Norwich bulletin., 1915-04-21
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

Paris-Situated at the cross roads O southwestern Europe, at the meetin place of the great natural highway leading from the Mediterranean to tn I Atlantic through the Rhone Valley, and from the Iberian Peninsula to the hear' of Europe through Western France. Paris became a toll-ta.ker from thu world before most of the modern citieI of Europe were born, accumulatinS that wealth, that culture, that love oI the beautiful, and that wisdom thaI can come only when all the world con tributes thereto.
 In population Paris ranks thirJ among the cities of the earth, witl more people than Washington. Mexicd City, Rio, Buenos Ayres, and santiag4 together. It is the worlds capital il many respects-its art treasures sur | pass those of any other city; it's fash | ions dominate the civilized world and even influence the uncivilized; its lani guage Is the court tongue of the earth | it's history is a panorama of the storl of civilization from the days of thu Goth and the Vandal down to th{ ' present.
 In the heart of the city, stands on{ of the worlds most noted of buildingS' the palace of the Louvre. It Is th{ priceless art museum of France; and there are contained within its three del artments-sculpture, paintings and antiquities-example of the highest expression of human genius. The col lections of the Louvre. were they of fered for sale, would bring a total pric| so slupendous as to be unbelievable For example, in the gallery of Apollo among other treasures rest the dtaI mond hilted sword of Bonaparte valueS at four hundred thousand dollars, th' famous Regent diamond valued al three million dollars, the gems of manJ a beauteouS queen of France and thI swords and spurs of Charlemagne.
 A life time might be spend in studJ here, and libraries might be writtei upon the treasure which the Louvr, houses. In the hall Of sculpture, stand, the peerless Venus of Melos, a thin. more ravishing than any other visiol ever hewn from a stone. In this hall there are many pieces, of antiQuit, and of more modern times, the los of any one of which would be ire parable. Yet, the strange people O this city, fired with enthusiasm for 1 communistic theory, mined the Louvre poured petroleum over 1t and prepared to destroy with gun power what it hat taken the world more than twenty-hv hundred years to produce.
 Paris is over rich in the possession of the beautiful, the impressive. an( the magnificent. Its famous building. make an almost intending list. Riches among the worlds theatres, is the Paril home of Opera, without an archl tectura1 delight, within a fascinatint inspiration in snow white marble onyx, jasper, malachite and bronze Its famed grand stairway is a fittini prelude to the highest moods that cal be produced by the music on its stage
 And there is not wanting a strou, element of gruesome and terrifyinI reminiscence in this glorious city Tn traveller stands amidst the wide sweel Of the Place de la Concorde, Place o Peace" ana he thinks that here befor an assembled beastial mob. the razo blade of the guillotine rose and fel unttring. while head arter head, mft bitter jest and song. rolled from tn gory machine into the great common basket and the quivering trunks wer corded at its side. Age and youth an, loVeliness were sacrificed to brutisl passion on this now serene square in |, way that only Rome had equaled Every contrast Is found in PartG and all varieties of excellence. Her is the worlds highest structure, th Einel Tower. This huge shaft of stst Is one of the most over-powerinI things within the city. Forty drafts men worked two years on the 15,0o d1nerent designs necessary for tt 16.o00 sections. Restaurants, shop and a theatre. are housed upon # steps and within its corridors Te thousand people can gather here . one time.