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Show RESIDENTS IK ZONE OF ACTION AROUND PIS ' MUST HIR HOUSES Washington, Aug. 29. A circle of country 34 miles In length will be swept ot buildings If the order of the military governor ot Paris that tho residents of the "zono ot action" of the French capital's dcfondlng forts burn their homes In anticipation ot a siege Is correctly lnterperted hero. It Is supposed thnt the order refers to tho suburban territory Just beyond be-yond tho city's second line of defense composed of seventeen connecting forts. These tiro located In wide c(rclo about two miles outside of' tho Inner wall which surrounds Paris. They lie for tho most part nmoung famous suburban towns such ns Neullly, Verstlled, Vlncenncs and swept every approach to the city. It Is assumed that the governor's order Is Intended to clear the way In front of theso defences de-fences thnt no protection will bo afforded aff-orded an advancing enemy. The order probably applies also to the outer circles of the city's triple line of defences. These are the most modern ot forts. They aro built of steel st-eel and masonery and known to be equipped with the heaviest guns' ot famous trench artillery, although details de-tails as to their armament have been closely guarded. They are located among the hills, however, and whllo It may be necessary to destroy numerous numer-ous buildings In order to open the country co-untry to the flro of their guns, It Is thought the destruction will not be of such wholesale proportions as In' tho caso of the second lino forts, which nre embedded among costly dwellings and thriving towns. Something ot the magnitude of the defenses of Paris Is shown by estimates esti-mates that only an army of half a million men could hopo to Invest them and cut them off from tho outside world. Some ot the forts still bear tho names under which they resist-.cd resist-.cd the German assaults in 1870, but they havo boon remodeled and newly equipped many times as the science of gunnery progressed and today nro considered by military experts among the strongest defense works In the world . Tho two outer lines nro so placed that each fort has a cross flro over the territory swept directly by the guns of ndjolnlng forts. Tho result Is to mako attackers face flro from both flanks as well as the front In advancing on nny position. |