HOMES OF THE " CHIFFONNIERS" 273 



sell it again in large quantities. There are about a hundred 

 such contractors in Paris, and of these four or five turn 

 over millions of francs in the course of the year. Many are 

 very wealthy, and all soon become well-to-do. 



There is a certain M. Berton who has made himself con- 

 spicuous in the Paris elections since 1868, by offering him- 

 self as a candidate, printing his addresses on rose-coloured 

 paper, and promising prosperity to mankind in general, and 

 the Parisians in particular, if only they will give him a seat 

 in the Chamber of Deputies or on the Municipal Council. 

 This gentleman was for twenty years a dust-contractor, and 

 retired from the business when still comparatively young 

 with a yearly income of 60,000 francs (^2,040), earned for 

 him by the rouleurs and placiers. 



The chiffonniers live in certain streets, which are occu- 

 pied by members of the fraternity only. The best known 

 of these is the Rue Mouffetard, on the left bank of the 

 Seine; but there are also large colonies at Montrouge, 

 Montmartre, and La Villette, and everywhere their habita- 

 tions look more like gipsy camps than anything else. Their 

 huts are built of the most extraordinary materials, the 

 walls being either of kneaded mud, or, like those of the 

 ancient Lake-dwellers, of wattle, filled in with clay. A 

 carriage-wheel often does duty for a window, the spaces 

 between the spokes being covered with oiled paper, and 

 the roof consists of tarpaulin, or, at best, of pieces of 

 roofing-paper patched together. Some few buildings are 

 constructed of brick, gypsum, or wooden spars ; but these 

 are owned only by the very prosperous. Great cleanliness 

 is, of course, out of the question, considering the nature 

 s 



