Evening journal., 1900-03-15
TRICKS WITH MONEY
TOURISTS TO EUROPE MUST
HAVE a SHARP EYE.
The American Woman in Paris Writes
That England Is Bad Enough, But
Worse When You Get to Paris-The
Bad Five Francs.

IN England the WOmdu NhOlc
back from Paris, 1t is the half crown
you have to look after and the two
shilling piece. There is SO little dlner-
ence you see, in appearance. at least
though there is the difference OF SIX
pence in value. The half crown is two
shilling and six. There is a cross on
one of them; but when you are III
hurry who is going to stop to look Ior
crOsses2 Nobody. And that's Where
they get you.
"This is their little game. You lay
a half crown down on the counter ana
unless you keep your finger glued 10
1t, saying meantime in a loud voice,
This is half crown they snatch II
before you can blink an eye and de-
clare you have given them two shll-
ling piece. which naturally being two
shillings only, leaves you slNpence
short. The trick is an old one. II Is
played principally on Americans, those
rich Americans who come over here,
scattering their money broadcast ana
leaving the trail so difficult for us
poor creatures who have to look out
for the pennies while the pounds fly.
1T is bad enough in London, but
here in Paris you must keep your eyes
skinned all the time. The yn is
flooded with bad money. Thee are
bad francs and bad half francs; there
are francs dated before the Republic
that are consequently no good and
there are francs dated after the Re
public that are worse If Napoleon the
Third has Il crown on the money is Ali
right; if he hasn't 1t is all wrong.
"rhey nailed me, too; but not at B
O'Clock in the morning. This was how
it happened: You see, | spend all my
spare change and more on that kodak
of mine. 1t is strange the hold a ko-
dak gets on you. Many a time ] have
walked miles to save up sufficient. cab
fare for a set of MAS. I rarely take a
cab. / go on top of those elephant
'busses, where it is cheap or | foot
it for the sake of the kodak / had
pad out so much money for toning
baths that l put in milo complaint
TO the girl who waited on me- at the
Place NendOme.
The machine viii break me. !
said "This is the third time I'm three
weeks that l have bought tOning
baths at one franc fifty the bath. At
this rate l shall shortly become
financial wreck. l wish l had never
seen the thing.
aware Of the fact that a small for
tune had passed from my hands to
hers, she put on look that was
grieved. She thought awhile. then
suggested a remedy. There was ton
ing bath that l could mix myself, she
said. a very reasonable toning bath.
Imagine my delight Now l could af-
ford a candied pear. maybe. or one
of those little cherry pies In the win
dow Of the delicatcssen near the pen
sion that are worth their weight in
gold. She gave me the address Of u
chemist in the Rue de la Pepeniere
That little old chemist | went gaily
along the boulevard buoyed up by
I hope, turned the corner and entered
his shop. light of step and joyful Of
heart. You see, / didn't know He put
the gold up in bottle about the size
Of my thumbnail. the hypo in n small
square paper, and charged me two
francs fifty / knew about that fifty
l expected it. Like the poor, It Is al
ways with you in Paris, just as in
England, everything is one and six,
two and six. five and six or seven and
six They couldn't take off the six IL
they tried If you descend to pence il
is sixpence and three farthings. Those
farthingsl
II handed the little old wretch ten
francs i'm gold. He gave me a large
and festive five-franc piece with q
few other francs. and / went on my
way rejoicing. Later, at the Bon
Alarchc. the five-franc piece was re-
jected with scorn.
Nest pas bon said the man at
the desk with n shrug that brought
his shoulders up somewhere about his
ears. Nest pas bon said another.
taking il and peering at the lady with
q mistrustful eye. A crowd gathered
The atmosphere thrilled with: Nest
/ pas bons' 1 trembled i'm my bottines:
for they cast suspicious glances on
me ] looked around cautiously fearful
of gendarmes. and / had reason for
fear. Ii Is against the law to pass bad
money in France If you get caught,
"The man at the desk gave me back
the money without calling the gen.
darme. for which was thankful.
Hastily offering Kim the contents Of
my purse / retired to a quiet corner
and took a look at the five francs my
self. True. lt was bad. In fact IL was
| Just about as bad as IL could be. The
| lady was sitting down. On the way
home | counted up the cost of the
cheap toning bath that was 10 last
me forever almost. Two francs fifty
and five bad francs made seven francs
I hfty. / groaned But / was TO groan
some more According to directions
had flied two large bottles with wa
ter, put the precious gold into one and
the inexpensive hypo into the other
Both had dissolved so ! couldn't tell
tother from which. Then / had hilLel
them under the bed out OF harms
way: for Madcmoiseiie a young thing
of sixty, who keeps the pension. looAs.
with eyes askance upon the various
and sundry bottles containing my ton
ing baths. my developing faths and
other baths belonging to the outfit Of
that kodac of minc.
Upon my arrival l found that tho
| femme de chambre-that's what they
call the girl who pretends to clean
your room over her-had knocked
over one of the bottles and broken H..
OF course It was the bottle Of gold
on the bottom of il / found floating
| three undissolved grains. Seven francs
fifty for nOthingl And the time have
had trying TO get rid of that ba f,o
franc piece, II you it will 10 me