The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-28
CONYENENCES VIZ NEED HERE
THE LONDON PORTER AND THE
FRENCH ISLES OF SAFETY"

the Pneumatic POst-A woman nome
From Abroad Wants TO See These Here.
A New York housekeeper who has spent
some months on the Continent and In Eng
land has found much to commend IN the
small conveniences at public command
in the large cities over there, and wonders
why they can't be duplicated here In New
York.
Il don't see why not. she said. the other
day. take the London porter. He Is
to be found in every residence block, his
number on his cap, a reliable man licensed
by the police and easily reported for mis-
conduct.
+ Every housekeeper knows how useful
1t Is to have the strength of man at
hand at all times. II heavy piece Of
furniture Is to be moved, trunks changed
from one floor to another, heavy rug
shaken, even an obstinate window opened
the London housemaid has onlr to step to
her front door with a little whistle that
hangs in the hall and, by blowing certain
long note. summon the block porter to her
aid
-She must give the right note because
with the same whistle she can call from
the cab stand at one end Of the block
hanson or a four wheeler when she needs
it. Two short, clear whistles bring a han
som and three four wheeler, leaving one
long note to call the porter. 'Tuppenca'
'thrippence. or, at the most sixpence pays
for his service and many jolt in the do
nestle machinery is thus promptly and
cheaply averted,
"The district porter, too, expects that
his families will give him their luggage
traffic Through his aid it is possible to
get trunk to railway station as quickly
as you can get there yourself and at a
impossible in New York except within
limited radius OF the station and with
little baggage az a carriage can carry.
A party of Ave Of US took the train in
London at clock one afternoon to catch
our steamer. At S o'clock our pile Of
seventeen pieces Of luggage, which included
seven trunks and four suit cases, with
the rest in rugs and shawl straps. left our
stopping place in charge of the house
po rter. When we reached the station,
at a quar- ter before six, everything was
beside the baggage car ready for regis
tration and he was standing guard over it
waiting for our arrival and to receive his
pay shillings or about 81. 80 In our money.
To us New Workers. accustomed to saying
good-by to our trunks day before the
train leaves and to search for them, unless
we have tickets, in wilderness of baggage
at the station. this seemed cheap and
convenient The porter system In London
gives employment to a large number Of
upskllled men. Why could we not have
it in New York?
-In Paris, where had a little apartment
for two months, the numerous shops for
cooked food made housekeeping so easy as
to be positively fun. We could get every
thing we could eat cooked OF ready for the
oven, and that too in any quantity. could
send home half chicken broiled or roasted
with small box OF potatoes souftle ladled
out while stood there from the kettle OF
boiling fat. l could buy pate shells ready
for any filling or l could buy them filled
with all sorts of mixtures.
Bread, rolls and all sorts Of petite pains
we're to be had in profusion and list OF
toothsofhe morsels in the way OF rdf'sserie
or little pastries that weredelectable. I'm
agne single plump, luscious strawberry
or cnerry, saturated in its own rich juice
and put on a tiny round OF faky pastry
the size of silver ffty-cent piece, and
fancy what a delicious mouthful it could
be, All the French cakes are inflnitesimal
Just a morsel Of goodness. I could buy
them and all kinds Of blanc mango and jellies
moulded and ready to be served, buildings
ready to be baked or boiled, any and all
of them, IN quantities to serve one or dozen
persons.
But the joy Of my life in Paris was the
stoppcur His or her sign, for it was as
often a woman as a man, was to be found
all over the Luxembourg quarter. and when
you saw the sign Stoppeur Artistique' as
you often did, you felt that even to call it
an art was not misnomer. The 'stoppeur'
is not an ordinary member or repairer: his
skill is far beyond that of the darner
Il had O dress of check silk on whose
plain front breadth near the hem two sparks
from a wood fire had burned two ragged
holes, each about the size Of ten-cent
silver piece and perhaps finger apart
There was no darning or piecing possible
in that conspicuous place. and the dress
was practically unwearable with those two
eyes staring at everybody. hadn't scrap
of material, for had bought the suit ready
made, but the stoppeur returned that skirt
to me after keeping it three days perfectly
mended, and though the pattern was the
tiniest shepherds plaid the holes were filed
In so evenly that the hair lines of the check
we're not broken.
what he had done was to cut little piece
Of the mat erial from the under side OF the
hem, ravel that out and using the black
and white threads thus obtained, fill in the
holes by some weaving process known only
to the Initiated The result was complete
restoration. On the wrong side you can see
still the outline OF the burned edges; on
the right the pattern Of the skirt is I'M
broken, and you can pass your finger over
the silk without discovering any change in
the surface. l paid francs zoo cents)
for stopping each hole, and it was wall
worth IT, There ia absolutely nothing in
the way Of nendng that battles their skill,
and they are busy from morning till night
One with whom talked, young woman,
asked me many questions about prices and
rentals in New York, and she was eager to
come over here and open a shop for the
work
Another convenience OF Paris to me
was the pneumatic postal service. Those
petas bleus. as every one calls them, were
the greatest possible convenience They
are as quick as kilograms, much cheaper
and without that dreadful ten-word limit
that tries a woman's soul. You step into
any one Of the postal stations scattered
all over the city and at the service pneu-
matioue window for 80 centiines 10 certsI
get your little blue sheet about five inches
long and three wide with line OF pprfora-
tons just inside the quarter inch Of gummed
nft nraA N.... ,s-s-tNa 49, n