Paris
Paris names 10 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Paris par'is, the capital of France
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
par'is, the capital of France. It is situated on the Seine River, about 100 miles from the sea. The very center of the city consists of two islands in the Seine. They have been formed by consolidating many former small islets to which the Gallic tribe of the Parisii crowded in time of danger, and on which the original Roman citadel was erected. In the time of Louis XIV there were half a million people. Benjamin Franklin found about 600,000 inhabitants. The present city covers thirty square miles and had in 1906 2,763,393 inhabitants. It is still growing rapidly. Paris is not only the largest city on the European continent, but it is the French capital,--the center of French thought, politics, art, and fashion. It is the most attractive large city in the world. The banks of the Seine are protected by massive stone walls. Second-hand book dealers and others expose their wares on the coping. Stone steps lead down to the water's edge. Numerous craft dart this way and that, taking on and landing passengers. Wide stone-arched bridges cross at frequent intervals. The map of the city has been reconstructed in modern times. Many of the historic streets have disappeared, and large areas have been razed, replotted, and covered with imposing edifices. There are numerous open centers called places. They are round, triangular, square, or of irregular shape. They bear the names of the Bastille, Hotel de Ville, Alesia, Eylau, L'Etoile (the star), Trocadero, Vauban, Republique, Nation, Vendome, Opera, Pantheon, etc. From these centers boulevards and avenues of uncertain number and direction radiate somewhat like spokes from the hub of a wheel. Napoleon began this sort of street engineering in order to establish centers where cannon might be placed to overawe the Parisians in case of insurrection. The idea works both ways, however. The modern Communists established themselves in the places and barricaded the streets in every direction. In 1840-5 the city was surrounded by a line of fortifications called the Enceinte. It crosses the Seine twice and is twenty-one miles in length. The ramparts are thirty-two feet high, with a parapet or walk on top nineteen feet wide. They are surrounded by a moat forty-eight feet wide. They are strengthened by ninety-four bastions. The principal roads are defended at various distances from the walls by sixteen detached forts. The original cost of the fortifications was $25,000,000. During the Franco-German War of 1870-1 they were sufficient to hold the Germans at bay until the inhabitants were starved into surrender. From most directions the walls have the appearance of natural declivities. Railways and carriage roads enter by ample gateways so disguised with vines and shrubbery that the traveller is not aware usually that he is entering the largest fortification on the globe. A boulevard within follows the wall from gate to gate. The city is situated over a vast bed of chalk. The system of sewerage is very complete. Four main tunnels, one for each quarter of the city, two on each side of the Seine, run parallel to the river and join in an underground chamber beneath the Place de la Concorde. A large tunnel carries the entire sewage to the Seine at a point well below the city. Large sewers, joined by smaller and still smaller ones, undermine all parts of the city. There are in all over 600 miles of these drains. They are infested by rats and have been the haunt of refugees and criminals. In Les Miserables Victor Hugo gives a vivid picture of an underground man-hunt. The sewers are one of the sights of Paris. Brief visits, in which ladies may take part, are permitted at times by the prefect of the Seine. A considerable portion of the sewage is utilized below the city in irrigating lands for market gardening. Vast water reservoirs in the suburbs are filled by conduits from mountain streams a hundred miles distant. The streets of the city are paved chiefly with a combination of rubber and asphalt laid on a concrete foundation. Streams of water run along the open gutters night and day, not only cooling the air, but carrying street sweepings into the sewer system. For so thronged a city, the streets are comparatively quiet. They are brilliantly lighted, cleanly swept, and free from dust. Fifteen thousand cabs are for hire at a rate of forty cents an hour. A network of tramways and omnibus lines is supplemented by steam launches and suburban railways. Both tramcars and omnibuses have seats on an upper deck , to which passengers, ladies included, may ascend by little outside stairways. Fares vary, transfers included, from three to ten cents, according to distance. At hours when there is a rush of travel numbered tickets are issued at the stopping places and passengers are admitted accordingly. When the seats are full, the car moves on. The conductor admits only those to whom he is able to offer seats. Tobacco is sold only by government agents, that is to say, by the postmasters. The tobacconist's shop is indicated by a red street lamp. It is also a branch postoffice. A system of pneumatic tubes, a sort of special delivery system, permits the sending of letters and postal cards from the center of the city to the suburbs. Postal telegrams may be sent at any hour of the day or night at the rate of one cent a word for points in France. Express packages are carried by the postal department at a small charge. Restaurants, cafes, and rooms to let are in evidence everywhere. The larger hotels have reading rooms, well supplied with English and American newspapers. French newspapers are carried on the street or sold at the windows of tiny octagonal street corner kiosques. Le Petit Journal, a penny paper, has a circulation of 650,000. The ground floor of nearly all buildings, save in the most aristocratic quarters, is occupied by shops. The shops on the fashionable boulevards make a brilliant display of silks, drapery, ribbons, millinery, gloves, jewelry, silverware, cut glass, confectionery, mirrors, furniture, table delicacies, and the thousand and one articles of personal and household adornment for which Paris is noted. The shopkeepers of Paris were the first to recognize the value of plate glass windows. The glass block and the department store of America originated in Paris. The downtown streets are thronged all day and are especially gay in the evening. There are over forty theaters. Some of these have names of wide adoption, as the Opera, the Theatre Francaise, the Comique, the Odeon, the Vaudeville, the Varietes. Permanent circuses, panoramas, and hippodromes attract their share of the crowd. The Grand Opera House is the finest and largest building of the sort in the world. Thirty different kinds of stone are employed for inside decoration. It is impossible to give more than a general description of a city all the streets of which certainly no traveler and probably no native has even seen. With the aid of a map an irregular circle of boulevards may be traced about the heart of the city. They follow the line of former walls that, in the day of the Huguenots and Catharine de Medici, surrounded a smaller and older city. Within this circle and on the left or south bank of the river, lies the old Latin Quartier, or the university neighborhood, with its college buildings, library, museums, gardens, and art schools. Twelve thousand students are in attendance. Hard by is the Quartier St. Germain, the traditional residence section of the aristocracy, the quarter in which officials, foreign ministers, and ambassadors reside. The Pantheon is a historic place of burial. The catacombs of Paris are here. The palace, garden and art gallery of the Luxembourg, garden of plants, and the menagerie, the factory where the Gobelin tapestry is made, Napoleon's tomb, the parliamentary buildings, the museum of artillery, the museum of Cluny, the military school and barracks, and the old abbey of St. Germain are all on the south side of the river. Adjoining the military school, and running from it in a broad band to the Seine, is the famous parade ground known as the Champ-de-Mars. In the days of the Revolution the Parisian men and women, to the number of 60,000, surrounded the grounds with an embankment, the better to see the ceremonies and pageants of the Republic. Trees were planted and seats provided for half a million people. Napoleon conducted open air festivals here; Louis Philippe presented his colors to the national guard here, and here Napoleon III distributed his emblems. The banks have been leveled. The Exposition Universelle of 1867 and of 1878 were held on the Champ-de-Mars. A portion is now used as a race course. The Museum-de-Cluny occupies the site of an old Roman palace. In 361 Julian was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers here. The baths of solid masonry still remain. The chamber for cold baths is 65 feet in length, 37 feet wide, and 59 feet high. It is of interest as indicating that the Roman occupation meant something more than marching a few legions across the country now and again. The islands in the Seine midway between the university town on the south shore and the commercial town on the north shore were formerly the government quarter of the city. They still retain fine specimens of architecture. The Palais of Justice or supreme court; Hotel Dieu, or city hospital; the morgue; police headquarters; La Sainte Chapelle, a gem of Gothic architecture; and old Notre Dame Cathedral are here. The streets are extended to both shores by fine stone bridges. The larger part of the city lies on the north or right bank. It is the city of fashion and commerce. The most noted boulevards, the largest opera houses, and the great hotels are on this side of the river. There are numerous monuments. The obelisk of Luxor, the Vendome column, and several triumphal arches are on this side. The Louvre, Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, and Champs Elysee extend along the shore in the very heart of the city for two miles. These grounds, with the river and bridges and approaching boulevards, form the most noted breathing place to be found in the world. Among historic spots are the site of the old Bastille, the Quartier St. Antoine in which red republicanism broke out, and the National Library which possesses 2,500,000 well bound volumes. To pass along in front of each bookcase, aisles not counted, would require a walk of thirty-five miles. The city markets occupy a vast structure of iron and zinc. There are ten pavilions, covering twenty-two acres. The site alone cost the city $12,000,000. There are 2,500 hucksters' stalls, rented at four cents a day. From $500,000 to $1,000,000 worth of meat, fish, poultry, game, oysters, vegetables, fruit, butter, cheese, and flowers are sold each day. The slaughter houses supply 400,000,000 pounds of fresh meat yearly. The number of animals slaughtered in Paris in an average year is as follows: cattle, 250,000; calves, 205,000; sheep and goats, 1,676,000; hogs, 230,000. Nearly all these animals are raised in France, the stock raisers of the country being protected by a very high tariff. The square tower of St. Jacques rises near the Hotel de Ville or city hall. It is all that remains of a handsome Gothic church of that name. It is 175 feet high. Pascal performed his celebrated experiments with his barometer here. The summit commands a magnificent view of the city. The Seine, the wide, white boulevards, the open pleasure grounds, the great buildings, and the country around form the busiest, the most populous panoramic view in Europe. In addition to the artistic, scientific, and historic features of the city, it must not be forgotten that Paris is a "hive of industry" and a commercial center. The manufactures are extensive and varied. The railroads of the country, the most systematic arrangement of lines in Europe or any other country, center at Paris. A network of canals connects the Seine with the waterways of Belgium and France. Some of these canals reach the Seine by tunnels passing under the city. Capacious basins lined with docks and warehouses receive the canal boats. The immediate vicinity of Paris is a zone of truck gardens. There are over 12,000 of these gardens. They comprise about two acres each and with their glass plant houses and other improvements they are valued at from $10,000 to $12,000 an acre. They rent for $400 or $500 a year. Most of the truck is taken to market by women who trundle home a return load of city manure. One hundred and twenty million head of lettuce alone are produced yearly. See Abattoirs; Bastille ; Catacombs ; Concorde; Cuvier ; Exposition ; Louvre ; Morgue ; Napoleon; Notre Dame ; Pere Lachaise ; St. Cloud; St. Denis; St. Germain; Sorbonne ; Tuileries ; Versailles ; Vincennes ; Octroi
Paris in Homeric mythology
Described by 3 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in Homeric mythology, the seducer of Helen, and the cause of the Trojan War; a younger son of Priam, King of Troy, by Hecuba, his queen. Hecuba, Paris His mother, before the birth of Paris, having dreamed that she had brought forth a firebrand that would destroy both the palace and the city, consulted the oracle, and the priests advised the killing of the child as soon as born. Paris was, accordingly, intrusted to a slave, who was bound to execute the decree; and carried the child to the side of Mount Ida, where, touched with pity, the man left him; and where he was found by shepherds, taken home, and reared. As Paris grew up he showed such nobility of soul and daring, as to obtain the title of "The Defender," or Alexander. At the marriage of Peleus, King of Thessaly, and Thetis, the goddess of Discord-out of envy at being left out of the list of invited guests 118 PARIS, DECLARATION OF -secretly entered the nuptial hall and flung down a golden apple, on which was inscribed "The Prize of the Fairest." All the females claimed the apple as their own; and the angry feeling was only partially appeased by appointing an umpire, and allowing Minerva, Juno, and Venus to stand as candidates before the judge. So general had the reputation of the shepherd Paris become that he was unanimously selected for that responsible office. His decision fell to Venus. This judgment of Paris so enraged Minerva and Juno that they vowed eternal enmity against both Paris and his family. Priam, having been subsequently informed of the preservation of his son, and finding him so noble in appearance and heroic in his bearing, at once acknowledged him as his son. Some time after his restoration his father dispatched him to Greece on some political mission, when, remembering the promise made to him by Venus, that he should possess the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife, and having heard the report of the surpassing attractions of the Spartan Helen, he steered his fleet for Lacedæmon, and visiting the court of Menelaus, King of Sparta, where he found the lovely Helen, who had become the wife of the Spartan king, far exceeded all the accounts he had received of her fascination and beauty. While the monarch was away Paris persuaded Helen to elope with him to Troy, where they were welcomed by Priam and installed in Ilium. This violation of good faith, and the breach of hospitality committed by the Trojan, so enraged the Spartan king, that he called upon the other states of Greece to make a common cause of the indignity he had suffered, and declare a war of extermination against Troy. Every state and kingdom in Greece re- sponded and Troy was besieged for 10 abashed by the injury he had inflicted on Menelaus, avoided on all years. Paris, occasions meeting the Spartan king in the frequent battles that ensued. Once, however, according to Homer, they met, when Paris would have fallen but for the interposition of Venus. It was a javelin, hurled by Paris, that found the vulnerable spot in Achilles, and brought that hero down. The death of Paris is variously told; he fell at or previous to the sack of Troy, Helen returned, as a prize, with her husband to Greece.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
in Greek legend, the second son of Priam, king of Troy. Before his birth his mother Hecuba dreamed that she had given birth to a firebrand that set fire to the city. As this dream was interpreted to mean that her child would bring disaster upon Troy the infant was exposed on Mount Ida. Here he was found and nourished for a time by a she-bear. Later the shepherd, whose task it had been to leave the child on the mountain, finding him still alive, took him home and cared for him. Paris grew to be a beautiful youth. His birth was discovered and he was received in Priam's household, where he married Oenone, daughter of a river god. When the dispute over the golden apple, inscribed "to the fairest," arose between Hera, Aphrodite and Athene, Zeus ordered that the decision be left to Paris. Hera promised him power and riches should be decide in her favor; Athene offered glory and wisdom; Aphrodite promised the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife. Paris decided in favor of Aphrodite and by the aid of the goddess carried off Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and thus brought on the Trojan War. Of course Paris won the enmity of Hera and Athene in deciding for Aphrodite. Paris is represented in the Iliad as skillful in war, but he was light and fickle in character and failed to distinguish himself during the siege of Troy, especially as he obstinately refused to give up the fair Helen. At the time of the fall of the city he was wounded by a poisoned arrow and sought Oenone to be healed. The neglected nymph repulsed her faithless husband and let him die of his wound. The judgment of Paris, representing him with the apple in his hand, appears on antique vases. See Troy ; Helen ; Hercules ; Priam ; Aphrodite ; Apple Of Discord
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
The son of Priam, king of Troy, and Hecuba ; he was also called Alexander . He was destined before his birth to cause the ruin of his country, and before he was born his mother dreamt that he would be a torch which would set fire to her palace. The soothsayers predicted that he would be the cause of the destruction of Troy. In consequence of these foretold calamities, Priam ordered a slave to destroy the child immediately after birth, but instead of acting thus the slave exposed the child on Mount Ida, where some shepherds found him and took care of him. Paris gave early proofs of courage, and his graceful countenance recommended him to Oenone, a nymph of Ida, whom he married. At the marriage of Peleus and Thetis the goddess of discord, who had not been invited, showed her displeasure by throwing into the assembly of the gods, who were at the nuptials, a golden apple, on which were the words: Let it be given to the fairest. The apple was claimed by Juno , Venus , and Minerva. Paris, who had been appointed to award it to the most beautiful of the three goddesses, gave it to Venus. Subsequently Paris visited Sparta , where he persuaded Helen, wife of Menelaus, the most beautiful woman of the age, to elope with him. This caused the Trojan war. Different accounts are given of the death of
Paris TREATIES OF. Of the numerous treaties bearing this designation
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
TREATIES OF. Of the numerous treaties bearing this designation a few only of the most important can be mentioned here. On Feb. 10, 1763, a treaty of peace was signed between France, Spain, Portugal, and England in which Canada was ceded to Great Britain. On Feb. 6, 1778, was signed that between France and the United States, in which the independence of the latter country was recognized. A treaty was signed between Napoleon I. and the allies, ratified April 11, 1814, by which Napoleon was deposed and banished to Elba. The treaty for the conclusion of peace between Russia on the one hand, and France, Sardinia, Austria, Turkey, and Great Britain on the other, at the end of the Crimean War, was ratified March 30, 1856. The treaty of peace with Germany, at the end of the Franco- German War, was concluded May 10, 1871, and modified by the convention of Oct. 12, 1871, by which France lost a great part of the Rhine provinces. The treaty between Spain and the United States at the end of the American- Spanish War was concluded Dec. 10, 1898; was ratified by the United States Senate, Feb. 6, 1899; was signed by President McKinley, Feb. 10, 1899; and by the Queen Regent of Spain, March 17, 1899. The most important treaty signed at Paris was that which concluded the World War. The Peace Conference which concluded this treaty met on Jan. 18, 1919, and its deliberations were continued at the Palace of Versailles until June 28, 1919, when the instrument was signed by the German and the Allied and Associated representatives. See WORLD WAR: PEACE TREATY.
Paris This is a good cement for attaching letters to windows
American Watchmaker and Jeweler (1892)
This is a good cement for attaching letters to windows. Apply warm to heated surfaces where possible. Cement for Glass and Metals. The following cement is used extensively for fastening brass and enamel letters to show windows: Mix together boiled linseed oil, 5 parts; copal varnish, 15 parts; glue, 5 parts; and oil of turpentine, 5 parts; add to this solution 10 parts of slaked lime and thoroughly incorporated. Cement for Knife and Fork Handles. Melt 2 parts of pitch and stir in 1 part of sand or brick dust; fill the cavity in the handle with the mixture, and push in the previously heated tang. Cement for Paper and Metals. Dissolve dextrine in water, adding 20 parts of glycerine and 10 parts of glucose. Coat the paper with this mixture, and, after rubbing the metal with a piece of onion, attach the paper.
Paris By some he is said to have been killed
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
By some he is said to have been killed by one of the arrows of Philoctetes which had once belonged to Hercules . Parnassus, A mountain of Phocis sacred to the Muses, and to Apollo and Bacchus . It was named thus after a son of Neptune who bore that designation. Lord Byron alludes to it in Childe Harold, canto i.: "Oh, thou Parnassus! whom I now survey, Not in the frenzy of a dreamer's eye, Not in the fabled landscape of a lav, But soaring snow-clad through thy native sky, In the wild pomp of mountain majesty!"
Paris TREATIES OF
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
TREATIES OF . agreed to four points in international copper; used to destroy the potato bug, law-viz.: (1) Privateering is abolished; or Colorado beetle. (2) the neutral flag covers enemies' goods, excepting contraband of war; (3) neutral goods, with the same exception, are not liable to be seized even under an enemy's flag; (4) blockades, in order to be binding, must be effective. The United States refused to accept the first point, because the European Powers declined to affirm that hereafter all private property should be exempted from capture by ships of war. See NEUTRALITY.
Paris a town and county-seat of Lamar co.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a town and county-seat of Lamar co., Tex.; on the Texas and Pacific, Texas Midland, and other railroads; 64 miles E. of Sherman. It contains a court house, hospitals, private schools, National banks, and several daily and weekly newspapers. It has manufactories of furniture, plows, cotton-seed oil, brick, and large wholesale and shipping interests, wagons, blind and sash industry, etc. Pop. (1910) 11,269; (1920) 15,040.
Paris UNIVERSITY OF
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
UNIVERSITY OF, a notable French institution that came into existence in the beginning of the 13th century, and was long the most famous center of learning in Europe. It was suppressed by a decree of the Convention of 1793.
Paris DECLARATION OF
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
DECLARATION OF. In 1856 the representatives of the Powers
Paris LOUIS ALBERT PHILIPPE, D'ORLEANS
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LOUIS ALBERT PHILIPPE, D'ORLEANS, COUNT OF. See ORLÉANS.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 account calls the Thiers ramparts "the largest fortification on the globe" and gives the city 2,763,393 people in 1906, "still growing rapidly"; both claims have been overturned. The wall was condemned after the First World War and pulled down through the 1920s, its ring of ground taken up by the Boulevards des Marechaux and, from 1973, the Peripherique motorway. The city within those limits peaked around 1921 at some 2.9 million and has since fallen to roughly 2.1 million, while the surrounding built-up region holds well over 10 million, so the growth moved outward rather than stopping. Of the other subjects sharing the headword, the Trojan prince Paris reads as it always did, while the American towns called Paris, in Texas, Kentucky, Illinois and Tennessee among others, have stayed small and are now better known through the 1984 Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas than through anything the encyclopedias recorded; the sewer tours the entry recommends survive as a public museum on the Left Bank.
Written for this edition, 2026.