, 1889-10-17
How They Are Cleaned and Wa
tered by an Army of
Laborers.
Wooden Pavement Has Largely
Superseded Macadam on
the Boulevards.
Shade Trees Are Planted and
Cared For by the City
Authorities.

during this exhibition summer. Btu.
men makes walking SO easy that is al
most less fatiguing to walk than to stay
in doors. And then there is every in
ducement to walk. How can Il people
appreciate a tireside ingle whose fuel is
the more often bundle of sticks, who
dine at restaurants, and who live on
flats? They have not the comforts of
home-life, and they do not want them.
They prefer the pleasure of public So
ciety. A Frenchman-at any rate, a
Frenchman of a large proportion of the
middle class--would not think of spend
ing couple of idle hours in his own
drawing room. Why should he do so?
| The street Is his drawing-room. And
very handsome one it is, too, with its
clean, tidy, well-swept thoroughfares,
its bright cafes and shady boulevards, its
WITHHOLDING housc-fronts, pretty
decorated shop windows, and splendid
edifces.
The streets of Paris can, of course, be
dirty-for even here rain will at times
fall from the clouds-but in the mud
there is not so strong feeling of clotted
grease that the London smoke produces
in the dismal thoroughfares of the huge
metropolis. The municipal council here
do their work of cleansing the streets
we'll and with methodical regularity.
The work Is gigantic one, and
worthy of attention. The total length
of streets, avenues, boulevarcls, bridges,
ouays and thoroughfares generally, is
- -. .h,,', COO H. os ,,.;o,,
se' oowl "o "ooo' wv i''i'.'' -, ""'O'
nearly 100 miles are planted with trees.
II the whole of the population estimated
az 'ho i"'' e'''u' w '"'' -'''-0'
should
TURN OUT FOR WALK
the same day at the same hour, it is
conn,,,od that eocb individual would
80. 80. .s,, a.,.,.,,a,a,,
nave only ior,yItwSS ieiieIe,s H T,shS iHr SiH i,
teen ane otle-haii incnes Ingiisn IN
length OF grollh9 10 stana upon Inc
expense oil keeping these tniootomBaIares INC onnB M
III oruer anu IePair rs 10, -is,Vyvy ~, iialicS ui,
Ron Of the outlay AMONG the nonuiation
were to be made each inhabitant would
have to pay over 8 francs "a year in taxes
for that purpose alone.
The whole of this vast undertaking is
managed by the director of "la Noirie,"
or commission of public ways, and the
work distributed under four distinct
headings: First, the purchase and stor-
age of materials; second, the employ
ment of PAYERS, road-menders and la
borers; third, the watering of the public
streets and thoroughfares and fourth,
the sweeping and carting of mud, filth
and snow. Each of these respective
branches figures for sum of 4,5OO, 600
francs in the municipal budget.
The best stone use for paving pur-
poses is unQuestionably the old COM
pact sandstone quarried at Fontainc-
bleau and u few other places on the out
skirts of the Paris basin. There are
three varieties, known respectively as
pif pat and pouf. The former is too
hard for cutting and the latter too soft
for paving; the right sort is the paf. A
hard granite, which comes from Cher
bourg, has been much used of late years,
but its surface is polished too rapidly by
the carriage wheels and grows slippery:
The footways are partly furnished
with avas and basalts from Volvic, in
Auvergne, and partly with a mixture oi
bitumen and gravel
WOODEN PAVEMENT
,,,oos,,r, ,,La,, ,I,a ,Iooo &c ths
M lihs ~, iieSsuio G aaaum e;,e p'Ho1 y, dn,
oiu systIin VI ih"euut'iiizin , .ne h'li U.oaue
IWos .t SUI. p;,au ,L, d.
Vendome the place de In Concorde. tn,
y
The traffic over these roads is enormous
and is of A sort which most distresse.
and wears any road-namely. such as i,
caused by cnbs. omnibuses and sprini
WAGONS. After numerous Experiment,
with different kinds of wooden pave
ments the plun finally adopted Is I,
form n he'd of lime concrete for base ant
: then deposit. narrow side UPWARDS. small
blocks pf nine wood nreyionslv steened
, l in tar. and of the size of ordinary bricks
, Between every row an intersticc is left
t n quarter or half an inch wide filled II,
by gravel ana sand, well rammed in, tn,
whole being coated over with anothe
, nm. Experience has tested this plan I,
, lbe next TO perfect.
, ] was present last wear at "A meeting
where the strcet-sweepers had been con
} yened for the purpose of forming them
> selves into a syndicate or union, Tn,
, meeting was held at the sale Delaporte
) i'm the Rue du Ruisseau, or Gutter street
. near the gates of ST, Ouen. 1t wa
largely attended by tie male and femaI
members of the profession, as also by
laruo number of outsiders whom distres
coInpels to seek temporary occupatio
= among their ranks, and who are nick
= named
"LANoERs or THE pREFEcr."
=, ,,.,..,. 20 .t.o ,,a,;.,,,
: ea dmc appoii,tlhhom;t ,nho,; vi .me pd; pndds,hg & ~
= ,i.i wa' NJ an;,, tIa III, S,,,,,,s, ",..
r;nai c",,Dc;,nr "' aud an rc',roscn,at;ue =
th,"L ~ @ ouuau t my th o,ui.aiXy oaai do Van,
h took the chairand eloouently expounde
II the grievances of this interesting porto
Q of the community. Among the qties
n tions ventilated were wages, extra worl
n accidents, regulations, the exclusion {
$ foreigners fines, etc:
;. From what transpired on this occasion
/ Of N |,