New-York tribune., 1907-01-13
PARIS IN SNOW CRISIS.
MsniGpal authorities Hare Trouble
in Dealing zcith Situation.
Paris. January

,,,h the 'fsnow crisis" The boulevards and
nr,ndpai thorougtfares present an object les
.on that may serve as consolation for the
street. Cleaning Department in New York On
Wednesday, morning Parisans awoke to find
she city covered with sheet of snow about four
,netes deep. This unusual occurrence seems to
have paralyzed the street cleaning adninistra-
eoa. The garbage boxes. that by law are
.-,r.,ed between and z o'clock by the refuse
.srts were untouched. for the snow impeded the
.,ork snd the carts. harnessed to horses whose
cans, we're not sharpened. remained at a stand
Iii At about 10 o'clock the street sweeping
..rs drawn by horses whose shoes had been
r.aened made their appearance, and moving
a., .h. middle of the streets pushed the snow
ga slust into the cutters along the curb. where
=, law in brown muddy streaks nearly a foot
deep.
r,, tvo DAYS this abominable combination of
.,ou and slush was allowed to remain. and the
p.1rans became impatient that Delegations
:, citizens called at the Hotel de Vile and de-
,.,ded an explanation Of what they consio-
"na grant scandal" The SHORTCOMINGS a''u
,nrtency OF the street cleaning oepaiuho"
s--rrst the subject Of q debate In the Mui'ac,pai
-, .hs+ very afternoon. and NJ. de Pontlch'
,.ss OF that administration "as .,
~. bsr of the assembly to give explaila'iohs. ;.
70 ' -~,.,oh rsnlied that the salt which had
AA
- .trsvn on the streets at an early houF
-. -. ,-oduce its effect until IL o'clock In inc
NJ Il. Pontich said that this was oue
-, ,nusual thickness Of the SNOW aiio
s.,os6 eeures showing that the city eApeho0D
- noo <rsnc. on Wednesday morning III ciea-
,.wsv the snow, of which sum oi'VuV iiAii0
,ss been paid for salt 1t was ehcioeo pS '"e
..-.,-,orv Of experts IN course OF the oepA'o nc
.,,s.r ordinary circumstances ehe SAT- 49,
uHU ...o,,s The street cleaning department
..sns on hand an enormous Ieset -.
.o.-se salt AS soon as snow laIis ca
-,s laden with tons Of salt are sent loi u'' aI-1
-. afteen thousand men of the street cie""-n
.r,e.aes provided with shovels. scae'el INC
a., large quantities over the slo"' ~ >
AZ ~ - t,,e snow to melt, and soon stream OIL
ter resins to run under the snow IN 'iie
-. end the snow and slush are sweep "
- ,n+, the savers Under ordinary circun-
.. +,e paris streets are in this way cleared
- ,.,,ir two hours On Wednesday, now
- .he sau of snow was unusually heavy anu
- +,--,,erat,,re was at the same time yer! io"'
.,s. l,v noon. when 1t began TO melt Oie
,,,oen,ne operations were impeded by the heaN
60 In the afternoon sharp frost ser III
- she streets were IN a worse condllioh 'hoh
before cont
4,, +xventv TO thirty tons Of salt were scat
.ared In the streets Of each quarter OF rams
,r,. -ne+tod of artifcally melting inc sno"
IS then sveeptns il off into the sewers IL d
Ia .,5 eescacious way of dealing with sno"
nban # falls IN small quantities because
IN cart away the snow and dump II oulsiue 'o
,itv limits would require at least afcoupie %
6avs Meanwhile the practice OF spreaoihs SAT-
,n the streets Of Paris, and especially Oh 0ie
,rarovav tracks, is pronounced by me hluiiicipA-
commission TO be dangerous to man anu -
80, ,r blanchard, the veterinary surgeon OF
,bo .,+x testihes that the salt so scattered
,,ro.scsst unon snow or ice is a source OF great
,sar,,sr % horses, and keeps the veterinaries
,a-d st work in the winter season Inc horses
-. - laos ,,econ,e saturated with this MKT
= "a q few dsvs later the skin ana hesh
-, nef Leaving the poor animals In q terripie
,,i,t+ Nth nerves and tendons bare When
.ha ,oixture penetrates between the frog OF lhe
,oof and the hoof itself the horses suffer great
main and frequently die. or have 10 be siaush-
tered. It is estimated that six hundred horses
viii die from the effects of the salt scattered
about on Wednesday.
Several leading physicians have expressed the
riuion that the use of salt in the streets is
public danger and should be prohibited py law
Persons whose feet are exposed 20 the fhlHtule
pre- Hl.el, 70 have cfiIblains and sores, and the
skin when wet with salt and snow, becomes
iritated and peels off as If burned by nrifn-
stone Moreover shoes once saturated win the
vile mixture are ruined, for the leather becomes
hard and rots away In spite of these strong
objections the salt process continues: out
fortunately Paris is not often visited by heavy
falls Of snow such as are usual in New York or
in New England.
Another lesson of the present snowfall IN
Paris Is the great superiority Of the motor bus
and the motor cab over ali other public con-
veyances The motor buses ploughed hero
icalIy through the snow and slush without any
serous side slips or skids. Crowds at the
Paris Bourse cheered the motor omnibuses as
they arrived time from various parts of the
lined capital. The motor cabs provided
with taximeter scales of tariff. also won popular
faKor, and orders have been given for two
thousand additional taximeter motor cabs and
for two hundred motor omnibuses.
Paris is certainly a most edifying but for
lornly picturesque sight in the midst of a SNOW
crisis and horse drawn conveyances are dis
iinctIy at a discount. C. ]. B.
nUVr nr rYr Appn72y TN Y0NO0N