Evening journal., 1914-08-10
By WILLIAM PHILLIPS sTMMs,


PARIS, by Mail to New York; Aug.
MARK Twain, with his $4,000 bank
note winch he found impossible to spend,
had nothing on me. / came near stary-
ing in the city OF Paris, the city of
paramount cares and restaurants, with
my pockets lined with 500 bills, or
rather with 1000 franc notes, but no
body had any change. 1t was Thursday.
July 30, the day the money panic
struck Paris. The officials didn't call it
b panic and probably would have ex-
PEELED from French territory any cor
respondent sending out the news of It
as such. But by whatever name one
calls it, it fell so suddenly on the city
that few knew it had fallen until
Taught tightly under its stomach flat
tening weight.
Quite serenely left the office at 4
o'clock after a day of war news, ru-
more OF French mobilization, and the
arrest of an editor. VINO printed too
much. / took q seat on the terrace
fronting the Cafe Cardinal on the
Grand Boulevard. It is one of the big
gest in the city.
I had an appetizer and a cigar and
asked to have one Of my l00-franc notes
changed The restaurant was changing
nothing higher than Louis. tS4 pieces.l
had the change, and made the payment
ecraping my pockets of the last sou.
Then l went to lie Petit Richie, fair
sized restaurant in the Rue lie Peleti
ere. Being rather hungry ! ordered
n fairly imposing meal. The waiter re-
epectfully inquired; HAS Monsieur the
money to pay for his orderl | beg
fonsieur's pardon, but has he seen
his?n and he pointed out n line in
"A ink at the top Of the bill-of fare
~ read: "Customers not provided with
cha correct change will not be served"
There was nothing to IT. / had to
get IN and 20. l did not have the
change.
found the same thing at the next
restaurant / went to- Hunhin's In
the Rue Drout; and at Gauclaire's, IN
the Rue de Richelieu' and at the
third and fourth and fifth eating
Is All the time my hunger was
lRfoNing. Then tried the more pre-
sumptuous restaurants: The Cafe
Richie, the Cafe viennois. the Cafe
American, the Cafe de la Paix, the
Grand Cafe Everywhere ! was met
by the same thing; conspicuous
sign reading Larger sums than 81
twenty francs) not changed here"
or Customers not provided with
change will not be served
II was a desperate situation. Nor
was 1t solved until ! met a fellow cor
respondent and the two of us went to
the Cafe de Paris and had $40 din
ner between us. There We got In
change for a 100-franc note dinner
and a 50-franc note.
The next day at the bank I was
quietly. almost secretly, given a so
franc note and ten silver tive-franc
pieces in exchange for a 100-franc
bill Though the silver almost pulled
my pants off, was never so proud in
my life
Later / learned that housewives
had to buy on credit or so without
market produce, small merchants be-
ing caught without a particle Of
change Department stores did a tre-
mendous business in petty articles.
purchasers invariably rendering
paper money In order to get the
change
The unprecedented situation was
largely due to the thrifty French
changing their paper into gold and
silver and sailing it away against
war times. The change shortage
lasted until the Bank Of France put
out FIVE and twenty-franc notes Then
came a rush to obtain the divisional
money Lines eight and ten deep,
squares long. waited all day at the
change windows. Women by the
thousands were there Many sat on
camp-stools and hundreds brought
their lunch along.