The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-26
SHOPPING IN EUROPE.
American Women Find 1t Difficult to
 Understand Foreign Customs.

| When an American woman travelint
 in Europe first essays to do littl'
 shopping she finds herself at a dlsad | vantage, and unless she has experienc | ed friends to advise her she finds her
 self considerably out of pocket In th' | course of a few months. One woman l who has been through the mill. teiii | the ordeal through which she passe, | to the Woman's Home Companion fol | the benefit of her sex in general When I first went to Europe" sht says, T had all the average American woman's timidity about asserting my l self in the face of a shop girl or. q sales man. I therefore suffered un- unnecessary annoyance during my firs shopping in London, because l was overwhelmingly polite and affablc tt the man behind the counter. instead of using the martial command of the or dinary English woman, who marches up to the showcase in fat-heeled boots and says, in a tone of an officer order ing shoulder arms Show me your gauge fans!'
 Tt was Bee who gave me my first lesson on the martial tone and insolent bearing which alone obtains the best results from the average British shop man, Still without thoroughly hay ing asserted myself, not having been to that particular manner born, l went next to Paris, where my politeness met with the just reward which virtue is always supposed to get and seldom does.
 Il consider shopping in Paris one of the greatest pleasures to be found in this vale of tears. The shops, with the exception of the Louvre, the Ron Marche and one or two of the largest department stores of similar scope, are aIl small-tiny, in fact-and exploit but one or two things. A tiny shop for fans will be next to a miliner, who makes a speciality of nothing but gauge theater bonnets. Perhaps next will come a linen store, where the windows will have nothing but the most fasci- hating embroidery, handkerchiefs and neckwear.
 Leather goods in Germany are simply distracting. There are shops In Dresden where no woman who apr preciates bags, satchels, card cases, photographs frames, book covers and purses could refrain from buying with out disastrous results to her nervous system. remember my first pilgrim age through the stretS of Dresden. Be- tween the procelains and toilet sets. the Madonnas, the belts and card cases I nearly lost my mind. The modest prices of the coveted articles were each time a separate shock of joy. If these sturdy Germans had wished to take advantage of my indiscreet ex- pressions of surprise and delight they might easily have raised their prices without our ever having discovered 1t. But day after day we returned. not on- lxy to R1d haf he ha same. but that in many instances If we bought several articles they vol untarily took off a mark or two on account of the generosity of our pur- chaGcs.
 When you get to St. Petersburg in your shopping experience you will find a mIxture of Teuton and SlaV which | Is very perplexing. We were particu- larly anxious to get some good epeci- mems of Russian enamel, inexpensive ill the country which creates it, but tu our distress we discovered Rue de la Paix prices on everything We wished. Each time that we went back the price was different. The market seemed t6 flrctuate.
 shopping in Constantinople is not shopping as we Americans understand it, unless you happen to be a United States Indian trader. by profession; am not. Therefore. the system of bargaining. of going away from a bazaar and pretending you never in- tended t. never wanted 1t. anyhow; or coming back to sit down and take a cup of coffee was like acting in private theatricals. By nature ] am not a dimplomat, but if I had stayed longer in the orient I think I would have learned to be as tricky as Chinese diplomat"