Chapter 10 Chapter 10 An article in the German magazine "This Century"

A month before the above-mentioned event, an orange-covered magazine—The Century—published the following article on the City of France.Perhaps because it purports to be approached from a purely material point of view, this text was especially favored by the refined minds of the German Empire. We've reported to our readers about something special happening on the West Coast of the United States.Great United States of America.Since a large part of its citizens are immigrants, it has for a long time allowed the world to witness one surprise after another.However, the most recent and most special thing is about the construction of the French city.Five years ago, the vision for the city didn't exist, but today it's detailed and, suddenly, culminating.

This wonderful city rises miraculously on the fragrant shores of the Pacific Ocean.We will not inquire whether the original blueprints and original ideas for this feat were developed by a Frenchman, Dr. Sarazan.This may be true, because the doctor advertises himself as a distant relative of our famous iron king.By the way, some people even say that defrauding a huge inheritance - which should of course belong to Mr. Schulz - has something to do with the construction of the city of France.It is a truth that wherever good things happen in the world, people can be sure that there must be a Germanic factor in them.We are proud to see that at this moment.But, at any rate, we must report to our readers the exact, true details of this model city, which is like a wild plant.

Don't look for this city on a map.Even the 378 large maps printed on the front and back of our famous Tucci Tickman have no shadow of the city of France, and this large map is a monument of geographical science applied to sniper tactics. It connects the old and new continents. All the thornbushes and groves are clearly and accurately marked.The place where the new city now stands was barren five years ago.Its geographical coordinates are 43 degrees 11 minutes 3 seconds north latitude and 124 degrees 41 minutes 17 seconds west longitude.It can be seen that it is located twenty miles north of Cape Brown, Oregon, North America, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean and at the foot of the Cascade Mountains, the second branch of the Rocky Mountains.

The best part of this piece was carefully searched for.Handpicked and screened from many others in great condition.Among the reasons for deciding to choose this place, the following especially played a role: first, its latitude in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, which is always the first condition for the degree of civilization of a region; second, its location in a In the middle of the Federal Republic, it is located in a newly-built state, which allows it to temporarily maintain its independent status and maintain the sovereignty of the Principality of Monaco in Europe under the condition that it belongs to the United States after a few years; third, it is on the verge of becoming a global Fourth, the natural environment is diverse, the land is fertile, and the soil quality is extremely beneficial to health; fifth, it is adjacent to a mountain range, and there are mountains in the north, south, and east to block the wind, while the Pacific Ocean in the west can be gentle. The fresh air of the city is blowing in; Sixth, there is a small river in the city, the water is clear, sweet and cool, because there are many waterfalls on the way, the river is fast-moving, so it is extremely clean and rich in oxygen, and it has always been a clear stream that goes straight into the ocean.Seventh, it is a good natural harbor formed by a long hook-shaped headland. Some long embankments can be built and wharves can be set up, so it has great development prospects.

There are, in passing, minor advantages: the vicinity of fine marble and other stones, of kaolin beds, and even of natural veins of gold.In fact, this advantage almost caused the city's builders to abandon the site, fearing that the gold rush would disrupt their plans.But fortunately, the gold deposits are small and very low in content. Although the selection of this place was done after serious and in-depth research, it only took a few days, and there was no need for a special on-site investigation.Now, the science of geography is quite advanced.It could be that detailed and accurate information about the most remote areas can be obtained without leaving home.

After the address was confirmed, two members of the organizing committee boarded the cruise ship waiting to set sail in Liverpool, and arrived in New York after eleven days, and arrived in San Francisco after another seven days, where they hired a steamer. It took ten hours to reach the destination. After negotiating with the Oregon legislature, they leased a four-mile-wide strip stretching from the sea to the Cascade Mountains, spent a few thousand dollars more, and put half a dozen growers—their Some were true and some were not—sent away.All this took less than a month. In January 1872, the site had been surveyed, surveyed, bounded, and explored, and then an army of 20,000 Chinese coolies, led by 500 European foremen and engineers, began construction.The whole state of California is covered with recruitment advertisements. Every morning, the express train that departs from San Francisco across the American continent adds a radio carriage every day. Twenty-three newspapers in San Francisco place advertisements every day and conduct hype to ensure recruitment. The smooth progress of labor's work.In fact, there is no need for such hype, as long as a few large characters are carved on the cliffs of Los Angeles, cheap labor will come in droves.However, it has to be said truthfully that the influx of Chinese coolies into the western Americas at this moment has seriously disrupted the labor market.In several states, in order to protect the survival of local residents and prevent bloody violence, these unfortunate Chinese coolies had to be expelled in large numbers.

In time, the builders of the city of France saved the Chinese coolies from this fate.Their remuneration was all fixed at one dollar a day, and was paid after the completion of the work, and was paid in kind by the municipality.This avoids the confusion, the shameful speculation that so often makes such mass migrations notorious. The remuneration is supervised by some representatives every week and deposited in the big San Francisco bank, and every coolie has to guarantee that he will never steal it, otherwise he will be fired.Such measures are necessary to get rid of those yellow people who discredit the new city.In addition, the city's founders have the power to accept or reject applications for residence, so this is relatively easy to implement.

The first major project was the construction of a railroad spur linking Newtown with the Pacific Railroad mainline, leading straight to Sacramento.Great care was taken in building the railroads, to avoid turning the land upside down, and digging deep trenches, which would destroy the healthy elements of the soil.Both the construction of the railway and the construction of the port were in full swing.At the beginning of April, the first non-stop train from New York sent the members of the organizing committee who had been staying in Europe to the French city station.During this time, the city's master plan and detailed plans for residential and public buildings were finalized.

There is no shortage of building materials: since the news of the plan to build a new city was released, the American business community has continuously transported all kinds of building materials imaginable to the docks of the French city. The troublesome thing is how to choose these Materials, the founders of the city decided that large blocks of stone were used for the construction of municipal buildings and general decoration, while the residential buildings were built of bricks and stones.Of course, it is not rough bricks fired casually with those clay blocks, but very light in weight and uniform in shape.The weight and density are completely uniform, and there is a row of circular parallel holes along its longitudinal center.These brick holes of each brick are connected with each other, forming a hollow pipe connected at both ends in the wall, so that the air in the inner wall and the outer wall of the house can circulate freely.Such a wall also has another valuable advantage, it can soundproof, so that the various rooms do not interfere with each other.

The committee, however, did not intend for architects to build on a uniform model of housing, which it might say was opposed to such a dull and prosaic uniformity, but merely proposed certain rules which architects must strictly observe: 1.Each house should be a single family, surrounded by an open space, planted with trees, lawns and flowers.Only one family lives in each house. 2.Each house shall have at most two floors; the air and light of other houses shall not be obstructed. 3.The roofs of all houses must be ten meters away from the street, and a chest-high fence should be set up to separate them from the street.The space between the fence and the wall of the house is used as a flower garden.

4.The walls must be built with special hollow bricks that meet the standards.Decoration is at the sole discretion of the architect. 5.The roof shall be a platform with a slight slope on all sides, the platform shall be smeared with asphalt, the surrounding shall be protected by high railings to avoid accidents, and there shall be drainage grooves to allow the rainwater to flow down immediately. 6.All houses must be built on a ventilated vaulted foundation, and the first floor under the vault is a ventilation room, which is also a hall.The upper and lower water pipes are all open pipes, which are attached to the central column of the vaulted basement hall, which is convenient for maintenance, and in case of fire, water can be obtained immediately.The cushion of this underground hall is five or six centimeters higher than the street level, and it is covered with a layer of sand.There is a door and a special ladder in the hall, leading directly to the kitchen and storage room, all household chores can be done here, so as not to obstruct the view or overflow the smell. 7.Contrary to common custom, kitchens, storerooms or other outbuildings are located on the top floor and communicate with the terrace, which thus becomes a wide open-air outbuilding.A mechanically powered lift can easily carry various heavy objects onto the platform.Lifts, like artificial light and water, are offered to residents at low cost. 8.Interior decoration can each show its ability.However, two things—rugs and wallpaper—are strictly forbidden because they are dangerous, sources of contagion, breeding grounds for miasmas, and laboratories for poisons.The floor was artistically spliced ​​with high-quality wood by ingenious carpenters. If it is laid with some messy felt, all the charm will be lost.The walls are covered with a layer of glazed bricks, which look as dazzling as the interior walls of houses in Warthog City. Its color and durability are never achieved by colorful wallpapers tainted with countless poisons.Cleaning is as easy as scrubbing mirrors and windows, floors and ceilings.No germs can hide in it. 9.Each bedroom is separate from the toilet.It must be well remembered that the bedroom is the place in which each person spends a third of his life, so it must be the room that is the most spacious, the airiest, and the most simply furnished.It should be used only for sleeping: with four chairs, an iron bed with holes in the frame, and a wool mattress that should be beaten frequently, a bedroom would suffice with such furniture.Eiderdown quilts, embroidered bedspreads, and other items were, of course, off limits as they were the culprits of infectious diseases.Good blankets, soft and warm and easy to wash, can replace them.Although curtains and curtains are not explicitly prohibited, at least everyone should be advised to choose fabrics that can be washed and changed frequently. 10.Each room has a fireplace, which burns wood or coal, according to the individual's preference, but each must have a vent.The smoke is not discharged from the roof, but is discharged into a special stove through underground pipes.The stove was built at the expense of the municipality, and it was installed at the back of the house, and there was one for every two hundred inhabitants.The smoke from each household is treated by stoves to remove coal ash and turn into a colorless gas, which is discharged into the air at a height of 35 meters. These are the ten rules that must be followed in the construction of every house.The general facilities of the city are likewise carefully studied. Urban planning must first of all be simple, tidy and suitable for various developments.The streets must be cross-shaped, with the same length, width and narrowness. Trees are planted along the roadside, and house numbers are numbered in sequence for each building. Every half a kilometer, a street with a width of one-third is built, called "avenue" or "boulevard". A park was erected at each crossroads, temporarily adorned with beautiful imitations of masterpieces of sculpture, to be replaced when the artists of the City of France produced works to rival them. All enterprises and all commerce are free to operate.In order to obtain the right of residence in the city of France, only the following conditions are required, but must be: a certificate of good character; the ability to practice a useful or specialized occupation in industry, science or art; a guarantee of compliance with the laws of the city.People with nothing to do are not allowed here. Many public buildings have been built.The largest is the cathedral, several chapels, museums, libraries, schools, and gymnasiums, richly and hygienically furnished, as is truly expected of a great city. Needless to say, children must receive intellectual education and physical exercise from the age of four. Only in this way can the healthy development of children's intelligence and physique be promoted.The children must also be taught strict hygiene habits, so that they think it is a very shameful thing to get even the slightest stain on their clothes. In truth, personal and communal hygiene were the chief concerns of the founders of the City of France.Wherever there are crowds, there will be bacteria multiplying, so it must be cleaned and cleaned continuously. This is the main concern of the city's central government.For this reason, the sewage from the sewers is discharged outside the city, gathered together for treatment, compressed, and transported to the wilderness every day. There are gurgling waters everywhere.The streets are paved with asphalt and the stone sidewalks glisten like the pavement of a Dutchman's yard.The food and vegetable market is often inspected, and any businessman who disregards people's health and takes advantage of opportunities will be severely punished.If a businessman sells a bad egg, a catty of spoiled meat, and a liter of milk mixed with water, he will be regarded as a poisoner and punished.Such important and detailed inspection work is entrusted to experienced people trained in specialized schools, real experts. Laundries are also under the jurisdiction of these experts.Laundries are large, equipped with steam machines, artificial drying rooms, and especially disinfection rooms.Each garment is thoroughly laundered before being returned to its owner.And be very careful not to mix the clothes of two customers.Simple as this cautious approach was, it paid off. There are few hospitals, because the family medical system is very popular, and hospitals are only set up for homeless foreigners and people with special diseases.Needless to say, the founders of Model City never thought of building a large hospital larger than other buildings, cramming 700 or 800 patients into the same infectious disease source.Instead of being stupid enough to put several patients next to each other, they isolate them, on the contrary.This is not only taking care of patients, but also considering the interests of everyone.Even within households, people are advised to keep sick people in a room alone as much as possible.Hospitals are only special and limited institutions set up for temporary treatment of emergency patients. There are at most 20 or 30 patients in each hospital, and each patient lives in a room alone.The hospitals were light log cabins, built of pine wood, which had to be burned down and rebuilt every year.Each part of this "temporary hospital" is built according to a special model. It has great advantages. It can be moved from one place to another in the city at will according to needs, and can be adjusted according to the situation. increase its number. One of the genius reforms in health care is that the central administration provides the public with a team of well-trained and specially trained nurses.These women are carefully selected, for doctors, they are the most valuable and most loyal assistants.They tell the family members of the patients the knowledge that is extremely necessary but often not possessed by the family members of the patients at the critical moment. Moreover, while caring for the patients, they also have the mission of preventing the spread of the disease. The founders of the new city took many measures to improve sanitation.Every citizen was given a pamphlet upon his arrival in the city, in which were written down, in plain and simple writing, the most important principles of a scientific life. It is written that the perfect balance of various functions of the human body is one of the necessary conditions for good health.For various organs, there should be a balance between work and leisure, and a certain degree of relaxation; regular brain work is as beneficial to the body as physical labor; nine out of ten diseases are caused by air and food, so the residence and personal Never get too close to the "source of infectious disease"; avoid taking stimulants; exercise; consciously pay attention to personal hygiene every day; drink pure water; eat fresh, cooked vegetables and meat; sleep seven hours a night Eight hours...those are healthy little things. We have just mentioned the initial principles put forward by the founders of the city, and now we naturally turn to the situation after the completion of this particular city.Indeed, as soon as the first houses were built, others followed as if by magic.Only those who have been west of the Mississippi River can appreciate the splendor of this urban rise.In January, 1872, there was still a wilderness; in 1873, 6,000 houses had been erected; in 1874, 9,000; All have been completed. It must be pointed out that good calculations played an important role in this.Houses built on a large scale in vast, formerly worthless places were rented out at extremely low prices and on extremely low terms.The absence of a city tax, the political independence of this isolated patch of land, the allure of its novelty, and its mild climate are all attracting an influx of immigrants.Now, the city of France has nearly 100,000 residents. The most remarkable thing, and the only thing that can interest us, is that their experience in hygiene is fruitful. While the average annual death rate in the best cities, Old or New, never fell below 3 per cent, in the City of France the average rate over five years was only 1.5 per cent.If malaria hadn't appeared for the first time and caused a small-scale infection, the death rate would have been even lower.The death rate last year was only 1.25%.More importantly, except for a few cases, the causes of death currently registered are all due to specific diseases, and most of them are caused by genetic factors.Sporadic diseases are extremely rare, extremely limited, and not dangerous elsewhere.As for the real infectious disease, it has not been found at all. The development of this attempt is well worth studying.People especially want to know, if a whole generation, or even several generations, is influenced by such a scientific method of health maintenance, can this influence eliminate the genetic factors of diseases? "It is not arrogance to think so," wrote one of the founders of this marvelous city, "and, what a grand result it would be! Man may live to be ninety, a hundred, Only die of old age but not of disease, just like most animals and plants!" Such a dream is indeed charming enough! However, if we are allowed to speak our minds frankly, we have little confidence in the ultimate success of this experiment.In the midst of this, we find a fundamental and possibly fatal malady, that is, the power of the city management committee is in the hands of the Latins, while the Germans are fundamentally excluded.This is an annoying phenomenon.Since the dawn of the world, nothing can be done without the Germans, and nothing can be done without the Germans.The founders of the City of France were perfectly capable of clearing out the land and clearing out a few special points, but we will one day see a real model city, not in this place in America, but in Syria. the coast.