Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-08-05
PARADISE
Is the City of Paris For WOm-
en- and Dogs.
THE GREAT FRENCH CAPITAL
A Blaze Of Beauty, But Hardship Is Also
There
A GOOD HOME FOR The BOYS AND GIRLS.
valuable Instructions Given in the Arts,
From Our Regular Correspondent.

dogs, hell for horses" One of the
chief attractions of the city to the fem
mime heart consists undoubtedly in
those delicate productions of art and
industry, including dresses, millinery,
iewelry, art goods and bric-a- bras, for
which Paris is famous.
There are certainly an enormous
number of stores and shops in the city.
They line the streets in all quarters in
countless thousands. There are many
more establishments in proportion to
the population than in American cities,
but with the exception of few notable
ones they are very small affairs. AS a
customary thing the room of a shop is
not larger than an average sized room
of an American house. The stock of
goods carried is very small While the
men of the family are engaged in bur-
eau positions the women, the wife and
daughters, tend the shop At the noon
hour or at six o'clock the visitor to the
shop will find the whole family at meal
either in little room adjoining the
shop or in the salesroom itself.
The excessively retail character of
the merchantile system of Paris may
be partly accounted for as follows:
There is in vogue a system of buying
in small quantities which keeps alive
the small dealer. In the United States
a family will think nothing of putting
into its celler, in the fall, couple of
barrels of potatoes, one barrel of ap-
pies and other vegetables in proper
ton. Sugar also and other groceries
are purchased in some quantity. In
Paris family buys for each days
wants a couple of dozen of potatoes, a
small bag of sugar not larger than a
salt bag, etc. This method of buying
is made necessary for all merchants or
in private houses. Scarcely any ice is
taken by families and a refrigerator
there is an article of furniture five
times more rare than a piano. Again
there is no city in the world perhaps
where the servant class is so numerous
and so highly organized and where the
toll of this class is taken so much as a
matter OF course as in Paris. The la
Dor which continual buying in small
quantities occasions falls chiefly upon
The servant class and thence excites no
comment and awakens no idea of
'hange. In addition to this, as we have
seen, the shops are chiefly tended by
who make this a tributary
earning of the family.
In the ordinary districts of Paris the
streets contain at the corners wine
hops and restaurants. In succession
these there are always baker
es, cake shops, creameries, butcher
hops, cleaners and, more rarely, furni- |
ure dealers, stationers, picture franz
rs, etc, etc. One misses the banks on |
he principal corners as in America |
he barber shop has not a striped pole, |
mt a bright brass dish swinging in the |
'ind Tobacco is manufactured only |
y the state and is sold only under pub
&c control. The street sign is a red |
imp. Wherever tobacco is sold stamps
lay be bought.
The French merchant usually does
OF deal with his customer on the bas-
of fixed scale Of prices as does an
nglish or an American merchant. 1t
an exceptional store that has any
'ices marked in plain figures. Selling
Partisan shop-keeper seems to be
garded as an exercise in practical
'ychology. Every customer is "sized
}" and treated accordingly. Con-
ssions in price may be gotten by skill
management and by insistance and
rec in bargaining. They show
ats of character which hinder them
ON becoming great traders in the
)rld's commerce.
Out of the mass of petty shops in !
iris few establishments rise into {
ominenOe by reason either of their a
,e or elegance. The mcst elegant |
pres are to be found on the boule- a
rds in the neighborhood of the Opera !
1use. In this vicinity one can find
ecialty houses dealing in jewelry, or t
goods or fans, laces, etc. The dis q
ct corresponds to lower Fifth Ave- t
e and Broadway in New York and TO V
gent street in London. In these
opping districts more frequently
an elsewhere may be seen the an +
uncement English spoken" Be r
ire of this sign and enter net, for 1t
~ be likened to the unfortunate ad-
tisement once posted by an Ameri- =
n merchant: Don't go elsewhere to r
cheated, come in here" I,
At the top of the store-keepers world a
g a dozen or more large department 4
,res, most OF which have grown up a
recent years in imitation of the r
on Marche." One can enumerate the ,,
lvere. Printemps, Samaritaine, Belle
dinlere and Pygmalion. There are
eral more. In methods these estab- n,
ments resemble in many ways the A