Paris, From the Earliest Period to the Present Day; Volume 2Walton, William
History
Paris, From the Earliest Period to the Present Day; Volume 2
Walton, William
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- History
In 1670, the city established the two pumps at the Pont Notre-Dame to
raise the river-water, which, elevated "to the height of sixty feet and
to the quantity of eighty inches, was conducted into different quarters
of the city by pipes six inches in diameter." Two mills which were
standing on this site were purchased by the city, which diminished
considerably the expense and hastened the completion of the work. These
pumps were enclosed in a building of the Ionic order of architecture,
the door of which was decorated with a medallion of Louis XIV, and with
two figures sculptured in bas-relief by Jean Goujon, one representing a
naiad, and the other personifying a river. These had previously
ornamented an edifice in the Marché Neuf which had been demolished. An
inscription by the poet Santeuil completed the decoration of this
building. These pumps were restored and reconstructed in 1708, and
finally abandoned in 1854.
The most important reformation effected in the eighteenth century was
the reconstruction, throughout its whole length, of the great main sewer
and the construction of a reservoir for the water with which to flood
it. This was decided upon in 1737, and completed in 1740. Sewers were
constructed also in the Rue Vieille-du-Temple and Rue de Turenne, the
open ditch Guénégaud was covered over, and the Invalides and the École
militaire were supplied with water. A police ordinance of January 9,
1767, forbade the inhabitants to put out in the streets any broken
bottles, crockery, or glassware, or to throw them out of the windows;
all individuals were forbidden, also, by the eighth article, to throw
out of the windows in the streets, "either by night or day, any water,
urine, fecal matter, or other filth of any nature whatsoever, under
penalty of a fine of three hundred livres." The Parisians objected
strongly to this interference with their usual habits, and this question
of sanitation remained long unsolved; in 1769, the Contrôleur Général,
M. de Laverdy, proposed to establish at the street corners _brouettes_,
or small, closed vehicles, in which could be found _lunettes_ for the
benefit of the public. "The contractors promised to turn in a certain
sum to the royal treasury," says the author of the _Mémoirs secrets_,
"which transformed the affair into an impost worthy of being compared to
that which Vespasian laid upon the urine of the Romans."
This idea, much derided at the time, was the germ of the modern
_cabinets inodores_, those very useful institutions which do so much to
disfigure the streets of Paris. In 1845, small cabinets of this
species, mounted on wheels, could be seen on the Place de la Concorde,
drawn about by a man, who stopped when signalled by the passer-by, but
these soon disappeared. By a special law, passed February 4, 1851, the
establishment of _lavoirs publics_ was authorized in several quarters of
Paris, and these establishments have continued to multiply.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account