New-York tribune., 1907-01-06
PARIS SOUP KITCHENS.
Much Done for the Relief of Poor
at French Capital.
Paris. December %.

WIN tne approach or the new year all the
machinery. official and private for the relief of
the poor of Paris has been set IN motion. The
office of the Mayor of each of the score of wards
Into which the city is divided for administrative
purposes is centre of poor relief. but this off,
cial relief takes exclusively the form of small
pecuniary advance. given after due inquiry into
the circumstances of the applicant The -yayor's
office is by no means thronged as one might
expect. The honest and deserving poor look
upon it IN the light of begging, and the others.
taking probably the same view, find II far more
profitable to beg at the doors OF churches and
restaurants.
The winter season, therefore. which bears so
heavily upon the poor. sees number of private
charities in operation. not the least useful OF
which perhaps the rsoupes populaires" or
the peoples soup kitchens. These establish
ments, which exist in all the poorer quarters of
Paris. aim only at supplying many as pos
sibe of the poor of the parish with a hot nour-
ishing meal each day. Some Of these kitchens
are entirely free; others make small charge,
two cents portion.
In every case the hour of distribution Is early
in the morning. The doors opened at
o'clock but long before that time a large crowd
has gathered outside the little shanty in which
the gigantic soup pot is installed. notice
outside informs the clients that each must pro-
vide himself OF herself with some sort OF vessel
in which TO carry off the hot soup, for at these
kitchens the soup is not consumed on the prem
ises but carried back to the homes The men
are marshaIled at one door and the women at
another, to avoid confusion, and the two as
sstants ladle out the soup into the jugs. basins.
pots or pans presented by the crowd. The rule
is to shut the doors at 10 o'clock but this is not
always easily done a period OF severe weather
doubles and trebles the number of applicants
for the soup and two hours barely sufficient
to fill all the empty vessels. Generous are the
helpings at all the kitchens. The cents charged
by some of them does not cover the expenses.
The committees. mostly women. wisely spend all
their funds on the contents of the stock pot.
The kitchens themselves are of the simplest de-
scription In the 9th Ward the stove Is Installed
In large low rooted room, in a shabby street,
next door to office which supplies the wealthy
Parisians with foster mothers for their infants
door at the end of the room leads into a small
courtyard, In which an ancient pump stands
Here the vegetables used for the soup are
washed and prepared. In the kitchen itser
there is only the great stove with It's enormous
pot A certain weight of meat and bones goes
10 the composition of the soup in every case.
though the bulk of its ingredients is from the
vegetable market. 1t always smells most sa-
worry and appetizing.
To the French rich poor soup with bread
forms the staff Of life. Among the very poor
indeed it figures at each meal. cup of soup
in the early morning is all the breakfast they
ever take; a second edition of the same soup
forms their luncheon and they eat it a third
time at night With daily ration of a pound
of brown bread which they ccI purchase for
three cents and the addition of piece OF
cheese. perhaps. they are content. In the num-
bier restaurants of the capital, where the road
mender the wagoner. the bricklayer's assistant
and the errand boy take their meals. the words
'bouilIon ct boeuf' (soup and beeD are 1nvari-
ably painted the windows as permanent
daily attraction. The large majority of the Gus
/ toners will choose these dishes. The former IS
I the broth favored with carrots. turnips and
onions in which the meat has been stewed for
hours. and great portion of this soup meat
can he had for four or five cents.
Ono of the most interesting features Of the
recent food congress which was held in Paris
was the reading of a statement Of the compara-
tive values OF different foodstuffs. This state
ment was based on the figures published a year
ago by G group of American experts. who an
aIvzed the articles of diet in use In different
countries of the world. Among the other items
! the characteristic light soup OF France figured
Considered as a nutrient the analysts placed
its value somewhat low. but the discussion that
followed the reading of the statement brought
forth the Judgment that 1t was extremely
useful item in a menu. being stimulating ana
cleansing 10 the digestive organs. II figured,
moreover at the banquet which closed the pro-
ceedings of the food congress humorous de-
tail at the feast the addition on the menus
of the exact value of each dish offered the il
lustrious guests and foOtnote IN italics warned
the too appreciatives among them that to eat OF
every course would he to absorb sufficient food
for twenty-four hours.
Soup kitchens are a great success in Paris.
They feed hundreds Of persons daily who would
otherwise go hungry. 1t is naturally not the
most interesting class that they reach; glance
around the groups at the different doors will
show that these are people who pick up pre-
carious living by doing as little work as they
can They are professional beggars. women
who do badly paid work in their own rooms.
men who have been thrown out of work by in
capacity drunkenness or some other cause and
the like Each kitchen has large number OF
:egular customers. who never fail to present
themselves with their jugs every day in the
soup season at the door of the "soupes popu-
laires." u l. b