The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-28

gas pipes. water mains and tubes carry
ing the pneumatic postal service and the
citys telegraph and telephone wires.
III we imagine Paris removed like a
cover" wrote Victor Hugo in Les Miser-
ables." the subterranean network OF
drains regarding from a birds eye view
would represent OH either bank sort OF
large branch grated upon the river. on
the right bank the encrcling sewer Will
be the trunk Of this branch, the secondary
tubes the branches and he blind alleys
the twigs Our readers will form bet
ter likeness OF this strange geometrlc
plan by supposing that they see lying on
a bed OF darkness some strange oriental
alphabet as confused as ticket"
At yet other levels stretch the lines OF
the Paris subway. now OF total length
OF nearly sixty miles The ordinary tun-
mel sections have a maximum width OF
20 feet, inches. and clear space
above the rails OF IA feet, 0 inches. while
the stations are 246 feet long and As
| feet wide.
! There also Is a Ceinture railway COM
pletely encrclng the city. and. except for
| a few rods OF the distance, underground
| Trains enter from the Care dOrleans.
which is on the south side Of the river.
Just opposite the heart OF Paris, leave the
! city through tunnel beneath the rivers
! bank and trains entering the Care st.
| Lazare pass through over a long subway
| line.
buried City Unexplorcd.
This list gives a partial idea Of the un
! derground works OF the French capital
but not even the most studious archgolo
gist believes that anything like the whole
| of the underground mysteries has beer
explored. Rarely is any work of excava
ton attempted that does not yield an In
teresting discovery. When tunnel wa
being bored for the subway line beneath
the Rue Saint Antoine the workmen cam'
upon vestlges of the old Bastille prison
Part of an old Staircase was uneartheC
and "A gold earring and wedding RIM
! were found. What caverns might be dis
covered In boring beneath the sites OF thu
old palaces can only be conjectured
But despite the limited information re
garding the buried city certainly enough
Is known TO have induced the modern ex
cavators to exercise the utmost caution
As long ago as IVA several streets In tn
southern quarters OF Paris. above the Ole
quarries, showed symptoms of sinking an'
steps were taken by the Government 4
avert the danger by constructing piers an'
buttresses where the upper surface wa
seen to be insufiiciently supported. TIL
trouble appears to be that the precaution
AIRY measures ended there.
Hugo, in Les Miserables." relates tina
Before the Improvement works 1.-THE ex
ter sion of the sewersl began. In 1888. tn
subway OF Paris was subject to suddei
breakings In. The water filtered through
a subJacent and peculiarly friable SOIL an
the roadway. II made Of paving stones, a
in the old drains. or Of concrete, as In tn
new galleries. having no support, bent
The roadway broke away for certail
length and such gap. a gulf of mud, wa
called in the special language fontis. Wha
Is a font!s! II is the quicksand of tn
seashore suddenly met with underground.
Again In "Notre Dame" Hugo says tina
the level OF the soil Of the city had rise
many feet above the level Of the old cathe
drai. Evidences have been given also O
the rising Of the silt covered river bed.
Moreover the terrible flood of fou
years ago damaged the lower levels o
the sewers. 1t will be recalled that mucl
OF the loss which was inflicted in tn
city resulted not from the overlooking o
the river upon the banks. but from tn
seeping of the water through the sewer
and into the subway and other passages
That the sewers fall to drain al