Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-10-17
k|DNETTFS Of
PARIS STARVING
Girls Threatened with Death
as Result of War-Their
Condition Sad.
(By Herbert corey.)

Wy 14SAO CAL NOlCysJ
Paris, Oct. 17.-Suppose that 40
cents a day stood between you and
straightforward some. one took away
the. 40 cents?
That's the problem that 10000
m1dinettes are trying to solve in Paris
today. Some Of them took a short cut
to the solution. Their bodies have
been found in the bosom of Father
Seine. Others are holding out-only
sparrows knows how-until the Ger
man goes and prosperity eturns again
to France.
Every American who has eve Wis
ted Paris knows the midinettes. II
the American is a woman, she has
watched them making wonderful
gowns in the great workrooms OF the
mOdistes. If the American is a man,
he has been winked at by them. He
Portable gertrude that the group Of
bright-eyed, round checked, happy lit
tie girls have said something about
him as he passed which might not add
to his happiness.
They're not all pretty. but most of
them can counterfeit prettiness. They
are young. and they have hat sturdy
and country foOd-for most of them
reach Paris from the provinces when
they are sixteen-and in good times
they are quite irresponsible. and mer-
~ and thoughtless. They live that life
Of careless bohemianism which peo-
Pile think that artists models do
and which they generally do not.
Now these little. soft, tender things
are starving. They are literally starv-
Ing. If they still have a crust and a
bowl Of soup a day it comes as a
charity.
This is my budget. M'seu, when
trade is good" said one of them to
me. This is a very free translation Of
her statement:
Il am paid two francs a day. That
IS 40 cents in your money. My rent
Is twenty-five francs a month. II II
work twenty-five days q month, that
leaves me twenty-five francs on which
I must board and clothe myself"
So Poor They Are Happy.
My intermediary and interpreter
woman. who has taken a real and
sympathetic interest In these girls.
She interposed q word here:
That is why. M'sieu." said she, "so
few of these little girls are serious"
ut is true" said the midinette. nod
ding. Some one must help U.S."
Those who have helped In the past
have gone They are somewhere on
that vague battle line. Here and
with dark circles beneath her eyes
and a white band around a slender
arm. Word from the front has come
to her. 1t is but little her companions
car cay to help her. They, too. watch
for the post1nan each morning-and
cross themselves and murmur a pray
err Of Thanksgiving when he does not
come.
Almost the day that war was declar-
ed the costumers began to pull the
steel blinds down upon their windows.
A few had orders in hand, which they |
finished. None ventured upon any
new work: Nc French woman Of per-
ception would appear upon a Paris
in a new gown in these days.
I'll venture to say that an evening
toilet has not been seen in a public
hurled his troops upon Lorraine. The
season for English buyers had not and
would not open. The few American
women in Paris were only anxious TO
get u Half Of them had tales of
lost baggage to tell.
So the 10000 little sewing girls
We're thrown upon their own resources.
We know how slender those resources
are. The n ray Of comfort is that
IloI oHe HeeQ pay a penny OF rent.
Rent paying came to an end in Paris
except by favor-when the war be-
gan. The government so ordered.
When the two francs a day stopped.
SO did the hard loaf and the bowl of
soup. The poor are charitable-but
the poor Of Paris are very poor. They !
had nothing to give.
For some the government has come
to the rescue. They are the girls who
are regularly married to soldiers. The
matrimonial tie is often overlooked
among girls Of this class in France. 1t
is. rather difficult to get married, for
one thing. Each party. to a marriage
must have witnesses and the witness
es. must be entertained. When one
has no time. to spare and no money to
spare-and doesn't worry about 1t.
anyhow-it is sometimes easy to avoid
the bond. But the word went out that
the government would take care Of
those left behind
When a Nidinette Marries.
1.-The day that I married my amie,"
said my midinette acquaintance,
there were hundreds Of us at the
We were married-v'lO-so!"
The marie is the official headquar-