The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-04-24
THE WALLS OF PARIS.
ERECTED AT GREAT COST, BUT NOT
OF MUCH USE IN WAR.
such Fortincations Keep the u sieger.
Out, but They Also Keep the Iesieged
In to Face staryation-Paris Az bitIous
to surpnss London.


One day the wise men Of Paris onsult-
. ed together and agreed that IL y ,uld be
well to surround the city with a elAbo-
rate system Of fortifications. I G time
was not far from the year 1870. 'erhaps
it was not, accurately speaking, a council
OF wise men. but only one OF Il many
plans that constantly evolved Fl IN the
brain Of Louis Philippe, who did much
to beautify Paris and improve it -tistic-
ally and from sanitary standpoin Any
how the decree was issued that Paris
should be "A fortified city, and 70 thwith
| thousands Of men and hundreds carts
were set at work building the b ge en-
| bankments that now girdle the Trench
capital
For five years the men dug. th team.
sters swore at their much abused lnrses,
the earthen wall grew and grew, nd one
| morning Paris woke up and found tselta a
city within "A fortress in the fir place
there was moat about 30 feet ie ard
as many feet deep, which must be ~rosscd
! by an invading enemy. Above IL wered
the steep side Of the bank, on tn, top #
| which was n parapet 10 feet wide The
| latter would accommodate the Ere ch ar
| my in safety, and what "a splendid situa-
| tion IL would afford the defenders to ut
! terly annihilate the invaders, The forti-
! flcation was constructed at varying an
! giles in order that the French infantry and
| artillery might pour flank fire into the
| ranks of the hustles whenever any hos
| tiles presumed to surround Paris The en-
| tire system. completed, cost the French
| nation l4O, ,O0O, 600 francs about s2S, ,000,-
| 900 in American money. The total length
of the fortification is 81 miles.
| But years passed, and an invader tram.
pied the "sacred soil of France" under his
sturdy German feet. The fertilization was
| still there and the residents of the city
often walked out to it and from its para
| pet watched for signs of the Germans II
was valuable for reserved seats in which
to view some Of the panorama of the war
simply that and nothing more The
| Germans were not such fools as to walk
| up to it and expose their precious bodies
| to French bullets. No, indeed: they camp
ed out on the hills surrounding Paris and
| amused themselves shooting at the most
| prominent steeples in the city with their
long range cannon. Upon some IA g the
! French soldiers marched out Of the gates
/ of the avenues intersecting the forfifica-
| tious. They looked grim and determined.
! Somehow or other as often as the French
soldiers sailed forth, so often they strag-
| gled home Not all of them, it is true for
the mute stone manuments In the eny irons
| of Paris bear silent testimony to the brav-
| cry with which they fought. The fortif-
| cation, however was still there, and it is
| there yet, and the citizens of Paris are be
| ginning to ask themselves whether it is
worth the money that it'cost and tie ad-
| ditional thousands that it takes TO keep it
| in repair.
In this age of the world "walled city,
is possessed of two advantages The first
| Ia that from tba xynll b. lofspAa,.g
| fight to save their lives and property-the
second is an advantage for the other hap.
| That wall of defense is also a wall { i'm
| prisonment. 1t is palpable 20 an one
| that it is much easier to keep an M imal
in cage than it is to hunt the amir al In
the woods. The gay Partisan an his
country relatives got behind the wal and
! all the Germans had to do was TO Sc, that.
they kept behind it until they were arv-
| ed into submission. The officers the
| German army knew that when the iari-
SLAMS were ready to sally it must he one
of the main exits from that fortifc3 ton
| How easy, therefore, to keep exc, lent
watch of the exits For that reaso the
| fortihcations about Paris are no Il lger
| the fashionable thing in military cir
| cles. In fact, the descendants of the Aon-
| est bourgeois are inclined TO poke all nan
ner of fun at what their ancestors sa red
| ly revered. The mighty earthen eml INK
| ments are overrun with cowpaths and .oot-
| paths, and il does not take more han
half an eye to see that Paris recognize the
| imbecility of intrenching herself beh nd a
| costly ditch and wall of earth, whe the
| enemy between breakfast and dinneI can
| sit on the hillside and fire his little lop-
| guns and big popguns all day long the
| handsome buildings and most SACRED ed
| ifices.
! Then, too, Paris Is becoming ambit'o GUS
| Not that Paris has not always been am
bilious in certain channels, but th { a
new channel has opened. Paris is jef Gus
| Of London. London is the largest city in
the world, 90 far as population is concern
ed. II those miserable Notifications were
| torn down, and the municipal limits of
Paris extended through the many suburbs
which really are n portion of the city,
| Paris would very likely be larger than
| London, and, therefore, from n French
standpoint, possibly from that Of Others,
| the capital of the world
The fortifcations however, are not ali
! that protect Paris, or rather are not all
that are meant to protect Paris Beyond
| the wall of the Notifications there exists a
| circle of forts, gems in the coronet of hill
sides that crown the lovely city. OF these
forts the most important, so | am told, is
that of Mount Nalerien. 1t was never tax
en- by the Germans when they invested
Paris. For that fact Mount Valerien has
| the right to be congratulated.
The natural defense of Paris Is upon the
| hills that surround the city Once permit
them to be captured, and Paris itself will
| be at the mercy of any enemy, All the en-
bankments capable of being constructed
! between the Arc de Triomphe and the
heights of St. Cloud and other elevations
| along the Saina pnulh
for Il moment from the artillery fire certain
TO be directed from the hillsides facing the
| city.
Since the siege of 1901 the Parsians
have left nothing undone 10 place the city
in the best possible condition To resist the
advances Of hostiles. One can scarcely
tell why, but there seems TO exist in the
Partisan atmosphere sort of PRESENT.
ment that in case of continental war Paris
will once more be the scene Of struggle
Cleveland Leader.
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Dillie, the IL -yeur-old daughter of John
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4 for the home of its master r-Oregonian
Jealous Icelandic Women.
The women OF Iceland, who are profoui d.
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affairs, have founded and support one Of