The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-05-02
THF WALLS OF PARIS.
Construed at Great Cost but Worse than
Useless in War.
from the Cleveland Jeader.1


tify Paris and improve it artistically and
from sanitary standpoint. Anyhow, tho
decree was assured that Paris should be
fortified city, and forthwith thousands of
men and hundreds of carts were st at
work building the huge embellishments
that now girdIe the French capital.
For five years thoy men dug, the teams
ters swore at their much-abused horses,
the earthen walls grew and grew, and one
morning Paris woke up and found itself
city within fortress. In the first place
there was moat about fifty feet wide and
as many feet deep, which must be crossed
by an invading enemy. Above 1t lowered
the steep side of the bank, on the top OF
which was parapet ninteen feet wide.
The latter would accommodate the French
army in safety, and what a splendid sit
uation it would afford the defenders to
utterly annihilate the invaders. The for
tifcaton. was constructed..at varying angles
in order that the French infantry and ar
tillery might pour flank fire into the
ranks of the hostiles whenever any hostiles
presumed to surround Paris. The entire
system, completed, cost the Frence nation
l40,000,00O francs, about S29,O0O,OO0 IN
American money. The total length OF the
fortifcation is twenty-one miles.
But years passed and an invader tram
pied the sacred soil of France" under his
sturdy German feet. The fortifcation
was still there, and the residents OF the
city often walked out to it and from its
parapet watched for signs of the Germans.
It 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 preious bodies to
French bullets. No, indeed, they camped
out or the hills surrounding Paris and
amused themselves shooting at the most
prominent steeples in the city with their
long range cannon. Upon some days the
French soldiers marched out of the gates
of the avenues intersecting the fortl-
fcations. They looked grim and deter
mined. Somehow or other, as often as
the French soldiers sailed forth, SO often
they struggled home. Not all of them,
it is true, for mute stone monuments IN
the environs of Paris bear silent testimony
to the bravery with which they fought.
The fortifcation, however, was still there,
and it is there yet, and the. citizens OF
Paris are beginning to ask themselves
whether it is worth the money that it cost
and the additional thousands that 1t takes
to keep it in repair.
In this age OF the world ''walled city
is possessed OF two advantages. The first is
that from the wall the defenders can fight
to save theirlive and property; the second
is an advantage for the other chap. That
wall of defence is also wall Of imprison-
ment. 1t is palpable to any ole that 1t IS
much easier to keep an animal In cage
than it is to hunt the animal IN the woods.
The cav Partisan and his country relatives
got behind the wall and all the Germans
had to do was to see that they kept behind
it until they were starved into submission
The officers Of the German army knew
that when the Parisians were ready to
sallyit must be by one of the main exits
from that fortifcation. How easy, there
fore, to keep excellent watch of the exist.
For that reason the Notifications about
Paris are no longer the fashionable
thing" in military circles. In fact, the
descendants of the honest bourgeois are
inclined to poke all manner of fun at what
their ancestors sacredly revered. The
mighty earthen embankments are oVerrun
with COW paths and footpaths, and it does
not take more than half an eye to see that
Paris recognizes the lmbeclilty OF en-,
trenching herself belinda costly ditch and
wall Of earth. when the enemy between
breakfast and dinner can sit on the hillside
and fire his little popguns and big pop
gins all day long at tho handsome build
ings and most sacred edifces.
Then, too, Paris is becoming ambitious.
Eot that Paris has not always been am
bilious in certain channels, but that new
chann.. has opened. Paris is jealous OF
London. London is the largest city in
she world so far as population is con-
cerned. If those miserable forrltica-
tions were torn down, and the NUM-
cipal limits of Paris extended through
the many suburbs which really are
a portion of tho city, Paris would very
likely be larger than London, and there
fore, from a French standpoint, possibly
from that of others, the capital OF the
world
The Notifications however, are not all
that protect Paris, or rather are not all
that are meant to protet Paris. Beyond
the wall If the Notifications there exists
a circle of forts, gems in the coronet OF
hillsides that crown the lovely city. OF
these forts the most important so l am
told, is that of Mount Valerien. 1t was
never taken by the Germans when they
invested Paris. For that fact Mount Va
lerien has the right to be congratulated.
One sees this fort we'll from the steam
tramway that puffs and snorts along the
highway from Paris to St. German en-
Laye, the birthplace of Louis XIV, and
the deathplace of James II. of England.
It is visible only of clear morning, for,
although the hill on which it is situated
is not particularly high. Paris mlsts have
a disasreeable habit OF falling uncom'
fortably low until they 7wallow up ali Oh
jects that are more thai thirty feet away.
The site Of the fort commands large area
of country and is beautifully located.
There is but little Of 1t visible from the
roadway other than stone buttCesses and
gloomy portbcl s. One can not help but
feel impressed BY the magnitude and Its
importance in spite its little that is ex-
posed to the few points OF observation. 10
obtain permission to make careful ex-
animation Of its interior and its weapons
of defence is quite as difficult as to be
granted the right to draw upon the Banque
of France at will. This is still a war
like continent, and some disagreeable spy
OF foreign nation might discover things
that would render invaluable service
against France in case of war. In fact it
is pretty much out OF the question to get
permission to take a familiar peep into
any of the forts that surround the city.
That is what comes of living where people
are like the. cats and dogs in the Old
couplet who would persist in falling out
and barking and fighting.
When the Germans had finished with
Paris in 1871, many of the best iortresses
had suffered much injury from the con-
stant bombardment that had been main
tanned by the invading army. The fortlf-
cation. too, had several ugly seams and
scars upon its noble front. It took great
deal of money to repair al the damage
that had been done, and every sou that
was expended in restoring the fortif cations