The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-27
PARIS STREET CLEANING.
The System and Apparatus of Wash
 ing and Watering Described.

La Genie Civil.
 In washing and watering the streets of Paris the area dealt with comprises lO,- i692S1 square yards Of street proper, to which must be added 1,9S40o0 square yards for the graveled side avenues in the Champs Elysees and elsewhere. Of the with stone. l,1S.000 square yards with wood, and 437,3fA square yards with as plralt, the remainder being macadamiZed. About one-half the total area is dealt with by means of water carts to the num- per of 800. These hold from 220 up to So3 gallons of water, hut the largest size is used in level areas only The cart most generally used is one holding 265 gallons. These carts weigh fifteen hundred-we1ght each, empty. and their initial cost Is ,20O francs each The spraying tubes are of copper, which is preferred to iron, ale though their intrinsic value renders them more liable to theft, since with iron spray pipes there is constant trouble from rust. Generally the spray pipe is fixed at, a height of twenty inches above ground. A certain number of small hand water ing carts are also used in special places.
 The other half of the streets are wa tered by means of 1, 400 chariots darrose- ment. These are substitutes for leather or rubber hose The most common type of "chariot' consists of four pieces Of iron pipe, each six feet eight inches long by one and three-eighths inches in diam eter. These are connected together by a 12-inch length of leather or rubber tub ing. Each pipe is mounted on castors. The roller of the castor is a 'holloW steel ball. having six holes through 1t. Through two of these holes passes the spindle. and when the roller shows sign or wear the spindle is removed and placed in an- other pair of holes. so that fresh roll ing surface is obtained without the ex- pense of a new roller and the life of the spherical roller Is. therefore. three times that of an ordinary cylindrical one. At one end the chariot is coupled up to the standpipe. and at the other to a three-foot four-inch length of iron pip- ing, beyond which again comes the noz- zIe. Each of these ''chatiots" costs abo 1t 5S francs, and tn " command an area within a radius of sixty feet to seventy five feet of the standpipe to which they ally fixed about 100 feet apart, the total number fitted for this special purpose in the city being about 7,20O They are placed beneath the footpaths, and are fitted with two valves. viz, service valve near the surface, and stop valve ID pat three f'et )slow. Closing the latter opens a drain cock, which lets off into the sewers any water in the pipe and valve above it, thus avoiding damage from fir )st. These stapipipes cost about 102 francs in place In practice one man can thort ughiy wash 1oSn aboIt 2,6O0 square yards per hour the usual rate of dis charge from the nozzle being about nine gallons per minute, and about one-ftfth of tho mans time is occupied in shifting his apparatus from standpipe to stand pipe
 River water is used exclusively for street watering in Paris, and costs about 1 3-4d. per 1000 gallons, which. with the system in question. suffices for cleansing 5400 square yards. With an average rate of wages of 4s 2d. per day, the cost ot washing streets on this system, inclusive of maintenance and depreciation of plant and the cost of supervision amounts to about 3-4d. per 1000 square yards cleans {, ed. With the watering cart system the cost Is less. being about 1-2d. per 1000 square yards, but the work Is less thor oughly done The difference In cost arises mainly in the. matter of wages. since a watering cart easily covers S,i10 square yards per hour, and less intelligent man is required ss driver than is needed for the chariot system, where carelessness may very easily lead to a very great waste of water. During April, May and September the principal streets are wa tered twice a day and the other streets once. During June. July and August the main streets are watered three times a day If paved, and from three to four times a day if macadamized. while streets of secondary importance are watered twice if paved and twice or three times if macadamized. certain amount of watering is also done in March and No- Vember. in order to lay the dust, and it should also be stated that in summer the avenues of the Champs ElyseeS and of the Bois de Boulogne are w9tered five