The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1878-11-09
TIDY PARIS.
how the Gay French Metropolis is
Kept Clean.

How the Gay French Metropolis is
Kept Clean.
Richard Whiteing in New York World.
Paris, unlike many of her children,
makes her first toilet the moment she
rises. Formerly every owner of a dwell
ing was bound by law to sweep the pub
lie road in front of his dwelling. He is
now obliged to have it done by the pub
lie scavengers, at rate proportional to
the Importance of the quarter. The
rate Is 81 confines per square meter in
the " First Division" which includes
the better quarters, and "a centimes in
the second. We have equality and fra
ternlty In politics, but not exactly in
neutrality-suspicious. as we are
The total rate levied on the city under
this head is $3.50, 000a year. The cleans.
ing is thoroughly done. At an early
hour in the morning Molly, the house
maid, has to bring down all the sweep
ings of her rooms and leave them in the
gutter-there are no ash-pits in Paris
Then acart comes around for the removal
OF this heavier refuse. Long before this
the scavengers have begun to sweep the
| lighter impurities from the roadway into
the cutters. The strip 81 sidewalk in
front Of each house is still swept by the
occupant. The last part of tbe work is
to thoroughly flush and sweep the gut
tiers, and, when this is done, Paris has
had her first morning wash. The bust
ness OF the scavrngers is to maintain her
IN state of comparative purity for the
rest OF the day, the principle being that
the only way to keep a city clean is to
never allow it to get dirty. The scav-
englng Is thus sort of preventive ser
vice against " matter in the wrong place"
The scavengers are organized in l22
brigades, each numbering from twenty
five to thirty hands (men and women),
and OtiCered by "chief" or " aid. :"
Most of these hands are employed only
in the morning, when the heaviest part
| of the work is to be done. The morn
ing hands are called sweepers," the all
day hands cantOnniers." The last
have to water the roads in summer, and
keep them up to the mark in general
cleanliness all the year round. The
scaVengers begin work al in the morn
ing in summer, and in the winter at 4,
and both in winter and summer their
day, if cantonniers, ends at P. NJ. The
halliday Of the "sweepers terminates
at 10 A. NJ. There are 1850 scavengers
of both grades, and 10 chiefs. The can
tonniers are mostly employed in the most
frequented quarters, where the sweeping
is going on all day. In the other quarters
the first cleansing is, in many cases, also
the last. The 1850 scayengers men
toned above form the permanent staff,
! but the total of persons engaged in the
service is at all times largely increased
by the " auxiliaries," who are employed
as they are wanted, and paid by the day,
or rather by the half day, as that is the
most usual term of labor. The number
| Of auxiliaries varies, of course, accord
| ing to the season. In the summer time
there are about 1000 on the books-paid
from l franc to | franc IS centimes for
their mornings work Add these to
the number given above, and we have in
round numbers a total of about 5000
brooms at work in Paris day by day
Reckoning the area at about twenty-five
square miles, this gives 200 scavengers
to the mile, or more if we make the con-
siderable allowance due for the space
occupied by the houses.
Part of the sweeping is done by ma
chine brOOms, set III motion by horse
going at a walking pace. Each machine
costs 5000, and it will sweep 5000 square
yards an hour. A man working with a
broom can do but 900 yards; the machine,
therefore does the work of 10 men. 1t
is used only on the larger thorOughfares.
1t has been found that the washing of
the roadways tends largely to their
! preservation. They are, therefore, thor
Oughly drenched and secured every FIVE
or six days. The ordinary watering of
the street 70 keep down the dust begins
on the 18th of March, on the macadam-
| lied pavements, and from a fortnight
1 to a month later on the pavement of
asphalt and stone. A few years ago the
watering was done solely by carts; it is
now done by means of India rubber hose
covering large circumference and east
! ly transferred from plug to plug in the
streets. The system is cheaper by half
| than the old one of water-carts, though
! the latter is still in extensive use. OF
! the $4,000 square meters of surface
watered every day, 6,173, 600 are covered
! by means of $50 carts, the remainder by
hand. The carts belong to the city.
The service of horse and driver is per
formed by contract at $50 a month for
each vehicle. Down to 1861 the re-
moval of street refuse was farmed out,
the farmer" paying so much for the
privilege Of removing the mud, etc, to
sell as manure. This, however, was
found to work badly, and the work is
now, l believe, done by contract, the city
retaining its ownership Of the refuse
removed; but on this point | am not
quite clear.
Autumn.
The first faint sweet breath of autumn