Morning journal and courier., 1893-01-16
ROUND ABOUT PARIS.
The Notifications, Suburbs and City Gates, With Interesting Notes on Railways, Trans and other Public Conveyances.

To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 Round about Paris there is circle of Notifications, surrounded on the outside by deep excavation, which in case of siege could be filled in a short time by a mighty barrier of water. The approaches to the city are commanded by more than fifty forts, and the garrison of defence numbers fifty thousand picked men. These and kindred facts have just won for Paris a decided compliment. The chancellor of the German empire has said recently that 1t is the best protected city in the world. From such 8 source this Is high praise in deed. The French are like ourselves in one thing. Not only have they a high opinion of their own achievements, but they like to feel that what they do is gene rously estimated by others. Especially proud are they of tLeir big city on the Seine, and, as everybody knows, they have the most substantial reasons for wishing Germany to think we'll of that city; par ticularly of it's defences. Count Won Ca privi has not promised that the armies of the Kaiser will never again subdue Paris, but he has praised the city, and has really conferred upon 1t new distinction. For beauty and gaiety shs has long held the palm, and now, if one may accept in such a matter the judgment of nation which a couple of decades ago forced an entrance through her gates, she may add to her for mer laurels the proud title of excelling all other cities from military point of view
 At present, however, the gates and forti- fcstions of Paris seem to be useful princi- paIly for the levyiug of vexstious taxes upon the French people themselves. Of this we were forcibly reminded one day as we approached the Porte Msllot in company with a gentleman who was on his way to fill a lecture engagement at one of the great schools of this city. Our friend carried bag containing few books he was intending to use, and the question to be settled, before We could pass, was whether anything in the bag was taxable. To sstisfy the gate keeper the bag must be opened. It was ali done quickly enough and with evident politeness, but 1t struck the American mind quite unfavorably, and, of course, provoked 1t to numerous inquiries. Paris, 1t appears, lays tribute in this way upon almost her entire food supply and upon numerous other things; and the money collected is divided between the government and the municipal author ities. By this means it comes to pass that many articles ara doubly taxed, for in ad dition to what ia assessed upon them st the gates of the city there is the tariff i'm posed at the frontier.
 After this we did not wonder that a vis- itor had to pay so enormously for apart ments and board, though we did wonder at the long suffering patience of the resi- dents. Meat of every kind is taxed. On pound of butter the city tariff is three cents, and on 8 pound of grapes 1t is about the same. If you should go outside and shoot hare you would have to pay for bringing into Paris even & private little ac quisition of that sort. Upon spirits and wine the duty is considerable, and the au- thorities are exceedingly vigilaut in col lecting 1t. This Is a point st which vigi- lance is quite necessary, judging from what one hears as to the methods of snug | gling In vogue. We are told that during the cholera scare liquors were surrepd- | tiously brought in by means of ccfins, and | we have heard of one enterp ising liquor dealer who cheated the government for s long time by means of @ dummy footmsn. That is, he had a wooden contrivance on the seat of his carriage, shaped and dressed like 8 footman, and this innocent looking luxury was filled, not with animal spirits, but with the kind which at the gates of Paris are held to be contrsband.
 These ruses were decidedly clever, and 1t is said that had it not been for accom- plices who turned informers they might have continued in successful operation in definitely. Perhaps, however, the coun- | trymsn's ruse was the most effeotusl for the time, though it must have put him 10 | inconvenience afterwards. He had only a bottle of common wine with him, but the gstekeepsr knew his duty and did 1t. The tax was four cents, levied upon au original valuation of something like twelve cents. Common wine, 1t must bs remem- bered, is very cheap in France, and this particular bottle would have been cheap enough, one might have thought, even st, ter the duty had been paid. But the French peasant is noted for his thrift.
 The burning question was how to get his quart of wine into Paris without any fur
 ther investment upon 1t, and the final SO
 lution was reached by his carrying il
 through the gates concssled, as in the cass
 of the dummy footman, within his owu
 anatomy.
 From the fact of the fifty five gates
 which admit to Paris being used ss SC
 many tax gathering offices. 1t naturally
 follows that the necesssries of life ar,
 much cheaper on the outside, and this, ir
 turn, accounts for the large number oi
 thriving communities which nestle SC
 thiokly about the walls of this city. L.
 Vallois Ferret, the largest of these, hs.
 forty thousand inhabitants. Boulogne hal
 thirty thousand, Neuilly twenty-five thou
 sand and Vinoennes twenty thousand
 The dozen or more others are not so large
 but they ara all up into the thousands, and
 some of them, in their pretty villas and
 other rural features, present a contrast tt
 Paris which is delightful For the greater
 part, however, these outskirts of the city
 bear too monotonous resemblance 1T
 their architecture to the city iteelf.
 The advantages of living in these vii
 lsges is that you are at the doors of Paris
 with all that it offers of life and opportu
 nifty, and still are exempt, in 6 measure
 from the burden of Parisisn prices. Un fortunately, however, you mics here tn,
 public spirit and what may be called tn, official cleanliness of Paris. Parisia,
 streets are cleaned every day; those in thu : suburbs enjoy this treat at odd times, aui some of them. apparently. after long in tsrvsls. And another drawback to subur
 ban residence is that If you use eithe
 cabs, omnibuses or other public convey |. ances, you will find that, alike in enterin, ] and leaving, the city gates will invariabl, impose an extra fare upon you wbici ! reminds us again that the gates of Pari
 are eminently a business institution. The, ! are not for ornament alone, nor are the,
 kept up merely as safeguard against pos r sible incursions from Germany, but the, , are decidedly means of revenue, and ii the tribute they lay upon people and thing
 outside, they seem to corroborate the olt notion that Paris is superior to France Paris Is entered by ten railways, ani it extremities are connected with each othe by what is known ss the railuay of th circle. Chemin de fer de Ceinture Is tn
 French name, and this road makes & cir ? cult of the city just within the fortifca tions. The distance covered is twenty 3 three miles. There are thirty stations