SANITAR Y ADMINISTRA TION IN PARIS. 3g 



found to get rounded at the edges and corners, and to present an uneven surface. 

 The steam rolUng of the macadamized streets is done by contract, the cost being 

 but httle less than horse rolHng. The asphalt carriage ways are bedded on beton 

 4 inches thick, well pressed down (in very wet weather bitumen is used instead, 

 as the beton does not set quickly), over the beton a layer of mortar, and then, at 

 the end of five days a layer of asphalt 1 54 inch thick. The annual cost of foot- 

 paths of all kinds within the city is ^43,000. The cleansing and flushing of 

 streets and removal of house refuse costs annually ;^i6o,ooo. Each ward has 

 its own set of sweepers, &c. Since 1873 ^ special tax has been levied for sweep- 

 ing footpaths ; previously each household had to do that duty. There are in all 

 3,120 men and women employed in sweeping the streets and removing refuse. 

 The street watering on paved streets is done from April 15 to September 30; on 

 others from March 15 to October 15. About 22 per cent, of the area of the 

 streets is watered by jointed pipes, and the rest by watering carts. The first 

 mode is stated to cost only about half as much, area for area, as the second mode, 

 but then the amount paid for horse hire is nearly double that in Birmingham. 

 The watering carts belong to the municipahty ; the horses belong to contractors. 

 The hydrants used for street watering are about 40 yards apart; the jointed pipes 

 by which the water is distributed are one inch in diameter, in seven lengths of 8 

 feet each, on wheels, the joints being made with gutta-percha, the man with his 

 finger on the nozzle regulating the quantity of water put on. We found in the 

 Rue Castiglione, the carriageway whereof is 22^^ yards wide, that it took the 

 man, on an average, thirteen minutes to water only 33 yards in length of car- 

 riageway, and as each length is watered he uses a broom to sweep up the horse 

 dung, &c. With one of our horses and carts a man can put on thirty-five loads, of 

 330 gallons each per day, and this quantity is sufficient to cover 82,000 square 

 yards, or say 2,343 yards per cart load. I do not consider the hose system suit- 

 able for adoption here, except in the case of steep gradients hke High street and 

 Bull Ring, where a horse would work with difficulty. Since 1873 t^^ house 

 refuse has had to be placed each night in convenient boxes, in front of the houses, 

 the contractor's carts calling for and removing the same early in the morning. 

 The removal of this house refuse costs the city ^^80,000 per annum; formerly it 

 was a source of income to the amount of ^20,oco per annum. Two causes are 

 alleged for the change: (i) deterioration in the value of the refuse, owing to 

 the diminished use of wood as fuel, and increased use of coal and coke for houses 

 and factories, and (2) increased distance of farms from the city, owing to the 

 increase of suburban villas. 



Trees in Streets and Squares. — Of these there are now about 90,000, besides 

 20,000 in the cemeteries. The roots of the trees planted in the streets and 

 squares have a network of small drains for the supply of moisture. These are 

 connected by a central drain, having a valve, and leading to the main sewer. 

 The average cost of a tree, including transplanting, propping, draining, grid, &c. , 

 is ^7, and about 90 per cent, of the transplated trees succeeded. There are three 



