The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-06
ANGER LED TO
HOUSE NUMBERING
Unable to Find Home Of Friend in Paris
in 1913 Frenchn1an Thought Out
Numbering Scheme

Frenchman irritated by not being
able TO ind the Paris home of "A friend
whom he had journeyed far to visit is
responsible for the numbering OF houses
so that they might be identified This
happened little over four centuries ago.
To be more exact. In 1913. lie was an
architect and had come up to Paris
on the invitation of friend to spend
/ few weeks. lie got to Paris but IN
a city of thousands of houses he was
unable to find the home of his friend
Hackmen never had heard tn name Of
his friend and store Keepers could not
help. Wandering about asking many
for the whereabouts of his friend he
brought on himself suspicion. Pzrlsans
looked on him az an impostor who had
some game to play or as the spy of an
unfriendy Power.
He was about to give up his search,
according to the story told Of him,
when he met man who knew his
friend and directed him to his house.
The search SO angered him that he was
! very poor company. During his anger
he thought out the s~eme of mum
| bering the houses of Paris and every
city of any size in France. How could
a house he known II there was no
means Of Identification? Ills scheme
did not meet with success III first.
Nobody would be bothered with such
, a trfie, but the architect, not having
forgotten his search. knew that this was
the only way visitors and inhabitants
would be able to know the homes of
their friends.
1t was three centuries. however.
necessary as house numbers seem to
! be. before II became at all general.
Then the numbering was such as to be
Of no aid at all. In Berlin, for instance,
houses were numbered without any
consideration of street names. The
numbers began at ] and went on "
maybe 5000 or 10000 II there were
that many houses in the city. a. man
lived in 5000 Berlin in those days. To
find that house was az difficult almost
as to find the house If 1t had no number.
The system followed in numbering tho
houses was not always clear so that a
visitor might have found 1000 Berlin
and naturally thought that 5000 was
in the same direction only to find that
1t was off in another quarter.
During the later days of the Stuarts
in England the houses of London were
not numbered and there would have
been little advantage In numbering them.
according TO MaCaulay, for the reason
that only "A small proportion Of the
Coachmen, Charmen. porters and errand
boys of the city were able To read The
ignorance OF the London coaChmen OF
those days no doubt was responsible for
the ridiculous appearance of the streets
of the English capital There had to
be some way or means by which coach
men would he able to know one hou. =
from another, SO shopkeepers painted
their places in Co.ors symbolic of the
businesses they were engaged in. If not
that then carved figure gayly painted
would be hung outside the entrance so
that the coachmen could see IL.
This accounts for the sign OF the
black crow" and the white pigeon" and
other peculiar names being given 20
London places, names which have come
down To present times.
St. Petersburg when II adopted the
/ system of numbering its houses showed
greater intelligence than supposedly
more civilized cities. Even to-day St.
| Petersburg may be said to be more ad-
NanCed IN this respect than many cities.
| To help to identify "A house at night in
the Russian capital every one has "A little
lamp or lantern in from of It's entrance
with the number of the house painted ON
the glass. When night comes they are
| lighted and there is no occasion, as often
IS the case in New York for one to feel
Tor the number on the door IL not for
tunate enough To have matches.