Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-11-04
AS TO THE CONCIERGE.
Most Despised and Rallied at
Glass in Paris.
PREROGATIVES MANY.
This Truly Partisan Parsonage Holds I'm
limited Sway Over Small Domain
and Must Be Placated.


vidual in Paris who is so despised and
SO rallied at as the conciergeS unless.
perhaps, it be the cochers-and even
these would only come second on the
LIST.
The concierge i'll Paris CORE SpontlS in
certain degree to the caretaker of Lon
don flats. but he in no way resembles
that worthy and decorative parsonage
He is the agent of the landlord, whose
sole interests he is bound to represent
with regard to the inhabitants of the
PbuildiEg. His duties are to show empty
Rats to prospective tenants, To collect
the rent four times Il year for the land
! lord. and 10 deliver letters three times Il
day at the door of each tenant. Be
sides this, the concierge must keep the
staircase clean. light the gas IN summer
and winter when necessary, and pull
the Gordon that is to say, press the
automatic button to open the street door
| after dark each time the bell is rung
from outside. And these duties alone
are his business, but the prerogatiyes he
usurps are as countless as the grains OF
sand upon the seashore.
Concierge Means Whole Family.
To be accurate, the concierge really
means an entire family. When the land
lord appoints the keeper of his estab-
lishment, it is generally the man of the
family who bears the title of lie con-
cierge" But. lie concierge" being usual
~ a married man, there is also ia con-
cierge" in the person of his wife, not To
mention one, two or three small children
which go TO form the family at the lodge.
The lodge usually consists of two rooms,
though in smaller houses only one room
is allotted to this important atficial.
The concierge is housed free and is
paid by the landlord some nominal sum,
which is. generally speaking, not sui
ticient for a family to live upon. For
that reason NJ. lie Concierge, as Il rule,
has some outdoor employment, leaving
Mime. la Concierge to reign i'll the lodge.
and, as it is to be presumed that the
very worst of all feminine character
stics are more specially developed i'll
concierge's life, madame is Tar worse
than monsieur.
Incoming Proveuder Suffers.
1t is also probably because the incomes
of concierges are limited that Nine. Ia
Concierge is above all. Il practical
French housekeeper and likes TO make
ends meet comfortably-levies taxes upon
all incoming prOvender. coal. wine, etc.
of the tenants She also has II perfectly
abnormal greed for tips, and when these
things fail to raise her budget i'll the
|
business, by fair means or foul-more
usually by foul-to find out all the bust
ness OF the tenants, to interpret their
actions according TO her own low stand
ard and to turn the knowledge thus nc
quired into useful material for black
| mail.
For it is neither more nor less than the
power of blackmail which makes the in
habitantS of Paris quail before this Cor
gon of the gates Ones simplest actions,
once they have been passed through the
medium of the concierge's criticism. ap-
pear in the light of most heinous crimes
Thus are brides showered upon her in
the vain hope that she will hold her
tongue to the entire quarter-n0t CON
corning what one really does, bat CON
corning what she supp0ses one does. Ii
is almost impossible for any young wom-
an-maid. wife or widow--who is not rich
to hope for the good opinion Of the con-
cierge. And rs all ones correspondence
passes through the lodge everything is
read there and all postcards are learned
by heart.
Adept at Petty Prosecutions.
Very often letters are kept hack for
several days to annoy or punish refrlc
tory tenants II one lives on the fifth
floor and the fourth floor happens to he
empty one may wait for ones CORE
spondence for many days at a time be-
cause Nine la Concierge will find it too
fatiguing to mount five fights of stairs
with the letters of single tenant-and
the fifth floor tenant, too!
As the concierge is legally bound TO
do nothing else for each tenant than. to
bring up the letters. her duties being
solely toward the landlord and the house
itself. such small services as the mailing
of cabs, bringing up luggage, ETC., have
to be paid for-one might almost say at
recognized tariff, which the recipient
herself fixes according TO her own sweet
will Notwithstanding sep
arate payment each time q new service
is rendered, tenants always give etren-
mes. or Christmas boxes, to the con-
cierge, which vary from so to 200 francs.
Are Shameless Beggars.
Each time one reuts flat one has to
give a fee known as the ''denier a Dieu'
upon the scale of l franc for every 100
francs Of the rental-that is to say. a
rent of 1900 francs a year would imply
II francs denier and a rent of 1000
francs 20 francs. and so forth But
this modest percentage finds favor only
among the poorer class of houses The
concierge of an ordinary Paris house
would demand double and treble that
amount though. be it well understood.
, the fee is customary, but not enforce
able by law any more than the
etrenneS.
The lodge Of the concierge is happy
meeting place after working hours for
all the servants of the house. Here the
business and private affairs of the ten
ants are freely discussed and interpreted
according to the lights of the worthy
people who discuss them. 1t is rare
tlit The servants come empty handed
bctties of wine. dainties from the store
upboard. pieces of lace or material for
the gowns of the concierge'S children are
brought as propitiatory gifts. these arti-
cles. of course, being levied from the
fiat. The bonnes. in their turn. are also
the victims of the concierge. for when
they wish to go out at night the con
cicrgc will not ''tircr lie Gordon for
them unless paid by the bonneS to do
So. and when an unfortunate servant
goes ont at night and forgetS TO grease
LIZ LIZ, -.