The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-09-09
1890 GUNS; II
FORTS Defend
CITY OF PARIS
Three Lines of Defense Are Mann
ed by 10000 Men

The city of Paris is surroupded by
three distinct rings of defenscs. The
first or inner circle consists or n
masonry wall, eighteen feet high, in
closing the city proper. its circumfer-
ence being twenty 1.-TWO miles. II has
ninety three bastions and sixty seven
gates. The second or intermediate cir
Gle is series of seventeen detached
forts. placed within two 10 three miles
beyond the wall and forming circle
OF thirty -four miles, it's diameter being
eleven miles. The outer chain forms
twenty three and a half miles with a
circumference of seventy -four miles.
Each Circle Complete.
Each of these three circles forms n
complete defense in itself. The con-
struction is masonry. concrete and
of the most modern. up-to date type
while the inner and intermediate or
second line have been rebuilt, modern
lied and greatly strengthened since the
siege OF 1871.
The whole system comprises seven
bastions, battery emplacements and
glacis linking them together, all being
designed TO admit the covering by
cross fire OF all approaches leading up
to them. The outer chain reaches east
and west a distance of more than
a 20 ~
surely see another German wedge driv-
Armed With 12-lnch Guns.
The armament OF the forts consist,
in addition to their rapid fire and sec
ondary batteries. of pieces of the vari-
Gus naval types up TO l2-inch caliber,
with an effective range of more than
twelve miles. Such forts have from
thirty to seventy guns of all sizes. and
require from 500 TO 1.400 men each
as an operating force. II will take a
garrison OF not fewer than 10000 men
successfully TO handle these defenses
during "A siege. and in order to facili-
tate such operations. the area Of more
than 400 square miles has been divided
into what might be called three in
trenched camps, one To the northwest,
the next to the west and a third south
west.
The total number OF guns mounted
is about 1900 Of which 1000 are of
the naval type. To invest each effec-
lively stronghold of such magnitude
would require an army OF more than
100000 men, with not fewer than 1000
pieces of siege artillery. Such an army
would form a circle having a diameter
of more than forty-three miles and a
circumference OF about 1875 miles.
Must Destroy Army First.
With such a stupendous task before
them and no time to accomplish it in.
it can be easily seen that the objec
tive of the German staff in its turning
or rather enveloping. movement is not
the investment OF Paris. but the de-
struction of the French field army, as
they could not think of the former
before having accomplished the latter.
BY driving their wedge in straight
southerly direction toward Paris. they
aimed at the place dearest to every
French heart, and most probably ex-
pected that public pressure would be
brought to bear on the war office to
detach sufficient troops from the CEN
ter for the protection OF the capital.
Such a move on the part of the French
would have been worth all the German
sacrifices made to obtain 1t. as it would
surely see another German wedge Dirk
en- by way of Rheims or Verdun with
the cutting Of the French forces into
halves.