Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-11-02
MEALS FOR CLERKS.
EMPLOYEES OF LARGE PARIS STORES
DINE IN THE BUILDING.

A Tremendous Business In Itself When
You Consider the Meals That Are Pre-
pared and Served Everything Is Done
In First Glass Style, but 1t Pays.
The refectories of the vast depart
ment stores or "bazaars" of Paris are
among the most curious sights of the
French capital AS soon as the Bon
Marche and the Louvre-dear to the
hearts Of all American women who
make the grand tour" and prototypes
Of the colossal establishments in New
York and adjacent cities-began to as
sumo great Importance their projectors
were confronted with the question,
"How shall we organize the meal
times of these thousands of men and
women?"
In France "lunch, " as understood in
America, is unknown. Every person,
gentle and simple, makes of the early
morning repast simply ''break- FAST
and no more. A bowl of coffee and
large piece of crisp bread for the work
man anu tuC oluOhiuR
olate in a Sevres cup and the brooches
which melt in the mouth for the mil
lionaire-those are the only distinctions.
For many generations the French have
recognized that it is unhealthy to take
hearty meal at 6, z or in the morn
ing, So they wait until 1 or 10, and
millions wait until O'Clock before tast-
ing the first substantial meal of the day.
Dinner, a second meal of two or three
courses, and i'll no wise resembling the.
light repast which Americans know as.
supper, comes at z, or even 9, ac-
cording to the circumstances of the per-
son. Concierges, or house porters, gem
orally dine at 8, winter and summer,
and sit over their meal an hour or two,
chatting and laughing At that late
hour the whole family is united, and its
little affairs are discussed and settled
With the organization Of the bazaar
came the need Of keeping constant out
look over the hundreds of young men
and women in each Department., and
economizing each moment Of their time
between the opening hours and the let
ting down Of the great iron shutters be-
fore the immense windows at D. N.
precisely. 1t was with view of this
watch over the employees, rather than
because of any philaathropic tenden-
cies, that the owners and managers of
the largest "bazaars'A decided to make
it obligatory for all employees to take
their meals at noon and night upon the
premises.
The bazaar proprietor said, "We
must do this, as we do everything else,
with an eye to the advertisement. - And
so they decided to install their refecto-
ries very handsomely and to feed their
we'll. The idea has paid from
the start
AT the Bon Marche spacious and very
handsome halls on the fourth story of |
the enormous edifice are devoted to the
restaurant for the employees. Twelve
thousand meals are served daily be- |
tween / and o'clock Men and wom- |
Ell eat in separate halls, and are served
with the same politeness and attention
that they would receive in restaurants
or at lunch counters''-if lunch coun-
tiers had ever been inflicted on the
French.
At the Louvre about the same num-
Der of meals are served, and the arrange
ments are wonderfully complete. The
kitchens, with their seductive array of |
copper saucepans, and the pantries, with |
the thousands upon thousands of plates
and cups, all marked with the trade
mark of the house--a majestic lion
cOuchant with his navs banu;no over