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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1902)
IAUIS, France, Sept. 24. (Special Correspondence of The Hie.) -I have been wandering about Parlu for a cfk In tho footsteps of tho American Invasion. They are oh fil it I ti 1 y marked as tho footprints which KijIiIuki n Crusoe fouii'l .n tho sand of hlft desert Island. Tin; big hotel In the heart of tho boulevardos where I am writlriK Is filled with Americans, and I am surrounded by American signs. Our con sul general has his offices Just over the way with the Annrican flag flying from a pole out of otie of tho windows; Spauld Ing, the Chicago Jeweler, Is Just below, nnd Tiffany & Co. are on the opposite side of the street. In tho same direction I can see tho sign of the Equitable Life Insur ance company, which has recently bought a lot under the shadow of the opera house, where It. expects to build an Ameri can building, and around the corner Is the office of the American Express company, with rending rooms containing the leading American papers. There are Amerlca'i newppnp'T correspondents scattered throughout the buildings nearby, and within a stone's throw of here are a scort of our manufacturers nnd oth rs who are here pushing American goods. I am dictating this letter to an American ma chine, at which Pits a pretty French typewriter girl who writes English, and were I fend rf American drinks I might stimulate my tongue with a Jigger of Ken tucky whlHky at the American bnr In this very hotel. Speaking of typewriters, all of the chief American makes ore b lug sold throughout France nnd tho French typewriter girl Is already an Institution In I'nrls. She Is as bright as her American sister and Is often as pretty and more stylishly dressed. She appreciates how to charge for her work and when she catches a wandering Ameri can she makes him pay well. The usual rates for transient work of this kind In l'arls la 5 frnncs, or $1 per hour. For long Jobs there Is a considerable reduction and for steady work the prices are about the same as at home. The Remingtons have a typewriting school which they ad vertise as Ecole de Stenographic and their machines are here called Machines a Hcrlro. The Smith Tremler, the Yost, the Callgraph. tho Hnr-Iock, the Oliver, the Densmore, the Jewett and tho Williams are American machines which I have seen and most of theso have offices on tho boulevards. In tho same locality may bo found tho Columbia phonographs and graphophones offered for solo or talking or singing In French nt fixed prices. There aro ",ve different brands of Amer ican bicycles for sale In one shop near the Madeleine, and American sewing machine are advertised on the kiosks and other stands throughout the city. The French havo no typewriters of their own worth mentioning and at this writing the Amcr- lean sewing machine is considered by far the best and it gets the trade. Our American foods are slowly but surely pushing their way Into the market of Paris. Not a few of the largest grocery es tablishments advertise American goods and some of them make such goods a specialty I visited today the grocery of Felix Potin at the Junction of the Ilciulevards Hauss nian and Maleshtrbes. It Is the greatest establishment cf the kind In Paris and per haps the finest grocery of the world. I found the windows piled high with Amor lean goods and placards hung up here and there advertising American soups. Callfor- nla fruits and other delicacies. Among tho curious things were little neck clams in tins and codfish balls from Doston. There were also tins of potted ham, tongue, tur key and chicken, silver spray succotash and cans of corn on the cob. Among the soups were oxtail, mock turtle, hare soup and clam nt,A.4.r urh nf which sella for 28 cents per can, green turtle and terrapin soups at 40 cent per can and mulllgatawney and others at lower rates. I talked with the manager. He saya that American goods are steadily increasing in popularity and that thev ar- making their way among tne French. I heard the same from another grocer close to the Place Vendome, In the heart of the Rue de la Prix, where the leading French dressmakers are situated. This man Is handling American cereals, Amer ican whiskies, crackers and blsculta from New York, as well as the various goods I saw at Potln's. At all the grccery stores our goodd are well displayed. The French are the most artistic of all window dressers and they can give as many points on preparing mer chandise so that it will catch the custom er's eye. I spent some time looking over the frulu, vegetables and meats at Potln's. Among the fruits were ripe strawberries, each strawberry lying half wrapped in a j reen leaf and In regular rows In flat boxes Th hn.oi annear to be covered with glass i.nd the strawberries are prettier than any fruit you have ever seen. They are aa big as hens' eggs and as rosy as lue cheek of a freshly washed baby. The covering of the b xrt la a thin film of hard gelatine, as transparent as glass. Then there were peaches in boxes laid In the same regular order on white paper, with a pinch of red tissue paper tucked In each hole where four peaches touched. The ef- fect was beautiful. Other peaches, espe- dally One, were displayed on beds of white . .,.1 i nnttoAH th tha nrlce of eight cf these was VA francs or almost 20 cents vm- u. Tha chicken and game were dressed with American Goods at the French Capital mi t rs 'Jm z&k I ""C'r- AMERICAN TYPEWRITER their heads turned under their wings. They were laid on their breasts on the counter and a little printed price mark was placed In the center of the back of each of them. They looked clean enough to kiss, and I do not wonder they sell. Each cut of meat was beautifully wrapped or tied up and each bore Its price mark. I And American goods for sale In the de partment stores of Paris. There are sev eral such establishments here and some quite as large as any in the United States, luderd, I doubt whether there Is a de partment store In America larger thau either the Don Marche or the Louvre. The Don Marche has five floors and a basemeut, each of which covers an acre, so that It has about six acres of floor space. It em ploys 4,000 clerks and does a business run nlng high into the tens of millions of dol lars per year. It was founded by the sou of a hatter named Douclcault about fifty years ago, who began in a small way, but who gradually built up the business into one of the greatest of Parts. A pecullai thing about the Bon Marche Is that U is managed on the co-operative principle. Douclcault married a common working girl, and after he died his wife took the business. When she died she made a will leaving it to her employes and as- slstants. so that the establishment now has about 600 stockholders, and every clerk gets some percentage over the amount paid him tor wages In 1880 the shares in the company were worm aooill Iiu.uuu, me same shares are now worth over $60,000, and pay annua: dividends of $3,600. After going through the lower floors I was taken to the top and shown the dining rooms. All They have a the employes are fed free. breakfast at noon which Is more like a dinner than our breakfast It consists of soup, meat, vegetables and des- sort. One thousand clerks are dined at a time, the eating beginning at 11 o'clock and continuing until 1. There were 1.000 men ai me tauica ieuny ucn i cuioicu us dining room and Beveral hundred women in rooms aJJolulng. The big dining room must ctver at least half an acre. It has eighty windows and is 600 feet long. I noticed that each man had a quart bottle of wine at his place, and was told that even the wine is free, and that every one has coffee and a glass of brandy, rum or other liquor at the dese of the meal. Indeed, I saw the brandy served. From the dining rooms I was taken inio the kitchens, where at least a score of cooks, scullions and butchers were at wcrk. MoBt of the cooking is dune in enormous eat ranges and steam boilers. There are nine boilers, each as big as a hogshead, used to mako the soups and stews. Three of these contain 800 quarts and two others have each a capacity of more than 100 nallons. When the whole store takes mut- ion chops for dinner the meat li cooked lu grills which open and shut Just like a waffle Iron. If you would take two Iron- barred garden gstes and hinge them to- gether ao that they could be laid on tho coals you might have something like one 0f these grills. Each will hold 100 chops, and the arrangements are such that 600 steaks or chops ran be broiled In twelve minutes. Seventeen hundred pounds of po- tatoes are fried at the same time and 1.400 eggs can be boiled at once. Connected with the Den Marche are lodg- lng houses for the women employes, who axe el ten bouse, linen, nre ana rooa tree or - charge. All employes after five years serr OFFICE IN PARIS. ice have an interest in what is called the Douclcault Provident Firm, consisting of a certain amount of the profits of the house proportionate to the salary received. Four per cent Interest is paid on the accumula tions of tnis kind and this is added to the capital. After a woman has been employed for fifteen years, or a man for twenty, be or she cun withdraw this capital, or the same right is given upon reaching fifty years of age. If a girl marries, however, she is given the entire amount of her capital, Irrespective of the term of service. Since the foundation of the firm more than $350, 000 has been paid cut to employes and the capital of the fund at present Is about $700,000. In addition to this there is another fund which provides pensions for such employes as have worked in the establishment for twenty years or have reached the age of CO. T'je capital of this fund is $1,000, nor nnd It gives life pensions of from $120 to $300 per year. The wages paid are, I under stand, about the same as those of other es tablishments, but the employes' receipts largely depend on the amount of their sales, regular commissions on such sales being g'.ven. Among the curious American goods for sale in the Don Marche are ice cream freez ers and refrigerators, as well as churns and washing machines. The English clerk who acted as my interpreter told me that the ice cream freezers are very popular. The rreucu uu um nuuw ito ucam no we mane it. Indeed, I have not had a good dish of ice cream since I left the United States. Ices are served at the hotels and restau- rants, but In many cases the amount given Is not more than a tablespoonful, and it Is served In a little glass with a bowl like the hole In the bottom of a wine bottle. The amount of ice cream given with the usual glass cf soda water In our drug stores Is about four times as much as you receive here In a dish, and the usual restaurant purnuu i umu nmno mL-my pur- lions served in Paris. You can get the chief makes of American bats in Paris, but they cost fully as much as they do in the United States. I was asked 25 francs, or $5 for a derby today. This year many Panama hats are bclnt; worn, and I do not see why an Importation of such gocds from the Philippine islands would not pay. The Filipinos make as gocd hats as South America and they sell them at a much less cost. I bought a hat In Manila for $5 which would cost $25 here In Paris, and the ordinary $2.50 hat sold there would be worth three times as much here. Men's Panama hats trimmed with eagle feathers are now especially papular with fashionable women of Paris. A good hat of this kind Is worth $16. The American lamp is beginning to make its way Into Europe, as are also our gas stoves and ranges. There are plenty of America shoes, both real and Imitation, in Paris. Thcssi made by the French are nothing like so good as the Imported artl- rle. n"r will they sell as well. One man tells me that he handles about 2.000 pairs of American shoes every year and that his sales are steadily Increasing. He says they are excellent shoes when the makers are conscientious. I met a curious American on the top of the Eiffel tower yesterday afternoon. Ho came from Portland. Ore., but of late year has been representing cne of our companies wnicn manuiaciuro uui.u ..... m.w.w.,, . H tells me that this is one of the live ar ticles of the American invasion, and that It Is stendily pushing Its way Into the pal aces of the rich on this side of the water. His firm sold over 300,000 yard3 In Europe last year. The most of this went to Eng land, and a part of 11 Is now on the walls of the prince of Wales' bed room. Another roll or so was used in the decoration of Balmoral castle, Queen Victoria's favorite palace in Scotland, and other rolls decorate the mansions of lords and dukes galore. The young Oregonian has already estab lished agencies In Norway and Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Italy, and he la now making arrangements to paper the French republic. It would seem to me that we might sell more writing paper and pulp paper to France than we are now doing. The paper used here Is of two kinds very good and very poor. For business letters the French use a cheaper grade than that used In the United States, but for social correspondence they have the best. The newspapers are printed on the cheap 3st of wood pulp, with the exception of tho expensive Journals, such as the Figaro. There are 2,600 Journals and periodicals published in Paris alone and of these a large number are dallies. The newspapers are much smaller thas ours, but some ef them, such as the Petit Journal and I.e Matin, have enormous circulations. Tb Petit Journal claims the largest circulation in tho world. The papers sell from 1 to 4 cents, or from 5 centimes to 20 centimes each. They are cried on the streets and also sold in iil'le galvanUed iron ne' stands on the outer edges of tho streets In all parts of the city. The kiosks belong to the government and the newsdealers pay rent for them. They make their money by the oommlsstrns they receive on the sales of the papers. The usual rate is two-fifths of a cent per copy for a 1-cent paper and three-fifths of a cent for papers that sell from 2 to 3 cents each. Such newsdealers on the boulevards sell the different Ameri can magazines. They not Infrequently havo American newspapers and always the Paris edition of the New York Herald, which Is partly in French and which has so much continental social news in it that it can hardly be called American. I had a talk last night with Mr. Lazare Weiller, who recently returned from tho United States, where he has been locating a place for the twenty young students which France from now on must keep in America to st ui'y our industrial and business methods. Mr. Weiller is delighted with his reception In the United States and Is urging that closer commercial relations should bo established. Said he: "The French have never felt more friendly toward the Americans than they do now. We appreciate your wonderful klnd n fs and great munificence In sending sup plies to our suffering people of Martinique and we should like to do what we can to make our trade relations with you closer. Indeed, I may say the French will do all they can to meet the people of the United States In this way. We should be glad to buy anything of you when it is not to our great financial advantage to buy elsewhere." "Along what special lines can our trade with France be most easily Increased?" I asked. "There are several lines," replied Mr. Weiller, "and especially that of coal. I should say that you could give us your Mil-plus cral quite as advantageously as the English or Delglans. Our annual production of coal Is about 15,000,000 tons short of the demand and we have to go to England or Belgium for supplies. The United States could easily furnish this and I hope that arrangements can be made to that effect." Since I saw Mr. Weiller I have had further talks about the coal industry of France with other parties. I am told that the time is ripe for tho Introduction of our coal here and that there is no doubt but that if properly pushed it could make its way Into the markets. At present France Is using about 4.1,000,000 tons of coal and the home production last year was not quite 33.0O0.0ti0 tons. Only 5 per cent of this Is anthracite, the remainder being bituminous and lignite. At present quite a lot of American coal is coming Into Marseilles and I understand that It is successfully competing with the Cardiff coal there. The American coal receipts at that port I'.uring the last year have been over 200, Ofi) tons. Th most of the Havre coal comes across the channel from Great Dritain and that of northeastern France from Belgium via railroad and canal. All sorts of fuel are used in France, and that most economically. There Is no waste ! of wood or coal. Many of the railway com panies use coal dust for running their steam engines. The dust is pressed by : hydraulic force into briquettes. or bricks. Coal dust pressed into balls the size of eggs Is used for cooking and also for house heating and grate fires. It seems to heat as well as lump coal. Here in Paris wood is sold by the bundle and the ordinary wood yard Is a little store about eight or ten feet wide, facing the street, the wood and kindling being piled up on shelves. It Is estimated that France spends almost $70,000,000 a year for wood, and I am told that wood, outside of kindling, is so costly that It is only used by the rich. A great deal of gas Is now being used for rooking, especially in the larger establish ments. There are no hot water plants cr steam heating plants to speak of and the average flat or office building is heated by coal stoves or grates The people do not know what it Is to be warm in the American sense of the word and the luxury of a fli Is dispensed with, except in the colde weather. I have already spoken of the Amerlcnj toys which are sold In different par' Europe. You may find some in Par they are to my mind prettier thai French toys, and. as a rule, m much cheapTV our baby ca l There Is an opening also for our baby rlages, both here and in England. Tho used in Paris and London are the most m comfortable things I have ever seen. Th Iximlon baby Is wheeled about In a sort a foot bath on wheels, called a p peratnbi: hCTw later. The most common carriage scats, so that It can be used for twins needed, and It is not uncommon to see so occupied. Even the perambulators at rough looking and the beautiful basket woH affairs made in America would certain! sell. The baby carrla ges of France are mo like our3, bJt they are not half so coiif fortable nor sc pretty. The best are ma of basket work, with four wheels, two fc ones and two small ones behind. You s the littlo ones ct Paris everywhere In tl parks nnd public squares in such carriage Each has a nurse guarding It nnd as rul" a policenan or a soldier Is nenrb gratuitously guarding the nurse. FRANK G. CARPENTER. n New White House Chin? Fiom among three score designs submi ted by as many factories, Mrs. Roo.tf? has selected a Miuple Cclr.nlul pattcr gild, with the obverse cf the great s . iiiiiiicinMi in coiors as tne decorative fei it i 1.. . . . . . i lire. The design was made by the Wedg wood company, nnd covers the requii mcnts possibly better than any of t others. In the new china service thus e lo-tcd there will be 1.29S pieces, divided follows: Fifteen dozen dinner plates, t dozrn breakfast plates, ten dozen t plates, five dozen bread and butter plat' ten dozen soup plates, eight dozen aft dinner cups and saucers, ten dozen t cups and saucers, ten doz?n oyster plati ten dozen fi?h plates, twelve slxteen-ln. platters, twelve elghteen-lnch platters. The cups and saucers will each also ha the great seal inscribed upon them. T great seal contains, when colored, : American eagle with white head and whi tall. The rest of tho bird Is brown, wii the exception of the talons, which a yellow. In one talon the eagle hcU- olive branch with thirteen olives the other talon thirteen arrows. T is red, silver and azure blue, and the co stellatlon over the head of the eagle azure blue with stars of silver, thlrte in number. In the beak of the eaglo the motto "E Pluribtis Unum." The lost dinner service for the use the White House was purchased In 1 during the administration of Tre? Hayes, and for some time past has Inadequate for state and other occaeloi That service was designed by Theodore li Davis and Its decorations were exclusive of American animals, birds, fishes a flowers. It was manufactured by Havila of Limoges, France. The designs w made in water color and were bold at striking. It was an elaborate service, 14 It is said it was perhaps 111 suited for needs of the house of the president of United States. Reductions of a Bachcl New York Tress: It takes only will po to face our mother-in-law, but it ta heroic fortitude to love her pets. When a girl refuses to give a man Is flirting with her photograph It is a 9 it does not flatter her. What could have been the use of E wearing clothes when there were no ot women to be Jealous of them? You can always make a woman beli you love her if you can keep on sayln without letting her see how tired it mi su li mi l in looV. you to do it. li lanes a woman to let a ma over as if she were a piece of statuar pretend she didn't know he was in the room with her. The Best 1 1 rff Interna tional if Dentifrice Make the teth iMviiitiful tha T'iiuh iirl. Urn Lreulli h..i. - . - - " " 1 1 nn an-ntll III,- l"oth. Overcoin.n nil the olijec-thm-hIiIh fealur.-8 I Mind In ihiwiIiti hhJ li'jiiln. Oonveiiifiit touw ami carry. Kj I t:'l'. .11 ull druualiu C. H. STRONG & CO. Chicago. U. 8. A. MADE $105 THE FIRST MONT writ.. FRED. BLOlXiElT, of N. Y. J bAhiUl.'K, of wriuwt "Am nmk fcl.UU to IMD nnil.i 1 nrk MRS M. AMKK80N. of lowu. writ JT niadd J HU io S.fi0 s dtu " B S. SBiT A CO. rtatlac rs A Iwl Bldf, Oariaaall 13 Sri s?Ly a ooing iimxwim. do can v lifltiiu to tluuu daily mad I I'JInus jewelry, tableware, r Wj luetal g-oodi with sold, S 'LsnDud. H.bUk.rnrl uniiiui. . rnri
