Streets. Means of Conveyance (Transport).

Streets. – The public streets, covering an area of 3877 acres, make a total length of 580 miles, 143 miles being bordered with trees. the municipality is going on with the work of planting as rapidly as possible, though each new tree costs about 8 pounds.

The staff entrusted with maintaining and cleaning the public streets comprises 320 engineers, overseas, and timekeepers, who have under their oder 2123 paviors and roadmen and 3185 permanent and supernumerary scavengers. The maintenance of the streets cost 406,800 pounds; that of the pavements and sidewalks, 62,224 pounds; cleaning 259,480 pounds. the streets are for the most part paved (1525 acres on January 1, 1883), usually with Yvette sandstone from the neighborhood of Paris. The most frequented crossing are laid with Belgian porphyry. The metalled roadways cover 445 acres, the asphalted 83 acres, the earthen 26. wooden paving, previously employed only for 2 acres, was in 1883 laid down in the Champs Elysees, and in 1884 extended to the Avenue de l’Opera, Rue de Rivoli, the line of the Grands Boulevards, and Rue Royale. Of the total area of 1131 acres occupied by pavements and sidewalks, two-ninths are covered with asphalt, one-third with sand, one-seventh with granite, and the rest with paving-stone.

There are 5070 plugs for the watering of the streets, and 400 water-carts. The annual consumption of water for this purpose amounts to 130,174,478 cubic feet (195 days). The sweeping of the streets in the morning devolves on the householders, and is commuted by payment of a tax (see above); during the day the whole cost falls on the municipality.





The point of greatest traffic in Paris is the Place de la Bastille; one current passing from Rue St Antonine to the Faubourg St Antoine and another from the Grands Boulevard to the railways station for Vincennes, Lyons, and Orleans. On an average 42,000 carriages and 55,900 draught horses pass through this square in the twenty-four hours. Next in amount of traffic come Rue de Rivoli, 33,232 vehicles: Avenue de l’Opera, 29,460; Rue du Pont Neuf, 20,668; Boulevard des Italiens, 20,124; Place de l’Otoile, 18,311; Rue Royale, 14,095. The most frequented of the bridges are Pont de la Concorde, 10,003; Pont neuf, 8519; and Pont d’Austerlitz, 7340.

Means of Conveyance. - Cabs, omaibuses, tramways steamboats and a railway (the Chemin de Fer de Ceinture) are the local means of transit in Paris. The steam,boats ply up the river to Charenton, down the river to Suresnes. Within the city, in 1882, they plied on 329 days, made an aggregated of 8162 days of service, traversed 479,997 miles, and conveyed 11,170,980 passengers. Outside the limits of the city, up the river, the days were also 329- aggregate days 2265, aggregate distance 123,007 miles, passengers 3,122,593; down the river the days were 329-aggregae days 2356, miles 180,138, and passengers 1,262,680. The omnibus company employs both ordinary omnibuses and tramways-cars. In 1882 it employed 610 monibuses and 255 tram-cars, conveying 200,187,455 passengers. The two tramway companies distinguished as Northern and Southern have conveyed respectively 26,076,761 and 27,067,951 passengers. The Chemin de Fer de Ceinture, which runs round the city just within the fortifications, conveyed 21,617,909 passengers. As cab-hiring is an open industry (though the cabmen are restricted in their charges by a. tariff, and are subject to police control, the movement of the cabs cannot be given exactly. In 1882 the number of horses belonging to private person and bound to be at the service of the army in case of mobilization was found to be 95,847; in 1878 the number of carriages was 13,372.





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