, 1874-01-04

easily carries OF all sewage discharged INTO 1t.
The Present system Of sowers consists Of seven
main tunnels, each as large as The tunnels under
the Chicago River ut Washington or LaSalle
streets. and some OF them or 4 miles i'll length.
Into these Ea1n galleries open forty or more
smaller tunnels. Of or 10 feet in diameter; and
The aggregate lsngth Of all the sewers built in
Paris is
ABOUT 400 a1LEs.
The contents of all the sewers OIL one side OF the
Seine arc conveyed under the river through
great sypnoon. and discharged into the mnin
sever, which is is feet III din1neter and 4 miles
in length. 1t discharges it's river Of filth into
the Seine, below the walls, at village called
Asuieres, whence the foul fluid dlffuseB with the
water Of tho rapid strsarn, and passes off to the
sca without being uo1ious to the country.
PI1iB receives it's
sUpPLY OF WATER
from several sources, and consumes for all pur-
poses general average OF s., 000, 600 OF gallons
per day. About one-haif OF the water is brought
from branch Of tho Stino called the Ourcq;
one-third is taken from the Seine itself, about
so miles above the city and the remainder is
procured from tie River Marne. ard the creek
called Dhuys. Several aEtesian wells, as those
of Passy, Arcnelll. and Grene1le, supply the
lases OF tho Park OF Boulogne. The City
Government rec receives ena for the water furnished
Bus the water is Of q very in
ferior quality. 1t is very hard continuing n1ucl.
chloratu Of limo mud chlorate of soda. Any acid
thrown into it will effervcscc,-b bubbles arising
rs in glass Of champagne. 1t is really
NOT F1r TO DE1Sk.
and nobody does drink it who can help it. It
mny be proper to add hero .Lat comparatively
little OF the drinking-water found iu France will
begin to compare with the water furnished to
the people OF Chicago, in point Of purity aud
healthfulneHs. It may safely be asserted that
most Of the water il bad.-hardly safe to drink
ard is this not, after oil, the actual cause that
impcls tho whole population to seek substitutes
in colfeo and wine Long experience has taught
conducive to health, and has made them seekfor
substitutes The cheapest, most pleasant, and
beneficial, long custom has decided to be
COFFEE AND LIGHT WINE.
II the water Of France werc Of equal purity
with that OF Lake Michigan, it is questionable
whether there would oe q pint OF wine consumed
where there is now gallon. for the Fiench are
all exceedingly economical saving people and,
were it not for the deleterious character OF the
water, they would not occupy 80 much OF their
laad with grapes. but would raise mora grain
and cattle.
THE CHIEF BUILDING MATERIAL
OF Paris is soft. crean-colored sandstone,
which becomes moderately hard on exposure to
the atmosphere. It is very easy to cut,-indeed
too TENDER has to be dressed down after it
il built in tue wall. Whilo now, it is = very
plcasiug stone to ths eye but, in few years,
it beg1ns to dscolor, and eventually turns dirty,
soinbre brown, anything but cheerful OF pleasing
to vier. There il no variety of building-stone
in Paris, as this straw-colored sandstone is
all the material they have 1t gives
the city sameness Of color which is exceeding
ly monotonous. The gsandest public ed,fices
are constructed Of this s1one, as well as the
coinmouest buildings !, even the monuments OF
the cemeteries a,e chiefly composed Of this yell
low sandstone.
Paris is handsomer city than London,
AnCHITECTUnALy.
The continual fog5 end vast consumption OF
oitumiuous coal have besmeared all London
with SCOT, and intict on it black aud unclenn
look. But. aeido from this besmcaring OF c1eo~
sote, the buildings lnforior to those in Paris
in point Of architecture. The prevailing styles
differ, however. The London taste rather in
c!ines to Gothic, while that of Paris is Grecian.
Indeed. the French arc exceedingly Grecian in
al their tastes and ways; and they boast OF 1t.
They call Paris the modern Athens, and London
the modern Rome, as regards the hne
arts aud literature. Several OF tie recently
erected public buildings In London are modelled
after the style OF Partisan buildings, and the ma
teria1 is the same being imported from the basin
OF the Saine. In fact, the English are importing
this straw-co1ored sandstone in large quanti-
ties, not only into London, but many other cities
OF Great Britain.
There il an almost total
ABSENCE OF FcoSFLAGRAT1oSs
in Paris. Fires seldom break out, and rarely or
never spread beyond the walls OF tho building
where they originate. There neCeE has been de-
structive fire in Paris, ia there ever likely to
be. except such as are purposely klnded and en-
couragcd by Communists and other madmen. I
have been studying tha cause Of this perfect I'M
munitY from fire, and lind it simple enough. It
consists Of strict rules for the construction Of
houses, and personal liability for damage
done by the spread Of fires. Paris is substan-
TALLY tre-proof without the use OF iron girders
and beams, iron 1athinG, or brick or tile floors,
by the adoption Of a
SIMPLE PRINCIPLE OF CONSTRUCTION,
which is, that there shall be no air-spacas left
and the studding or wall itsolf and that the
roof must be covered with tle slate, or metal.
There ls not such an lncaudiary thin: as wood
or tar-and-gravel roof in Paris, and, for aught
I know, in all France. The spaces between
floors must be filed with cement or plastor-of-
Paris. which is hero cheap and abundant, and
tile wooden floors must rest close down on this
cement go that, in case OF fro, there ia no air
space under the floors. The spaces between the
studding in partition-walls arc also carefully
filled up with cement, and against it the p1aster
is placed, SO that there is no chance for fire to
get between them, to rush up from one story to
another or to hY along between floors. Whom a
fire breaks ont, il spreads 80 slowly in houses
thus constructed, TINT it il always quenched be-
fore doing much damage, or extending to other
buildings.
The other precaution is Intended to pre-
vent ca1eleesness and incendiarism, go common
i'll American cities. II fire, no matter how it
may happen, does any damage to any other per-
son, he has full recourse at law, for
ALL HIS DAMAGES AND COSTS,
against the person in whose premises the FIRE
oloko out. This simple rule Of equity and right
makes everybody watchfu1 and careful OF fire.
The gross carelessness everywhere Witnessed in
American cities is in Pafis, or France.
It don't pay here for man to set fire to his
stock Of goods il order to get high insurance;
nor for q landlord vino has an idle tenement On
his hands, or bad teannts to fire his premises
for the sake OF realizing on his policy OF insur-
ance ; nor has any one m object in efect1ng
larse insurance. Indeed, the chief insurance
taken out in Paris is in the nature Of an lnden-
nifty against the damage one may have to pay
his neghbors in case Of fro spreading from bis
to theirs. But the whole amount of
insurance paid to the companies in Paris is
LESS THAN IS PAID EY THE PEOPLE OF CHICAGO,
although Paris il more than four times as large
as Chicago. and it's buildings md their contents,
taken together, worth perhaps eight times az
much az those in Chicago. Insurance is merely
nominal here. say x to 1-10 OF l per cent on
the property directly insured, and few francs
per annum aa indemnity against damage that
may he done to other peoples premises.
To build houses in Chicago after tic Paris
unun,,r of nrecaukionH ouainHI fire. would urOb- |