Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-01-08
PERE NOEL IN FRANCE
FATHER CHRISTMAS INSTEAD OF
OUR SANTA CLAUS.
Humble Folk Who Come in for Their
Yearly Remembrance-Xmas Trees
Coming in" in Paris.
Father stole the parsons sheep,

Il
but We Won say nothing about it,
French families were never in the hab-
II of stealing from their cure for their
Christmas feast; but they say nothing
about il to outsiders 1t has always been
the feast reserved to the children of the
house, And yet, in my own time--a fair
lietIme-I have seen the old order chang.
ing in this also.
Beginning with December there is a
KIND OF advent season of regulation pres-
ents to he given--and they are called for
nj the door says Paris correspondent of
the New York Evening Post. They are
really for the New Year. and no one as
aocates them with Christmas First come
The postmen, letter carriers, and those
who bring papers aud printed matter sep
arately. AS my own mail is heavy aud
like IL to be we'll cared for. | shall give
ten francs tS2l to each. The French fam
lily across the hallway, with only ordinary
burdens for the postmen. win be gener-
Gus to give half as much. In due order
the telegraph boys will present them
selves; To these | shall give 80 cents: but
nave regularly given n penny or two
eaCn time that dispatches were delivered
Inc ScaHangerS. whom | never see un-
less | stick my head eut of window early
IN the morning, will send their reprcsen-
atlVe or wrtnkled, bareheaded old
woman, very proper and smiling and
with little shawl over her rag-picking
dress. They do not enter houses AT 9TH
fr times; II is the bonnie who ''descends
the ordures as soon as She comes to a.
up the apartment in the morning. | shall
give = francs (iO centsl, although half
that would he taken with thanks: but
To I'll.
winch Is given them each year with much
ceremony and good manners by the may
or of the suburb where they live. all to-
gether with their donkeys They do their
work in famili IS. parents and children
gathering and sorting from the boxes
placed up to O'Clock before the houses.
and then working over the resulting cart
loads at home. They are "A decent and
necessary part of the population, and
more punctunl ut the Christmas religious
services than most of the people whom
they serve,
Until last year there was another class
of those who serve, asking for n remem-
brance at this holy tide. 1t took Il form
which must have been survival from
hundreds, perhaps Il thousand, years. GA
the eve of the Epiphany Night
the women who carry bread for the hak-
ers brought each customer gateau des
Rois-a cake in honor of the Three
Kings. These cakes were shaped like
an American pie but all nnkv crust
without sugar or fruit. In the folds was
hidden hean~-and when the cake was
cut the lucky one who found the bean in
his piece was king of the feast Now.
here comes in the Actuality-a ieap TO-
ward angry Socialism because property
owners no longer reverence the old ways
Greatly against the will Of the baker
proprietors. Parliament passed law
ohllging them TO give their baker work
men weekly rest day--a kind of en-.
forced secular Sunday observance. The
propretors had always given the
Epiphany cakes To their women carriers
one for each family served. When this
mounted from the hundreds to the thou
sands it became naturally considerable
expense. Here in Paris at least the pro-
prietors have retAlated on government
by refusing to bake the cakes for these
poor women. who begin their poorly paid
service, running up and down stairs to
the apartments, IN which all but the
very rich live in Paris, from 1 O'Clock in
the morning. And So they lose the franc
or two which they used TO receive at
each door from $50 to $50 in all per
carrier. which was an item in their
scauty anntal budget
There are others who never ask be-
cause it is not their custom; hut | shall
give them a frame or two apiece. because
smile eXpectantly. and because they do
service. Such are the butchers boy, aud
the WasherWOman's man, and the milk
man. The coal man, who twice Il week
| carries up his sacks, is paid each time
! cent per sack and Der flight of stairs
50 he expects nothing, The two principal
remaining items Of this present giving at
home show that / do not live even on n
! French millionaire's footing half the
wages Of one month TO the woman do
| nestle $50, and SO go francs to the
concierge. who keeps the great house
door aud the fire in the cellar. which
partly heats me. and brings up my let
! ters and papers three times day.
! My present giving as bourgeois or
employer OF service to those who serve
me by profession is still well under $50.
/ The balance will be given out on one or
other Of the holidays-the change of
] frame piece to the tram conductors | fire.
uuent: aud 10 the cafe or restaurant
| waiter when be presents me the sea
sons cigar. dollar if / am his steady
! customer, a frame If ! am only an oc-
casi6nuL
! 10 Americans. who often protest flu
rousIy against all this giving, ! answer
! that no man is obliged to give; but /
add, with the Pullman waiter, every
| gentleman gives.
The real Christmas presents Of French
! families 10 their children are found by
1 the scamperiug little ones carly Christ
mas morning in their shoes, placed be-
, fore the chimney. Instead ef Santa
| Claus. IL is pcrn NUpl-"Eatber Christ
mas''-who brings all the presents down
/ the chimney; and the present itself is the
! petit Noel. II will be long before civic
! mmysterioIs trees viii drive ont these
| halfroligiUus traditions OF childhood Ia
| the old days, and still in the provinces,
. tho .'lfItrEB arc NTstJE sure tR hp inst