An Incident at the Exposition

Among the many establishments that offered visitors to the Exposition a place to eat or drink, there was one, very elegant and original, located aboard a luxuriously appointed barge moored on the Seine quay.
One of these evenings, a customer took a table there and, for all he had to drink, asked for a quart of mineral water. Undoubtedly very sober, he was content with it. But when he wanted to pay and learned from the maître d' that he was being asked for twelve francs, he lost his temper. Harsh words were exchanged. The maître d' went so far as to call his customer a "pignouf" and a "stingy fellow." The latter, furious and annoyed, did not hesitate. He seized his adversary and, over the rail, threw him into the river, shouting: "That's water that isn't worth twelve francs!" Conveniently, the butler was pulled from the Seine where he was paddling, and the two adversaries were taken to the police station. It is likely that the commissioner and the officers were not the last to laugh. However, the irascible customer was prosecuted for assault and battery, and the discourteous butler for insults.