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Page 8
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 arch�ologists 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 Op�ra 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. S�on;
"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 P�re 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 H�tel de Ville.
PALACES OF THE LIBERAL AND FINE ARTS.
The two Palaces of the Fine Arts and the Liberal Arts are of equal
dimensions and similar aspect. They cover an area of 21,000 square
metres. They are composed of a large central nave, measuring 209.31
metres in length by a width of fifty-three metres and one-half. The nave
is surrounded with galleries on the lower floor and first story. On the
garden under the porticos are restaurants. Each of these palaces is
connected with the Industrial section of the foreign countries by a
large vestibule thirty metres wide by 115 in length, one of which, that
of the Fine Arts, contains the exhibition of sculpture, and the other
contains a large part of the musical instruments. These two palaces are
entirely of iron, terra-cotta and ceramic work. The entrance is executed
by a large porch of three arches, and the wings on either side are
pierced by wide bays. Each is crowned with a dome fifty-five metres high
and thirty-two in width. These two palaces are striking examples of the
richness which can be introduced in a moment by the artistic employment
of terra-cotta and ceramic work, especially when the ceramic artists
bear such names as M�ller, Loebnitz and Parvill�e, to say nothing of MM.
Br�ult, Boulanger and Mortreux, whose work we met in the ceramic
division, or which we shall meet in our walks through the foreign
pavilions. With M. M�ller, who has given his name to a kind of brick
covered with enamel on one of its faces, ceramic work becomes a portion
of the very fabric itself as well as of its ornamentation. This
principle applied with rare talent to the covering of the two domes of
the palaces has given a very curious and interesting result. This
covering is composed of enamelled tiles of more than 600 varieties which
are not superposed one upon another, but butt together side by side, and
form a mosaic rather than a covering of tiles. Each dome contains about
50,000 pieces arranged in ninety rows and twelve divisions. The general
tone is blue. The principal ornamental motive consists of a cartouche
which bears in the centre two large letters "R.F." in gold. The
cartouche stands out on a background of cream-white, bordered with a
meander. The effect is very brilliant and chatoyant. At the base of each
dome twenty-four vases in pottery, three metres high, are arranged on
the consoles of the attic which supports the roof, and in which are
pierced bull's-eyes decorated in tones of blue and natural terra-cotta.
The domes of the pavilions at the angle of the palace on the side of the
Seine are in the same way covered with enamelled porcelain tiles. This
is a new product invented by M. Parvill�e and has a great decorative
richness. Above each bay of the two palaces is repeated a terra-cotta
frieze two metres high, which bears children holding cartouches and
standing out from a golden background. Pillars between the bays are
encased in terra-cotta fluted panels with interlacements of laurel and
oak leaves. The ironwork of these pillars is exposed and encloses the
terra-cotta work like a Spanish net, with very original effect and very
interesting constructive frankness. Finally, the balustrade crowning
each palace is also of terra-cotta, and is formed of small pilasters and
between them is repeated a _motif_ of bucklers bearing lions' heads. The
balustrade is composed of 7,500 pieces and weighs 450,000 kilogrammes,
and covers a space of 2,000 square metres.
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