290 THE WORLD'S LUMBER ROOM. 



which was described at length by the correspondent of the 

 London Daily Telegraph, in 1878. 



"The fragments which form the 'jewellery' of the 

 Halles Centrales, are brought down in big baskets between 

 seven and eight every morning by the garfons of the great 

 Boulevard restaurants, or by the larbins from the hotels of 

 the Ministers or the foreign Ambassadors." 



If a grand dinner has been given the night before at 

 one of the Embassies, the show of "jewellery" in the morning 

 will be magnificent. There will be whole turkeys and 

 fowls, hams, and boars' heads, which have been scarcely 

 touched, displayed upon the deal boards. 



Out of the season the supply comes chiefly from the 

 leading restaurants, where the " leavings " are the perquisites 

 of the waiters. Some dealers, and they are nearly always 

 women, have a yearly contract with particular restaurants ; 

 some arrange the goods themselves ; others, feeling that it is 

 a matter of importance, and that they do not possess the 

 requisite taste and skill, engage a professional hand to do it 

 for them. The object, of course, is to make a very little 

 seem a great deal, and also to render the various " portions " 

 as attractive to the eye as possible, and the " artists " flit 

 from stall to stall, giving here and there a touch of green in 

 the shape of spinach or Brussels sprout, or of red in the 

 form of carrot or tomato, adding a morsel of blanc-mange 

 here, a bit of pie-crust there, and so on, until each "portion " 

 looks as it should. 



The " portions " are arranged on quarter-sheets of old 

 newspapers, and vary in price from two sous upwards. 

 As a sample, imagine a pile consisting of the leg of a 



