Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-05

! soup, and clam chowder, each of which
] sells for Is cents per can, green
turtle and terrapin soups at 20
! cents per can, and mulligatawney
| and others at lower rates. I
talked with the manager. He says that
| American goods are steadily increasing
! in popularity. and that they are making
| their way among the French.
| I heard the same from another grocer
close to the Place Vendome, in the heart
of the Rue de la Prix, where the leading
French dressmakers are situated. This
man is handling American cereals Amer
lean WHISTLES. crackers and biscuits from
New York, as well as the various goods
l saw at Potins.
GROCERIES ARE ARTISTIC.
At all the grocery stores our goods are
we'll displayed. The French are the most
| artistic of all window dressers, and they
can give US many points on preparing
merchandise SO that it will atch the Gus
toner's eye. I spent some time in look
ing over the fruits, vegetables, and meats
at Potn's. Among the fruits were ripe
Strawberries, each strawberry lying half
wrapped in a green leaf and in regular
rows in fat boxes. The boxes appear to
be covered with glass, and the straw
berries are prettier than any fruit you
have ever seen. They are as big as
hens eggs. and as rosy as the cheek OF
a freshly-washed baby. The covering of
the boxes is a thin film of hard gelatine,
as transparent as glass.
Then there were peaches In boxes laid
in the same regular order on white paper,
with pinch Of red tissue paper stuck in
each hole where four peaches touched.
The effect was beautiful. Other peaches,
especially fine, were displayed on beds of
white cotton and I notice that the price
Of eight Of these was 7ia francs, or almost
20 cents each.
The chickens and game were dressed
with their heads turned under their wings.
They were laid on their breasts on the
counter. and little printed price-mark
was placed in the centre of the back of
each Of them. They looked clean enough
to kiss. and do not wonder they SELL
Each cut of meat was beautifully
wrapped or tied up, and each bore its
price-mark.
DEPARTMENT STORES.
I find American goods for sale in the
department stores of Paris. There are
several such establishments here and
some quite as large as any in the United
States. Indeed, I doubt whether there is
a department store in America larger than
either the Bon Marche or the Louvre.
The Bon Marche has five floors and a
basement, each Of which covers an acre,
so that 1t has about six acres Of floor
space. It employs 1000 clerks and does a
business running high into the tens Of
millions of dollars year. It was found
ed by the son Of halter named Bouci-
cault about fifty years ago, who began in
a small way, but who gradually built up
the business into one of the greatest
of Paris.
peculiar thing about the Bon Marche
IS that it is managed on the cooperative
principle Boucicault married a common
working girl, and after he died his wife
took the business. When she died she
made will leaving it to her employees
and assistants, so that the establishment
now has about 500 stockholders, and every
clerk gets some percentage over the
amount paid him for wages. In 1889 the
shares in the company were worth $4,000,
the same shares are now worth over $780,
BOO. and pay annual dividends of $500.
FEEDS ITS CLERKS.
After going through the lower floors l |
was taken to the top and shown the
All the employees are fed !
free. They have breakfast at noon,
which is more like a dinner than our
breakfast. 1t consists OF soup, meat, |
vegetables and dessert. One thousand |
clerks are dined at time the eating
beginning at II and continuing until /.
There We're one thousand men at the
tables today when I autered the dining