There are also supplemental posts established in the kiosques of the
carriage-stands; one agent looks after the cabs, and another is at the
service of the public. In each arrondissement, a certain number patrol
in civilian costume, to keep an eye on the street-vendors and to
suppress prostitution. The evening service of theatres and concerts is
furnished by the reserve companies and the carriage brigade; this is
supplied without costs for the theatres, but the concerts pay one franc
for each gardien de la paix, and a franc and a half for a brigadier.
These payments are all turned into a common fund, which, every three
months, is divided among the force. For those who have been killed while
on duty, the city of Paris has erected in the Montmartre cemetery a
monument, on which their names are engraved.

Although its functions, strictly speaking, are confined to the pursuit
and punishment of misdemeanors and crimes, the Paris police occupies
itself with a great number of other affairs that tend to enhance the
comfort and security of the citizen. In the cabinet of the Prefet, a
vast number of delicate affairs are treated with the utmost
discrimination; the Commissaires render daily numerous services of this
kind to the public. Very many disputes which would otherwise be brought
before the Juge de Paix are settled before a Commissaire, without cost
and with a great saving of time. A tenant summons before this officer
his landlord who refuses to allow him to move out on the pretence that
he has not paid his rent; the case is argued before the police
magistrate, and a judgment rendered which is accepted as final. Two
persons quarrel in the street and come to blows; instead of being
arrested and brought before the tribunaux correctionnels, they are
conducted before the Commissaire, where one of them admits his error and
apologizes. A jeweler confides a quantity of precious stones to a
trusted agent to dispose of, but afterward has reasons to believe that
the salesman is meditating flight; if he carry his case to the Tribunal
de Commerce, the delays will give the other ample time to abscond. But
if he cause him to be brought to the Commissariat of police, the chances
are that he will recover his property and that the culprit will depart
admonished and repentant. A married couple are on the point of
disagreeing, and applying for a divorce; this useful official summons
them before him, listens to their explanations and accusation