Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-01

tenant takes the fixtures away with him
or sells them to the incoming tenant.
The heating arrangements are very bad
As a rule every man heats his own apart
ment and stoves are used Steam heating
plants are not known by the majority of
French householders, and only the feWesl
of the apartments have electric lights.
1t Is wonderful how the people crowd
themselves into small flats. To save room,
cupboards are often built in the walls or
the larger apartments. Each cupboard when
closed looks as though 1t might be a door
leading into another room, but when open
ed you can see 1t has bed inside II ana
YOU learn that 1t is there the children sleep.
The rooms of such apartments are all con-
nected The floors are very good and they
are kept shiny by means of iron shavlngs
which look much like excelsior. Ihese are
sold at so much pound, and they scour
the floor until it shines.
Judas Sits.
One of the queer features Of every front
door Is what the people here call judas.
This Is a little plate of brass about as Dig
as a visiting card with Sits a sixteenth OF
an inch wide cut in it. This card Is tacked
over a little hole In the door and Is so ar
ranged that the person within can peep
through and without being seen tell VINO Is
knocking before deciding whether she Is al
home or not. If she does not want TO re-
ceive her caller the servant gives woro
that she is not in and therefore the name
Judas. ! don't know but that TINS IS quite
as honest as the Judas kisses whrch our
ladies often give their callers Wheh theS
wish that they are elsewhere .
l have gone through several flats mere IN
Lyons The best of them have no comforts
for the servants. The usual place for the
hired girl is a little loft made by cutting
off half the height of the kitchen, just wide
enough to hold bed, where the girl craWis
off to sleep She has no light but from the
kitchen and the ventilation is poor.
A Bath for Three Cents.
And still Lyons has some very good
things. How would you like a bath for
three cents? had one today, and two
women waited on me as I went In and out
of the bath room. The bathing place was
In one of the public parks. A little house
about fifteen feet square had been there
erected and in this were six baths. or
stalls. divided into compartments by
waterproof curtain. On one side there was
an excellent shower. l turned one spigot
and the water came down on my head, and
another gave me a shower on all sides OF
my body at once. l was told that L couio
use ten gallons Of hot water and all the
cold water / wanted 1 was furnished soap
and towels and at the close found comb
and brush ready for use. These baths are
common in many French cities. They be-
long to a company, which has concession
to operate them for thirty years when they
go to the municipality. Without CHI bat
house averages at least two hundred per
day the city has the right to consider the
experiment a failure and to cancel the con-
tract. At present the patronage is greatly
IN excess of this number and the COM
pany is making money.
Our Consul at Lyons.
1 have spent much time here about the
United States consulate. 1t is the Ameri-
can center Of the Rhone valley. and does
more business than any consulate in France
except Paris.
1t deserves to be made a consulate gen.
eral. inasmuch as Lyons Is the commercial
center of manufacturing France. and In
the most thickly populated part of the
country.
1 am glad to find a consul here who speaks
French. Our American representative is
Mr. John C. Covert. who is well known
to the newspaper world of the United
States from his long connection with The
Cleveland Leader Mr.. Covert began life
a printers devil in the Leader office
but at the age OF twenty-one came to Paris
with hardly enough money to pay a weeks
board bill He lived in France for eight
years, supporting himself by teaching The
Frenchmen English. Like Bayard Taylor
he put on a blouse and tramped over the
country from one end of II to the other
studying the people and learning the Ian
guage. After a time he returned to the
united states ana remained there until the
election of President Mckinley, when he
was sent to Lyons. He speaks French like
native. and this. in connection with his
newspaper training and practical ability
makes him one of the valuable men of our
consular service
American Goods in the Rhone Valley.
Consul Covert tells me that our Ameri-
can exporters are not doing their duty In
the Rhone valley. There is a big opportu-