, 1889-10-17
hand, were willing to provide their own

extra work, the labor In this case being
exceedingly heavy and that ten min
utcs' grace should be allowed each knight
of the broom in which to answer the
superintendents call every morning be.
fore being sent on his daily round.
After discussing and adopting the
statutes of their new syndicnl chamber
the members urgently put forward the
three following claims, which, am told,
have, In u measure, since been allowed:
1. That foreigners be employed in the
proportion only OF one in ten; 2. That
the city fathers be held responsible for
ers during working hours; and 3. That
half hour for eating be granted those
who follow the carts, the spell of seven
hours from to fl o'clock A. NJ. being
too long for such heavy
WORK on AN EMPTY STOMACH
The rapdity with which snow 10
cleared away from the streets of Paris Is
u sight worth seeing. To effect this the
capital is divided into twenty dis
tricts, each of which Is farmed out to
contractor, who engages to clear 1t on
his own responsibility. IL Is for him to
hire carts and laborers and to apportion
out the work In accordance with the
plans; and he is heavily fined II in any
part of his district the business Is not
proceeded with In due course. The
streets themselves are divided into three
categories-first, the great thoroughfares,
which are ordered to be at once cleared
| OF all the snow lying on them; secondly,
the intermediate streets, In which the
snow is first brushed aside into two long
heaps, stretching along their sides; and,
thirdly, the smaller roadways, In which
the snow is merely swept into single
rampant along one side.
To each contractor, and also to the di-
rectors of the points ct chaussees, q map
| Is given, in which these several catoaor.
| In a,,I
yellow, SO that the work goes on with
regularity and according to the set de-
sign. The concierges and shopkeepers
are liable to be fined If they do not clean
away the snow from the. pavement in
front of their several abodes. To speed
matters and help the sweepers, the mu-
nicipality makes use of large snow.
plow, shaped like q harrow, with a tri-
angular wooden frame with a steel prov
in front at its apex. 1t is drawn along
by horses; the steel PROV acts
LIKE pLow
on the snow and casts II in rings on each
| side of the roadway. When the main
bulk has thus been cleared, what snow
remains Is thrown aside by strong sweep
ing machines, with one horse IN front
and revolving brush behind, which go
over the ground after the snow plow.
The omnibus and tram-car companies,
who are interested IN furthering the
work, place horses and materials gener-
ally at the service Of the authorities
whenever II heavy fall of snow occurs.
In the district bordering on the Seine the
snow Is cast into the river as fast as IL Is
removed from the roadway; in others
is conveyed to plots of waste ground,
where 1t is piled up; or else, when there
is water enough in the sewers and the
slope allows OF so doing, the snow is dis
charged into them.
| The shade trees planted along the
quays, avenues and boulevards, and in
the squares, parks and gardens must also
be attended to. There are upward of
100000 sorts in the capital and suburbs,
including the elm, lime, white and red
chestnut. plane, ash, birch, pine, syca-
more and pseudo-acacia. OF the more
recently introduced samples of trees now
acclimatized | may instance the Paulow-
mia and Cathalpa, with their frondent
masses OF gaunt green leaves; the hardy
Ailantus, or -
JAPANESE vARNIsH TREE,
which seems to pull through all weathers,
thriving mostly when others succumb;
the Judas tree, which bears q fine bunch
of rcd flowers; the stately Triacanthos,
or thorn tree, which is supposed to have
furnished the thorns with which the
crown of Christ was made, etc. All of
these exotic trees may be found at ono
point or another of tho boulevards.
congeners must be kept trimmed tho
height of nine feet above the sidewalks,
and the latter must be kept clear OF
leaves.
The work Is in charge of PIG men,
headed by Il sub-engineer and two forest
/ inspectors, at a cost of 600 francs
annually. This does not include the
Bois de Boulogne, which alone entails
an annual expense of 5000 francs, half
of which goes in salary to the guards,
gardners and workmen; nor does it COM
prise the Bois de Vincennes, which cost
? every year 10000 francs. There are ST.
400 trees in the city alone, and as $1,000
francs is spent on them annually, each
tree may be said to cost the municipality
: franc centimes year. A general
inspection of the trees in and around
: Paris takes place once every twelve
month i'm September, when the inspector
: accompanied by the head gardner blazes
, such of them as are too old or sickly.
! These are replaced by sapings from the
! city nurseries before the following
spring.
The Paris nursery grounds are situated
, I'm the Bois de Boulogne. They have u
? total supertices of twelve hectares--two
and one-half acres eaclI--and are divided
into two parts, one in the plain of
d th9 other near tine Lake
=. extent, is
? SHELTERED BY THE BoIs
: itself from the north and east winds, and
@ consequently is in IL most favorable posi-
, ton for the cultivation of pines, iirs and
, other conifcrs. Owing to the able
$ preparation of the soil, those trees grow
e there with remarkable vigor and possess
u magnificent foliage. In order to insure
IS the successful transportation of them,
II a year beforehand a trench is dug around
= them, leaving in the center q sufficient
mass of earth to nourish them. That
ground is then secured by sort of box
r. nailed together on the spot, with OPEN
y ings between the boards so as TO allow
i. the new roots to pass through and find
~ their nourishment outside. The
- trench is then filled in again, and
4 the tree can wait year or two with
~ out any danger. The collection of conifers
=, consists of 22i species and varieties, al
together %, 11S in number. The same
y ground contains 157 sorts of trees which
- shed their leaves, in all 5000. In the
, islands of the lake the director has
~ brought together some fine resinous
= trees, and others of deciduous nature,
= intended TO form splendid arboreun.
!, The whole Paris nursery in the Bois de
i Boulogne possesses 0s,000 trees and
4 shrubs of various kinds.
;, Out of the total general quality o.
q, water supplied daily from various
q, sources in the French capital, upward OF
- 10000 cubic yards is applied to the
=. cleansing of the public streets and sewers,
u and to the supply of the numerous orna-
. mental fountains in the various quarters
~ of Paris. 1t is pity, however, that
!. watering carts are not more generally in
,r vogue in the French capital; they are
,n not only more expeditions than the old.