by
chance"
Shopping is a great enjoyment 10 some
women, great bore 20 others both classes
prefer the shops to which they are accus-
toned. There are hundreds Of women in
New York who live In hotels and boarding.
houses who spend the whole day and every
day in what they call shopping, that is TO
say, they go into stores and look at goods
for hours just as an amusement They
don't buy what they see; they only see what
they would like 10 buy. The passion has
other varieties. ! know a man who used to
go and look at every house he could hear OF
that was TO let or for sale, trying 10 see how
near he could find house that was like tho
house he would live in il he was rich. He
found good many houses; the only trouble
was 10 find the money for them. SO IL is
with many New York women who go shop
ping. Fortunately for them the clerks in
New York are patient, and will take tho
leisurpy murmured excuse, "Well, I'll
think IL over" as as sufficient offset for get.
ting down and doing up again whole car
go Of dry-goods.
London shOp-keepers expect their custom.
crs 10 know what they want and take it II
they find it; French shopkeepers display
more wares on their counters than they
have got on their shelves, in the hope Of
tempting weak human nature-the weak
feminine nature to buy what is shown,
whether needed or not In a London shop
a customer will always be treated with !
great civlity; In French shop customer |
viii not be treated at all she will simply be !
endured. Something Of this passive disre- |
spcct Of the customer is 10 be encountered !
N those great private shopping institutions
II England the cooperative stores. A set
ln for its unpleasantness In this case, how.
over, is the undOubted cheapness Of the ar.
icles, which arc actually sold at wholesale
'atcs.
BY the way OF concluding what have
written on shopping in London and Paris, |
nay quote the excellent Spanish proverb,
lowhere more appropriate than in this con.
'ectlon "Ihe way to be poor is TO buy what
'ou don't wantn