Glaugust 26 - The Receiving Office
In the mechanical working of The Ladies' Paradise,
the receiving office was in the basement
There, on a level with the pavement, was a kind of glazed cage, into which the vans discharged the goods. They were
shot down a rapid slide, whose oak and iron work was polished by the constant chaffing of bales and cases. Everything entered by this yawning trap; it was a continuous swallowing up, a niagara of goods, falling with a roar like that of a torrent. At the approach of big sale times especially, the slide brought down an endless stream of Lyons silks, English woollens, Flemish linens, Alsatian calicoes, and Rouen prints.
[A]nd as each bale rushed down to the basement there arose a sound as of a stone thrown into deep water.
Rows of cases were coming down of themselves, falling like rain from some upper stream. Then bales appeared, toppling over in their descent like rolling stones.
By the grey light which came in through the large vent-holes, a squad of men were receiving the goods, whilst others removed the lids of the cases and opened the bales.
A dockyard kind of bustle filled this basement, whose vaulted roofing was supported by wrought-iron pillars and whose bare walls were simply cemented.
The air-holes placed at intervals admitted a pale light; while in the dark corners, and along the narrow corridors, gas was constantly burning. In these corridors were the reserves, large vaults closed with iron railings, containing the surplus goods of each department.
The kitchen and dining-rooms, old cellars turned into habitable apartments, were on the left.
At last, the delivery office. Here, all the purchases which customers did not take away with them, were sent down, sorted on tables,
then by a large staircase opening just opposite,
they were sent up
through the mill of the counters up above.
Successfully retrieving a bale of goods requires a save to avoid being crushed by a cask or spotted by the workmen (stats as bugbear). If the workmen are disrupted, goods begin to pile up, filling the space and spilling into adjacent rooms.
| d10 | Goods | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | rabbit-skin transformed into imitation ermine |
3 sp (a fake, and looks it up close) |
| 2 | ashen-hued Siberian squirrel-skin |
8 sp |
| 3 | swansdown of spotless snowiness |
10 sp |
| 4 | Gherdes, Koula, and Kirchur rugs |
15 sp |
| 5 | a cloth cloak edged with cocks' plumes |
25 sp |
| 6 | a silk cloak lined with miniver |
70 sp |
| 7 | a large scarf of Bruges lace, of considerable value |
45 sp |
| 8 | carpet with velvety reflections |
90 sp |
| 9 | a velvet mantle trimmed with silver fox |
130 sp |
| 10 | Agra carpet, an extraordinary article |
250 sp (requires two people to carry) |
After Émile Zola's The Ladies' Paradise (1883).