Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1870-08-24
now PARIS ~ PROJECTED.
DESCRIPTION or THs FosrIFlcAr,oNs
The City safe .sm Prussian shells.

In ISS6, after the Bourbops had been expelled
ssd their cousins Of the Orleans family had as
cended the French throne, law wss passed BY
by the Chambers ordering the construction AMI
repair Of fOrtresses, and granting q sum OF
l4e ,Wc,eo francs fOr constructing . dOuble line
OF oeienee around the capital The plan agreed
nion provided for double line Of defences, the
interior TO consist OF q continuous encloSure
- -, Sea,aIe' and the outer line OF a Se
ttes OF octached forts, each cOmplets OF itself
and independent OF the other ana vef al =, -
ranged ss 70 snord each other the amples, -
lance ln tne event Of an attack. Their hres
my 20 pas between them before he can s,tacA
the inner walls, whose guns also sweep the one
space betw cen the forts
TAR INNER LINE.
The inner line OF works consists OF a series OF
bsStlons, which present ninety-fOur angulrr
fronts. The line ~ irregular, but surrounds the
entire city. going through the Bois de BOulOgne
on the west, and tou ching the Bois dc Nincennes
en- the southwest IL IL twenty-five miles IN cir
cumference, ard Is probably the longest con-
tiDuops line OF bastors IN the world. The wall,
which forms part Of the bsStions, il also ter
raced, and has an escarpment OF thrty-fOur
feet, faced with masonry. Each OF the angular
faces a. o., bastions) has q medium length OF
l,l@iect In front OF the whole, aud entirely
suTrol olnding the city, - a contin ued fOsse or line
Of Vet bitches, lined with masonry, aud OF
a depth OF eighteen feet by a width OF twenty
feet. From the bottom OF these bitches 90 fhe
top Of the embsnkments crOwning the walls r. a
height OF about forty live feet. The bastions
will have mounted in them an average Of about
ten guns each. which will make a total OF 90
scr the ninety -four angular faces. This agrees
with the dispatches IRON Paris. which report
1909 surs mounted on the ramparts since tie
battle OF WoeTth. About one hGniEed gates
pierce the rampsrfs, the dJches being
covered by drawbridges. which can b.
removed at a moments notice or DESTROYED
IN lwo minutes 10y the cannon in the basti0r~.
AT different POINTS In the rear OF the line are
placed extensive magazines, well supplied WITH
ammunition Tor the erlillery, and amply pro-
tected iron the shot OF the enemy. Since the
accession Of Dou's Napoleon these maya ZINES
have been entirely remodelled. and are nov al
SOlutely impregnsble 20 shot and she'll. Until
the present war broke out there was not a gun
mounted upon the ramparts, nor was the ~
cleRte complete. To-day every bastion Il briSf-
ling with cannon, and the entire inner work
are IN a complete state OF preparation Tor IN
enemy. The heavy guns will have before them
a clean ~ ecp OF from one and half 20 three
miles, 50 that even IL the Prussiaus succeed i'm
forcing a passage between the outer works they
will be met at the onset by q concentric hre
from two OF the tOrts and from the ramparts.
TIKI DETACHED PoRTREssEs.
These arc fifteen in number and are OF var
ous sizes They cover q considerable length O.
tire Seine river, which on the west makes deep
bend forming a broad peninsula. ON the south
east the junction OF the Seine with the NJ Msrne =
also covered by a fort The fifteen forts com
bined present ninety three fronts. Zach fort -
separate and distinct work, intended 20 RELY
ing support from the works 'hat Hank il. All
are Classmates, ard, combined, mount twenty
three hundred gurs OF al kinds and calibrcs.
Their armamenss have bSen in them for a leng
while, so that little work has been required for
them since there was prospect of Paris beiu.
beseiged. Each has ats own magazine, bar
racks, s'orehouse and supply of water, 80 that
should one be captured the two on each side
would not be ipconvenienced In the slightest
degree, while the rankeTs would be Tree from
the tPrk f-e OF the two iorts referred 70.
As announced fnom Paris, the garrison. an the
event Of a Il &c, will consist OF 2D9 900 men.
great deal OF unne Necessary sorrow is being en-
pressed at the prospect OF Prus~ian shells at
tering down the splendid ediucs o. Paris. It =
exceedingly doubtful IL any of their shells viii
fall much beyond the inner line OF works and ;Or
the reason that they i'll not be able - construct
batteries neer erough ID the outer fortresses q
throw shells into hcTuileries, unless they bring
six hundred pounder gurs with them, and -
doubt much II their siege artillery contains gafs
of any such calibre. Furthermore, % surrOr "a
rue webs OF Pf-is would require q much larger
srmy than the Prus<isps now have. Five hun
dred thousand mon may do At, but half tha;
number cannot. They may occupy al the
svenucs OF approach, but each force Of occapa-
ton would be SO fer from the Others that by
rapid massing the French would stand a far
chance OF thrashing the besiegeTs in detail