The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-09-23

punishment Tnen, when the rain comes
veritable rivers of mud. across which one
must navigate at much risk and peril.
The men placed In charge OF the ballast
ing OF Paris streets are united in brig
AIDES. After having dug up. the soil OF the
road, they spread material over II from
the greater or less use of the street, and
these broken stones are then crushed
by the aid Of enormous steam rollers:
laborers of the first class and titulars,
from SIS to SIS a month; auxiliary road
lars placed over the cleaning OF the
streets, from SCI TO $5 per month; aids,
men, from SIS to 81; women, from $40 to
SIS. The male workers average ten hours
daily, but the women only work hal1
days, which last from 4 TO IL o'clock in the
enumeration is slight, but the municipal
council of Paris has in vain protested
against this state of things. On this point
tact with the inert force opposed by what
is known as administration.
WEARING OUT PARIS STREETS.
Three kinds Of materials are used for
street paving in Paris-stone, wood and as
phalt-and. perhaps. 1t may not be without
interest to those who read my letters to
know what are the means employed for
the construction Of Paris thoroughfares, the
most frequented, maybe. in the universe.
1t is not always well to make too much
noise in the world, and it is, indeed, their
sonorousness which has ousted certain
pavements to the profit of other modes
of paving. Despite the perfection of their
springs, equipages of great price adapt
themselves poorly to the jOlting given by
even the best executed stone
horses hoofS and carriage wheels render
conversation painful and difficult for prom
enaders along the streets that are well fire.
The materials almost exclusively used for
the care of the stone-paved streets are:
about Srn s1.3 geJ per cubic bic meter. 2. Compact
mill stone, the accumulation of which Is
seen on the quays of the Seine. and the
and. finally, ~porphyry, from Coutre, in the
Mayenne department, which is $3.50 per
cubic meter. The flint is employed on roads
that are but little frequented. The mill
stone is used in those OF medium frequenta-
ton; finally, the porphyry is reserved for
the streets where there is the greatest cir n
the expenses of first material, care, ETC.,
the annual price OF a square meter comes
TO about AZ cents; but before the use Of the
steam cylinder this price was not less than
60 cents Stone streets have the advantage
OF filling up the sewers, and they also re-
The different Inconvenience sighted led
to a search for a new mode or paving, and
this was supposed to have been found in
mines of Seyssel, of Gyrimont. Of the Val
ley OF TraverS, and OF Ragues in Sicily,
and the making of 1t is in the hands of a
powerful English company The rocks
brought to Paris by contracting companies
are prepared before being ready for their
are submitted to a temperature Of 1o to
40 degrees. Thus. ~expurgatsd Of the guam
tity OF water they contain in excess, as
variable thickness, according to the re-
sistance to be made. 1t is then compressed
by means of pestles and iron rollers.
COST PER SQUARE METER.
The price of the establishment of these
streets comes to $14o per square meter, and
the cost Of them is about 40 cents the square
meter. Besides its high price. asphalt has
the inconvenience of softening In summer
under the action of the sun. and being at
all times very slippery for horses.
Then there was recourse to wood pave
ments. which were tried for the first time
in October and November. 1881, on the Rue
Montmartre and the Boulevard Poisson
Mere. on a surface of 5000 meters. There
are now about 10000 meters OF wood paw
ing in Paris, and this proportion would be
still higher if to put a Limit TO the demands
for transportation with which it was beset,
the municipal council had not decided that
proprietors along the streets would be
obliged to pay part of the expenses for the
first installation. Without this the ninth
of the Paris streets would to-day be paved
In wood.
This paving consists in laying a foun-
datiOn or about six TO thirty inches thick
ness Of concrete of cement of Portland, well
equalized on the surface, on which rest
solid blocks of wood of parallelogram base
thick and six inches long. The wood is fir
of different species-pines from the north,
then OF the Landes, and then pitch pine
from Florida Thus the tree which rises
above the Gulf of Mexico and near
the eternal SHOWS comes TO end
it's days in the middle of Paris
streets. Branches which have served as
eagles perches are t~o-day-grandeur and
deca~dence-trodden under the hoofs of
| French horses. A factory for cutting and
preparing this wood has been installed here
. at Paris, and the price of paving per me-
ter, which at the beginning cost S4.60, has
been lowered to $3.50. This pavement is ex-
tremely pleasant. 1t causes no noise and
produces neither mud nor dust, but ii re-
quires costly cares. 1t must be constantly
watched and swept with plenty of water,
|. as much to prevent etrituS from adhering
to it as TO stop the play OF lae wood by
drying.
This care is confided to road laborers
and workmen of the city, and comes to 16c.
and $1.W per square meter for a year. A
sum of $4,000 is annually inscribed on the
budget for repairs of wood pavements. As
for the old stone pavements, they are, when
taken up, transported to the stone yards
are recut and employed in current repairs,
while those considered as rubbish are sold
either to special persons or to suburban
ommunes, though a good lot is coded graf
uitously 10 the service OF navigation for
the support of the QuayS and the lower
ports, which is kept up by the city and
state in common.