The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-05-05

eat! similar complaints are also made.
4in letters published in the English papers
in Paris. ss.gs 455s s%f. N
8 Food is expensive and human labor is
cheap. Most Parisians are forced to be
light eaters. It is an education \ in
economy to see how thin madame can 4 ut
the slices of her roast beef The nicely
with which she dips out an extra half
ladle of soup may be either an art or an
inheritance. Perhaps she is seen at her
hes tor Worst-wh hen, after having dished
out portion, she robs the plate of two
or three morsels and returns them to the
platter. do not think this mode of life
is due to stingfness or avarice. 1t is
forced upon Parisians by their crushing
taxation and small incomes. In the case
of pensions catering to foreigners there
is the additional necessity of making
enough during the season to carry the
mistress through the remainder of the
year. II one is anxious to get into a
French house to learn French he must
accept the pension as it is.
There are quite number of boarding
houses catering to Americans in which
transatlantic visitors can live in COM
parativey comfort for seven and eight
francs day, or $3.50 to $11.2O week.
That is in ordinary times and as a rule
does not include light or heat Few
American visitors to Paris will want to
put UP with less than these pensions af-
ford, but there seems to be a. general
agreement that they shall raise their
rates May /, to 50 and~ 81, 40 a day. In
some of these houses it has been possible
to get rooms, without meals, at two
francs day or $3.50 week. They are
notifying dodgers of an advance to foul
and five francs a day, which means So co
to 81 a week merely for place to sleep.
These are the mo lerate prices in the
quarter Of the city patronized by Amcr-
cans. and it is hardly necessary to add
that it is the best quarter of Paris. An
Americans who looked at an orGi1 a;.y
room in, an apartment the other day was
told the rate would be 50 day with an
advance Of 81 in May. That included no
meals. Another who is paying $500 q
day at a small hotel in the Etoile quarter
has been notified that the rate will be Sc
beginning May I. This isN with meals.
These are merely given as samples OF a
general condition. Visitors seeking rooms
at cheap prices will have to go some
distance from the exposition grounds.
The Latin quarter is one of the most
promising fields for these wanderers
There are many travellers tales about
the cheapness of Paris restaurants, and
the Duval establishments are often cited
as examples. 1t may look promising to
read in the bill of fare "Bifteck. so
1oA dimes. BeeIsreak at twelve cents
certainly does look cheap, but when i
comes on the Investigator finds tina f~h;s
STEAK IS morsel two inches wide
ana three inches long. This is NOT an
exaggeratlon-or should I say dininutjon
POTATOES are extra. A lump of bread and
thin wafer Of butter, extra. ,t+7e
more butter or breau, another extro
charge. At the end of the meal tho dive,
Will find himself unable to make tho
mystic bill tally with his mental memo
randum' but veteran will explain that
there is an extra charge for tablec1otb
ana napkin. Finally there is the tin 70
the waiter, who in this case is "mada mo-,
instead of "garcon." The establish
hlehts IN question are good. modera te
priced restaurants, but there is no magic
IN them. Tor It Is no trick to spend four
or hve francs for a modest meal. i :.
A French housekeeper has furnished me
WIN the prices Of some staple stuffs,
which will VIII; Show diving is not cheap
III arls. The cheapest meat to be had
IS scraps which. cost Ii cents for an
American pound. At the other end Of
the scale are cooked hams at 43 cents
pound, and the best steaks at 40 cents.
Uncooked hams can be had at "a cents
and pork at Is to . cents Sirloin steak
costs 70 cents, mutton p cents, SOUP
meat IL cents and veal Is to 80 cents,
the price of the latter depending on the
number Of bones. b. The usual grades of
coffee, range from Sc to 81 cents, but
some cost even more. The extra charge
for lamp may not appear so unreason-
able in the light of the fact that kerosene
costs "a cents a gallon. Butter costs
from % to y cents a pound, and any
thing selling for less than % cents may
be set down as oleomargarine Sugar is
worth IL cents. and flour ranges from 5
to cents. These high prices are due
in part to the octroi, the tax on food
stuffs brought into the city. It is to the
glory of the French, however, that no
matter how humble or untidy the res
taurant the cooking is good. The dys-
peDtic whose purse is as poor as his
stomach may try a : gypsy diet with
the assurance of escaping the all-prevail-
ing greas1ness of the cheap restaurant Of
America. " - "s @.-.. r =
Let me repeat that no American with
respect for himself and his stomach
should think. Of trying to do Paris during
the Exposition for less than 50 a day.
On that sum he will have to economic
and miss many Interesting sights. On IS
day, with careful management and
self-denial, he can see the essential
things. If he wants to see everything he
can use IS to $40 day without waste.
These figures do not include drinks,
cigars or the night shows that are touted
by a swarm Of boulevard guides, OF
course. there is no LIMIT to the cost &C
luxuries and extravagancies, and the
high pre-: sure which nest Americans will
have to put into their short stay will
also increase the daily outlay. 1 =
And still the transatlantic visitor will
probably ask: What is the best way
to do Paris and the Exposition?' 1t
will be money in pocket to buy a good
guide to Paris in America and study it
on the way over, especially its maps and
the transportation lines. At the posts
on this side one of the English dailies
Of Paris can be had by previous arrange
ment with a steamer steward, and in that
paper will be found the advertisem ents.
CT hotels and pensions catering to
Americans The stranger can then look
around II he wishes to make changc
he can get abtndsnt advice from the at
'taches at Commissioner General Peck's
office, and any ntffnber Of the American
colony will be glad to help out a com
gained by rubbing against the sharp
corners Of the City of Laughter.
Frederic Benzinger.
81 t58