Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-15

majority are extremely small. So what Is
gained In one way is lost in another. From
commissions on sales an ordinary clerk, IL
he Is jealous. may make $500; IL he is lazy
the sum Will not pass $780, In each case
his salary would be little more than 81 or
% week. OF course, as he mounts up into
places Of trust all these sums are increas-
ed many times over.
The chef de rayon," or head of a de-
partment. Is a much more important man
Tor woman) than the head of a Considerable
shop would be on the old plan. At the be-
ginning OF each month the director Of the
whole establishment gives to each of these
chefs the credit which they can dispose
OF during the next four weeks. 1t Is deter
mined by recent sales and the correspond
ing sales of the same month in the previous
year. With this credit the chef has to
stock his department. This may require
frequent journeys to Lyons for silks, to
Belgium for laces, to Grenoble for gloves
and 30 on. Sometimes these simple en-
ployes can turn the scale In favor of some
national manufacture. Thus one Of the
chefs at the Louvre has been the means of
establishing velvet factory in France
where goods are purchased which formerly
came from Germany. To these higher
places the lowest clerk can mount by sue
cessive steps. There are many lucrative
pests by the way. And, in general, each
employe has a moral right to count on re-
tanning his place, with his chance or pro-
notion as If he were in civil service. 1t
Is the French habit never to discharge a
clerk who behaves himself.
One Of the chefs de rayon In each of the
great shops Is in a very curious position.
1t Is he Of the glove department.. The es-
adjustment expects to lose on all his sales
Though his commission is none the Less.
and at the end Of each month he is bound
to show a deficit. The mission of the glove
counter is everywhere in Paris chiefly for
advertising. The price of the gloves Is
marked up on an average at only per
cent net above the cost. Now, as the run
ming expenses of these establishments are
from is to II per cent Of the total business.
the glove counter is constantly losing at
the rate of from IL to 13 per cent. Ex-
changes. accidents and bad bargains further
increase the loss. This may explain the
dozens OF gloves ordered by every American
lady passing through Paris. and why so
many gloves are sent home to America
sealed up In letters lone glove in each let
teri.
The Temptation to Steal.
In the advertising way there are other
things than gloves. The Louvre gives away
each year $4,000 worth of toy balloons,
lettered with the name. to children whose
parents have brought them to the shop on
their starch for ''veritable OCCASIONS. e.,
real bargains. Another item of expense
consists in the undetected thefts. These
amount in both the Bon Marche and the
Louvre to $4,000 a year. At the Bon
Marche last year &C., persons were arrested
for kleptomania. and 461 at the Louvre.
d
newly-marrfed pair of Italians on their
honeymoon in Paris. Both bride and groom
had succumbed to the strange temptation
which very honest people admit to feel at
the sight Of so much seemingly owneriess
property strewn about in such prodigal
variety
The hypnotizing influence Of the per-
fumed air, the lights. the hurry, the excite
ment, the heat has brought many a per-
fectly upright person. who would Scorn to
steal a penny's worth in a small shop or
from an individual. to a disgraceful folly of
the moment, to be atoned for afterward by
much distress. Last year a young English
governness cut her throat Immediately on
being set free from arrest for taking two
silk handkerchiefs. This spring an honor
able French lady. wrongfully accused, never
recovered from the Mysteries into which she
fell on being examined by the rude, in
delicate French spies employed by all these
big shops. 1t was at the Bon Marche. The
press took up the matter, and the great
house suffered many thousand dollars
worth of loss thereby. For Americans and
other foreigners 1t Is never safe to touch an
article except 1t is handed you by a clerk.
This is the worst feature of the big shops.
STERLING HELLO.