Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-02-14

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we started. The next change Of
name is the Boulevard st. Martin
then, the Boulevard du Temple
then, the Boulevard des Files ds
Colverie; then, the Boulevard Beau
marchais; then, the Place de la Bas
tile, being the place where stood the
old Bastile of the Revolution. Al
this point dozen or more streets
converge from every direction. The
distance from the Bastile to the Mad.
eleine is something over two miles
and in that space the street, it will
be observed,
CHANGES ITS NAME TEN TIMES
In the remainder of the circuit il
changes it's name ten times mOre,-
making twenty in all. Between the
Madeleine and the Bastile, is the
Broadway of Paris, on which is found
the best class of buildings, the prin-
cipal opera-houses and theatres, the
largest and finest hotels, the most
elegant and high-priced stores, the
most glitter and glare, the great
est profusion of cafes and drinking
shops, the largest display of fashion
and fiippery and the greatest crowds
of people promenading backwards
and forwards day and night, or sit
ting before little metallic stands, sip
ping various beverages or smoking
all intent on idling away their time
in the least useful manner.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER BoULEvARDs
besides the one above described. In
1914 the French, Tor the. purpose of
resisting the invasion of the Allies,
erected a circle of Notifications
around Paris at an average distance
of mile beyond the old bulwarks
pulled down in 1870. As before
stated, another system of works was
commenced in IS4I, about mile
still farther out, which yet stands,
while those of 1914 were leveled,
and great circular street established
on the space occupied by them. This
second circle is called the Boulevard
''Exterleur," while the other is called
the ''Interieur," and the outer walls
are called the Fortifcaiion Boule-
wards, on the inside of which is a
wide roadway encircling the present
city, 81 miles in length; and few
hundred yards inside of that is a mill
itary railroad, also encircling the
city, and intended to handle troops
and munitions with celebrity in time
of siege. From the centre of the
city radiate irregularly other wide
streets called boulevards, like the
spokes of a wheel from its hub to its
tire (the tire representing the afore-
said line of fortifcations). The gen
eral appearance Of Paris on a map is
that Of
a SPIDERS WEB;
but its streets, other than the boule-
wards and few wide "rues," are a
tangled maze of incomprehensible
narrow lanes and alleys, which only
the cabmen are supposed to know or
understand whence they come or
whittier they 60.
At hundreds of points, six or eight
of those streets converge and end,
Where they go from those points OF
intersection, ''no fellow can find out, "
for there is not a straight line in any
direction but for a short distance.
Follow one of them for a few min
utes, and you come to a 'fork of
the roads" Take either hand, and
you come to another fork, or several
of them, or suddenly reach a blind
wall, and are out of street. Then
undertake to retrace your steps, and,
in few hundred yards travel, you
are in some other street not seen be-
fore. Follow that in any direction
and it brings you speedily to focus
Of haIf-a-dozen streets. Then take
your choice, and start ahead, and
YOU ARE LOST, ,..-..
no matter which one you select.
The finest thing in the street-sys-
tenn of Paris, to my eye, are the two
magnificent roadways along the
Seine, on either side thereof. The
river makes a grand curve through
the city for distance of 8 or 9 miles.
The roadways laid out on either
bank average $50 feet wide, and are
planted with trees. The slopes of
the river are walled up with solid
masonry from the bottom to the top,
a height of perhaps 40 feet the
whole distance, except the upper
part of the river, where landings, or
leyees, have been graded and paved
for the reception of the commerce of
the river, consisting of wood, stone,
brick, sand, gravel, hay, and other
country produce. .-..-.
There can be no more beautiful
drive imaginable than on one of
those
RIvER-BANK ROADwAYS
On one side is seen many of the
finest public buildings in Paris; on
the other hand is the curving river
as it sweeps through the city, with
half-a-dozen arched bridges span
ming the Seine always in sight, each
bearing its stream of vehicles and
people. On the opposite shore is the
other great driveway, lined with
splendid buildings and beautiful gar
dens; while floating up and down
the river itself is fotilla of "steam
omnibus batteaux," which carry pas
sengers from one landing to any
other within the walls for 3 cents
per passenger.
The streets of Paris are all paved,
and kept clean continually. Such a
nuisance as street dust whisking
about into shops and dwellings,, and
binding the eyes of pedestrians, is
UNKNOWN IN PARIS.
Every day the streets are sprinkled
and swept, and those which are
paved with asphalt are washed as
well as swept, and kept as clean and
bright as the marble floor of the
Grand Pacific Hotel. The usual
pavement-material is composed of
a hard, compact sandstone, of blue
color, nearly as durable as granite
1t is prepared in cubes of about to
Z II