Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-11
She wraps them in paper and her customer
takes them and goes away smiling.
The Snail Farmsuof France.


takes them and goes away smiling.
The Snail Farmsuof France.
Paris eats almost two million pounds OF
these snails every year. paying s. or 81
thousand for them. They are found in the
southern vine-growing district, and es-
pecially about Marseilles.t In some places
there are small farms OF parks where the
little things are bred, and fed for the mar
ket. Ihey are propagated in the months
OF August, September .c,and October, at
which time they are fed with cabbages
and clover 1t is said that wagon load
Of cabbages given after the rains Is enough
to furnish one meal for 100000 snails. The
cultivated snails arg kept in the houses
during the winter. They are then fattened
and shipped off to Paris for sale in the
summer. ihere Is one snail farmer In the
department OF the Jura who raises one
million to two million snails every year.
am told that more than 900 pounds
or snails are shipped every year from
Paris to the United States. Such snails
Drlng ahout % per thousand at wholesale.
They are usually shipped alive in Novem-
per ana December and must be carefully
handled In order to stand the voyage with
out injury. understand that some Snails
come from switzerland, to Paris and that
switzerland is one of the great snail mar
kets OF the world. It has its snail ex
porters and snail farmers, who know just
when to gather the snails, how to handle
tnelr eggs ana how 10 feed them SO that
they Will have the luscious fairness so
greatly desired by the French So far l
nave not eaten snas myself, and an.
therefore, unable to describe the taste.
The Paris Mouse Trap.
Paris has been described as a gigantic
mouse trap with three doors labeled, re-
spectively, hotel, cafe, restaurant. The
city has about 10,0o0 hotels; there are res
taurants in every block; and you can find
cafes at almost every step. At almost any
restaurant you are sure of good cooking.
You can eat well anywhere and at any
price There are scores of places where
the meals cost as high as in the better
restaurants OF New York, and hundreds
Where you can get very fair dinner for
% cents, or if you would have wine for 10
cents additional. 1 have had good dinners
with wines for 80 cents, and there is
restaurant where | lunch occasionally at
thls price which gives me what would cost
three times as much in the United States.
There is one stock company which does an
enormous business in supplying cheap and
good food for Parisians 1t was founded by
a butcher who has his butcher shops still
In different parts of the city. This COM
pany has, venture. 100 or more restaurants
where you can always be sure of good serv-
ice and good food. You pay for what you
eat and pay for everything, but the prices
are low.
A Dinner for Three Francs
Take, for instance, a lunch which 1 had
today at one of these establishments. Upon
entering the bookkeeper at the door gave
me slip of paper on which was to be re-
corded the charges. for the food 1 ordered
1 took this with me to the table and handed
it to the waitress, a sweet-faced French
woman, who looked like a sister of charity
in her white cap and black gown. l was
next handed a bill of fare. The variety