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224 unending stream of carriages. It is worth seeing the Boulevards by night when the electric lights from the Opera house and the thousand jets of gas from the shops and cafés on both sides, and the stream of lively Parisians strolling along the street or sitting by the tables outside the cafés and sipping their "Absynth" or "Grenadine" make it a festive scene indeed.

As we stroll further eastwards we come close to some buildings which though not on the Boulevards require mention. Only a short distance to our south is the famous "Bourse," the stock exchange of Paris. It is a modern building, constructed in 1826 and is architecturally not unlike the Madeleine Church. Like that Church it stands on a platform and is surrounded by massive Corinthean pillars. The large clock over the front entrance is the standard by which Paris time ($8 1⁄2$ minutes ahead of Greenwich time) is regulated. The hall inside is busy as may be imagined.

Not far from the Bourse is the Bank of France, established in 1803, and said to contain within its secure vaults nearly a hundred million pounds sterling in gold. It is said that these vaults can be flooded with water at any time, and it is certain that sand is stored here in large quantities to bury and save the gold and silver of the nation in the event of the superstructure being burnt down.

Not far from the Bourse and the Bank is a superb building of a different description, the great library of the nation.