[Footnote 1: From the French of G. Guicestre, in "_Encyclopédie de
l'Architecture et de la Construction_."]
[Footnote 2: Perrot and Chipiez. "_Histoire de l'art dans
l'antiquité_."]
* * * * *
[Illustration: PARIS]
THE PAVILIONS OF THE CITY OF PARIS.--DOMESTIC AND URBAN
SANITATION.--VIEWS OF OLD PARIS.--PALACES OF THE LIBERAL ARTS AND THE
FINE ARTS.--RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION OF LABOR.
The City of Paris desired to have in the Champ de Mars a serious and
useful exhibition, so it began by paying no sort of attention to the
decorative and architectural side of its two pavilions, placed in the
centre of the upper garden between the monumental fountain and the
central dome. It was not afraid, in spite of its surroundings, to
shelter itself within the simplest of buildings in plaster, with a
decoration meagre and accentuated by the needs of construction. In fact,
the large entrance doors, all of wood, were made afterwards and applied
to the plaster, and the same may be said of all the visible woodwork;
but this lack of ingenuousness in the construction is not to be too
severely blamed, since it is a question of pavilions which are to
disappear after an existence of six months. Economical reasons are
always worthy of respect, and the modesty of the Municipal Council on
this occasion ought to be praised. But what one has a right to criticise
is the unhappy idea which placed these pavilions in such a manner as to
completely obstruct the view of the exterior porticos of the palaces and
industrial sections when one stands before the central dome in the
centre of the garden. This criticism once made, there only remains to
give expression to praise of the exhibit made by the city of Paris. Very
well arranged inside, very well considered, it possesses enormous
interest principally from the point-of-view of hygiene and the
sanitation of the city. This is a question much studied for a long time
back, and is one which marches towards a solution which promises to be
perfectly satisfactory in view of the progress already made. Wide
streets have replaced narrow alleys, air circulates freely everywhere,
trees and enormous gardens have been planted on every side, and the
salubrity of the house is assured by a severe inspection, one which will
become yet more severe, it is to be hoped, in the case of those owners
who are inclined to despise regulations. It would be so simple in place
of continuing the ancient ways, whose inconveniences are so well
demonstrated in the large model of an unhealthy house exhibited in the
pavilion of the city of Paris, to adopt all the new systems of
sanitation which, on their part, are shown in application in the model
of a sanitarily perfect house which has been placed opposite to it. To
establish this comparison two very simple models of construction have
been selected, proving that healthfulness is not merely an attribute of
luxury, but that the most modest houses can present all possible
guaranties from this point of view. The healthfulness of houses, and
consequently of cities, depends amongst other multiple but relatively
simple causes on two preeminent conditions,--that of the removal of
excrement, and the purity of the water-supply. In a large degree the
first condition is subordinated to the second. "Everything to the sewer"
is recognized by the most competent hygienists as the best system, but
only on the condition that water shall be abundant and that no
stagnation of the material shall be allowed. These problems, which were
for a long time studied by M. Durand-Claye, and to which he devoted
himself until his premature death unfortunately took him from us, have
received the attention of his devoted successors, who have already
brought to fruition interesting solutions which prompt us to hope for a
completely satisfactory system in the near future.
Three glass reservoirs, containing water from the Seine, from the Ourcq
and the Vanne, allow us to perceive the difference of quality which
exists between these three sources of supply, the first of which, with
its yellow color, is anything but appetizing, and the second is not much
less doubtful, while the third, alone, presents the limpidity and
transparency which one has a right to demand in potable water.
Nevertheless, one should not believe, as many persons do, that the water
that we see in this reservoir, and which has been taken within the
limits of Paris, is the same that is distributed from time to time
through each quarter. The water there used is taken up-stream and before
it has been soiled by its passage through the suburbs and city.
In the same pavilion the Administration has exhibited the plans and the
comparative views of the city taken at different epochs since 1789 up to
the last months of 1889. We here see the march of progress in this
immense city, expanding without cessation like a drop of oil, and as it
enlarges crossed by great arteries which establish across its mass
conduits for aeration, and at the same time suppress the agglomerations
of former days.
For artists and archæologists and lovers of old Paris, whom these new
transformations displease and who regret the picturesque past, the
authorities have had the forethought to paint or photograph before
demolition the quarters which to-day have disappeared, or are on the
point of disappearing; and as a consolation such persons have very
pretty pictures by M. Pansyer, representing St. Julien le Pauvre, the
Rue Galande, the Place Maubert, the ruins of the Opéra Comique, the
flower-covered relics of the Cour de Comptes; and there has even been
evoked for them the manor-houses of Clichy and Monceau such as they were
in 1789, and also the quarter of the Bastile, which can thus be compared
with their present aspect. Not far from these antiquities the City of
Paris has exhibited some decorative paintings executed for its various
_mairies_, the "Abreuvoir" and the "Lavoir" of M. D. A. Baudoin, and for
the _Mairie_ d' Arcueil-cachan "L' Automne et l'Ete," by M. A. Séon;
"The Marriage," by M. Glaize, and a fine painting, "The Defense of Paris
in 1814," by M. Schommer. Other compositions are signed by Cormon,
Gervex and Boulanger.
Finally, to make an end of the important works which she has caused to
be executed, the City of Paris exhibits models, at a reduced scale, of
the new Sorbonne, of the Ecole de Medicine, and of the Ecole Pratique,
at present in course of construction, also plans and photographs of
buildings erected during the last ten years, such as schools, _maries_,
etc. The department of sidewalks and plantations is represented by a
reduced model of the Crematory at Père Lachaise, plans and views of the
new cemeteries at Pantin and Bagneux, as well as the future square of
Montmartre.
The second pavilion of the City of Paris is more especially consecrated
to instruction. After attending to the healthfulness of matter,
attention must be given to the healthfulness of the mind and moral
culture. By the side of the models of the school-rooms, where children
find school-furniture studied with painstaking care and proportioned to
their stature, have been placed the works executed by the
school-children themselves of every kind, primary, maternal and
professional. These works, in a general way, prove an average aptitude
for the industrial arts, and indicate a real taste for beautiful forms.
A hall is wholly set apart for the pupils of the special schools.
Finally, around the two pavilions are arranged the numerous statues,
purchased, or ordered by the City of Paris, archers, halberdiers,
officers of the watch of the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries,
and we recognize, as we pass, the "Sauveteur" of M. Mombur, the
"Science" of M. Blanchard, the "Art" of M. Marqueste, and especially the
proud "Porte-falot" of Fremiet, which decorates the lower part of the
staircase of the new Hôtel de Ville.