The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-05

" ASN~SN$ D sNoeARt
 and net bag in her hand. Wagons
 of green stuff move through the
 streets. The provision and grocery
 stores are open, and many of the
 streets are lined with stands sur rounded by customers. The usual
 marketing time Is from to Il o'clock
 and even before one sees some of
 the servants returning. The market
 is their chief meeting place. They
 like to go at the same time every
 day, for 1t is there they chat with
 their friends. The amounts bought
 at one time are small. A bunch of
 red carrots, white cauliflower, a
 dozen potatoes, little meat, and the
 ever present bottle of ordinary wine
 may be all that fills the net bag of
 the buyer.
 I have asked as to wages. They
 are considered excessive just now.
 but they are nothing compared with those received in the United States.
 I reduce them to American money.
 estimating 10 francs to the dollar. A cook gets from $14 to $50 per month. The latter wage Is paid
 only by the rich and the male or fe-
 male who runs the kitchen is expect
 ed to make fancy cakes. desserts and
 elaborate dishes. In household of
 four or five persons of moderate
 means where there Is some entertain-
 ing the cooks wage is about SIT a
 month.
 Queer Housekeeping Arrangements
 Many of the housekeeping details
 are different from ours. An impor-
 tant one is the lack of ice in sum
 mer. Only the very rich have ice
 boxes, and there are but few ice
 wagons making deliveries every day.
 The ice for my baby granddaugh hter lis bought from the butcher, who
 charges five cents pound. My daughter tells me that many French
 families keep the baby's milk fresh
 by leaving 1t in running water or in the cellar if they have one. All milk is boiled the moment 1t is
 brought into the house. and such a thing as giving a baby fresh un- cooked milk is not known.
 am interested m the washing arrangements of Paris. Most of the people living in these apartment houses have such small quarters that there is no room for laundry. For this reason the people are forced to send out their soiled linen, and the prices are surprisingly high. For a family of two the laundry hills may
 be as much as six or eight dollars a
 week, this excluding the fine things washed by the cook. The laundry of the baby is always done at hofne. The washing done outside looks well at first, but the laundresses put a powder into their water that rots the
 clothes as it cleans them
 Some American housekeepers in Paris try to reform the habits or the French servants, but it Is wiser to let them do things their own way. For instance, the dishes from tho
 breakfast of coffee, rolls and jam
 which you have upon rising, are left to be wasred with the lunch dishes of
 the middle of the day. It is hsrd to convince servants why this s'tould
 not be. and there are others Of our customs which they vii. not adopt
 They would rather get down or their knees and pat superfluous el- bow grease oE the hardwood floors than stand up and use long, Aaldled polisher. They insist that 1 the latter does not give good polish.
 Their stomachs Pinched by the War Since the World war. the cost of living has been steadily rising. and the large number of French families who are dependent upon fixed in- comes from houses or bonds have great trouble to make ends meet They have cut their living expendi l. lures In half. but their apartments are on long leases dating from be- fore the war and they make good show. One sees types of this class everywhere on the boulevards. A man will carry cane over his arm although his we'll brushed clothes are
 shiny and his blackened shoes down at the heel. Nevertheless, to use a common expression, he puts on good front and buckles his belt a
 bit tighter.
 heard a story today from an American woman who has servant that came from family which was well-to-do in 1913. She gave up the rlace because she did not have enough food to keep soul and body 1 together. The family had an elegant apartment in one of the most ex- elusive sections of Paris. The build ling was of white stone, and the 1 neighborhood contained many Of the nobility. They had rented the apart ment before the war and the furni- 1tur9 or LHtiI OCtNCA U-SS them to keep up appearances. The trouble now Is the lack of money to snend upon food. Their meals are almost Barmecidal, and the menu never varies. For luncheon eacf person has a slice of meat about two | inches wide and three inches long with some rice or potatoes. For sup per. or dinner as 1t is called here | tbev have a soup and vegetaDie. I They have no dessert. They never ste the bits of cheese of which the rrencb are so fond and rarely eat any of the better green vegetables One daughter of the house who IS supposed to be anaemic IS given T slice of meat in the evening but the others have none. The girl said the servants had even less 10 eat anu could not endure 1t. Nevertheless l this family dwells in surroundings as beautiful as those of people of ten times It's income.
 Among the surprising economies of the French home Is the elevator Ar the lack of it. The American embassy Is in . fashionable apart n,cnt house in an excellent location The American who calls upon our l ambassador Is lifted from story tc story in a dinky little elevator moi as big around as hogshead, witf two seats In the corners. It will moi accommodate more than two persons 1 at enc time.
 NV daughter rented last summer the apartment of Bombay princess
 who lived in the suburbs or Ferris The princess had gone to . waterine place for the health of her husband