The morning call., 1890-11-30
PARIS TO BE
. ..... .....: A SEAPORT.
A Scheme for the Canalization
:. ..# " of the River Seine.
The Proposition to Make the City Grea,
Commercial 0ne-Interesting statis-
-, :. tics About Parisians,
Special 10. THE SUNDAY CALL.

m AXIS, Nov 10, 1S9O.-The project of
: }ss making Paris a seaport by connecting
EA*S it with the channel is one Of the
::Grandest ever conceived by French savants,
and if, as we hope, this plan be realized, it
is :certan that the creation of this great
means of communication will restore to the
capital OF France her former maritime i'm
:portance. =.
=; The arms of the city of Paris represent
Slip, surmounted by the motto, "Fluctuat
nee mergitur," proof of maritime origin.
/: The commercial Importance of Paris before
the Roman occupation is an historical SOU
Yenir, and in very early times it is proven
that Lutetia communicated with the sea by
. means of the Seine.
-. Paris seaport, the French could COM
!: pete with countries now very formidable;
for instance, Belgium possesses Antwerp,
with harbor that is made larger and larger
each year, to the detriment Of French inter
: e5ts. Antwerp has taken all the merchandise
destined for Alsace, the Ardennes and the
Rhenish provinces, and the Belgian Journal
of Commerce has decided that with Paris
seaport Antwerp trade would be much in
idred, perhaps destroyed.
: Paris, from its geographical situation and
its immense resources, is the only city in
France capable of riyaling Antwerp. In
case of Siege every obstacle in the way of
furnishing food to the French capital would
disappear, were there canal connecting
Paris with the sea, and this fact has been
recognized by the Germans.
In 1882 Antwerp was the twentieth in
rank among seaports, Havre the sixth. Mar
sailes the third, Bordeaux the fifteenth, and
London. first in 1882, is first to-day, Hayre
: the seventeenth, Bordeaux the twenty
fourth Mar5eilles the ninth and Antwerp
the twelfth in rank. Paris, a seaport, pres
tige would be restored to the other French
. harbors.
= In few days Parliament will grant the
!: concession for canalization of the Seine
:-1ronf Paris TO ROuen. OF eighty-seven French
:. Chambers of Commerce seyenty-one have
voted in favor of making Parisa seaport.
Between the sea and Rouen the Seine can
assure the passage of ships of 1000 and 1000
tons, but from Rouen to Paris the river is
not sufficiently deep for large vessels: M.
Rouquet de la Grye, member. OF the lnsti-
tule ana author of the project for making
Paris a seaport, wishes to make the Seine
canal by means of locks, increase IN depth,
and connecting its various arms by digging,
thus shortening the distance between ParlS
and Rouen some twenty-five miles. In this
way the distance from Paris to Rouen would
be only 100 miles, the navigable channel
would have draught Of 10 feet and its
width would vary from ITO to 100 feet, thus
permitting the ships TO pass each other.
The Paris Seaport Society offers to execute
this work at its own risk, asking only for
ninety-nine years tax of Is cents per ton
from all ships that draw more than ten feet
IF Water. $3.50,
The total expense for canalization will.be
about S30000000.
. NJ. Alfred Ferot, a Director of the Western
Railway, has made a remarkable study on.
becomes seaport. The iirst year he thinks
traffic VIII reach 2,25O, GOO tons and the sec
ord year at least 4,00o,O00 tons. The amount
OF traffic must DC very great, for Paris
would not only be in direct contact with the
sea, but also with system of canals in
north, center, east and south. Paris would
be the center of network of navigable
artificial roads extending on all sides, touch
ing all seas.
Paris should be for France what London
h Tor England, aud it would be very easy