The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-11-05
ANY FOE MIGHT
WELL FEAR PARIS
Would Take 100000 Men TO
Invest Triple FOrtiticatlons.
COVER 400 SQUARE MILES.

Miles Distinctly Withstood Fran
eo-Prussian War Siege 1872 Days.
Resistance Now Much Stronger.
| The Notifications Of Paris and their
ability to resist siege are receiving
the close attention Of military observ-
ers now that Paris Is the announced
objective point of the German forces.
and the French ministry of war has
adopted urgent means of strengthen
ing the city's defenses to the utmost
While the details of the defenses OF
| Paris are surrounded with strict Sc
crecy, yet their general character and
formidable strength are well known
to military experts.
They consist of three distinct circles
sweeping around the city: First the
! solid wall of masonry, eighteen feet
high, extending for twenty-five miles
around the old sections of Paris; sec
ond. the system of seventeen detached
| forts arranged at intervals two miles
beyond the wall and making circuit
of the city thirty-four miles in extent,
and. third, an outer girdle of forts sew
enty-five miles in circuit on the heights
commanding the valley of the Seine.
Each Line of Defense Complete.
Each of these circles of masonry and
steel is complete defense In itself, the
forts being linked together with re-
| doubt, bastion and glacis, which per-
nit a crossfire against approach from
any direction. The magnitude of the
system is shown by its area, which is
400 square miles
The wall around Paris and the sew
enteen detached forts two miles beyond
It were built by Louis Philippe They
sustained the German siege of 1S10-1.
| and the outer forts have since been
greatly strengthened. The third line OF
forts, on the hills of st. German, Cor
miles and yilliers, are of modern con-
struction. with the latest types of bat
teries and heavy guns.
| The inner wall about Paris surrounds
| the best known and most important
sections of the city. including the bust
ness sections along the grand boule-
| Yards, the residence sections on the
north and west of the city and the
| Latin quarter and other sections of the
| left bank of the Seine. Outside or the
wall a circle of suburbs extends for
many miles. including Neuilly. Argen-
! teuil. Versailles, Vincennes and many
| others The forts of the second and
| third line of defenses are dotted among
these suburbs, protecting them and the
approaches to the capital The wall
contains ninety-three bastions and six
| ty-seven gates. Some of these have
been abandoned. owing to the pressure
of modern construction and trade But
recent advices received from Paris say
that all the gates still existing are now
closed ut s p. N. with rigid regulations
against movements from within or
without
The second line of forts includes the
famous fortress of Mont Yalerien.
which was the center of attack in the
German siege of 1870. 1t is strength
ened by two groups of works-Pautes
Bruyeres and the Chatillon fort and
batteries. South of the city is the row
of forts at Ivry. Bicetre. Mont Rouge.
Vanves and Issy; north and east Of
the city are three great forts around
ST. Denis and two others at Fort Au-
bervillers and Fort Charenton, COM
handing the approaches from the great
wood of Bondy.
The outer circle of forts. which are
of the most modern type, have from
twenty-four to sixty guns and GOO to
1,200 men each.
Could Resist 100000 Men.
In all the three lines of defenSes re-
quire 10000 men to operate them. not
counting troops assembled within the
city. According to military experts, it
would require force of 100000 men
to invest these defenses.
General Won Moltke, field marshal OF
the German forces at the time of the
siege of Paris of 1901. said in re-
port on that siege that the French ar
tillery armament consisted of more
than 1927 pieces. including 200 of the
largest caliber of naval ordnance.
There were 500 pounds for each gun
and a reserve of 100000 Kilograms
of powder. Won Moltke points out that
the bombardment of fortified place in
the heart of an enemy's country is diff
ficult. if not impossible. until the in
vader is master of the railways or wa
terways by which heavy siege artillery
can be brought up in full quantity. He
explains the failure to lombard Paris
at the outset of the former siege by
saying 1t would have required 300
heavy guns. with 800 rounds for each
gun. The movement forward of these
heavy guns would have required 4.5O0
four wheeled wagons and 10000 horses.
which were not available.
At later stage the Germans brought
up their siege guns, attacking the en-
ceinte and ports and dropping 300 to
400 fifteen-centimeter shells into the
heart of the city. Notwithstanding the
fury of the German attacks. Paris with
stood the siege for 1872 days. Since
then the entirely new and outer third
line of defense has been erected. and
military experts say the Notifications
as a whole are far more formidable
than those which resisted the former
Siege
..,--s.s-. ---,----A-s .sa,-,A->-~~