The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-01-25
The FLOOD
Entire Military Garrison of the
French Capital
Turns Out to Combat the Raw
ages of the Seine.
SEWERS AREBURSTING
Streets Caving in and Buildings
Are T0ppling.
Rain and Sleet Falling Over the
Stricken Area.

Paris. Jan. 25.-FIfty thousand SOL
oiers comprising the garrison of Paris,
We're placed at the disposition Of the
municipal authorities this morning to
fight the flood whose ravages are
spreading ruin and CONSERVATION
throughout the city.
At o'clock this morning the water
az Pont Royal had touched 26 feet
above low tide and was rising at the
rate Of nearly half an inch an hour
with the prospect of the rise continu-
ing until midnight. The damage al
ready done is incalculable. The indus
trial life of the city is rapidly becom-
ing paralyzed. Only two sections OF
the subway are in operation while
three-fOurthS of the surface lines are
tied up Factories are shutting down
because of the lack of power due to the
electric plants being flooded. Half OF
the telephones in the city are out of
commission. and telegraph and railway
communication is demoralized.
The disaster locally is due chiefly to
the fact that the whole marvellous un-
derground architecture of the city. is
filling up with water. causing the sew
ers to burst and the streets to cave in
buildings.
Out of Its Banks.
The scene on the river front is ma
jestic but appalling. The stream has
broken it's barriers at several points
and is pouring it's yellow torrents into
the surrounding streets, converting
them into verItable lakes. At any min
ute 1t may necessary to blow up
the Alma bridge where the water is
but few inches from the keystone Of
the arch, a dam there might turn
the course of the Seine in such a way
To of FASH
icnable sections of the city. A tre-
nendous explosion which a&akered the
stricken city at o'clock led to the re-
port that the Alma bridge had been
blown up, but the explosion proved to
have occurred il a chemical factory at
Ivry-Sur Seine, miles above. 1t is
presumed that the water surrounding
the factory came in contact with chem
icals, causing the explosion.
During the night the subway sta
tfonsat the orleans terminus and at
Quai De Orsay were flooded and
clohed and the sinking of LRue De
Poitiers let the water through a loot
and half deep into the Rue De Lille
and the Rue De L'Universite, streets
in which live many of the old arfstoe-
racy. The Vaughirard district near
the Boucicault hospital also is inun-
dated.
Rain and SIeet.
At noon Paris was the center of an
area of low pressure and bitter cold
and rain and sleet were falling
throughout the flooded regions, adding
to the suffering of the poor and home
less ones The price of bread and
other food has increased owing TO the
fact that communication with the
provinces is crippled. No trains from
the south are coming beyond Choisy-
LIE Roi.
The depleted supply of drinking
water has caused the greatest alarm.
ric Of
inches higher the pumping stations
still in operation must stop and Paris
in the midst of miniature ocean, will
be without water fit to drink.
The situation at between 20 and 80
suburban towns above this city is
worse than IN the capital itself. At
Charenton, where the swollen River
Marne enters the Seine. an area of
200 square miles has been Hooded
The submerged district includes Alt
fortviIle and Ivry-Sur-Seine, with
total population of $4,000. At this point
the soldiers and f1remen are doing
heroic work in rescuing families in
boats and pontoons. At Altfortville,
caskets, lifted from their resting
places, are floating down stream.
No Water to Drink.
From Auteuil to st. Germain. the
lower portions of all the riverside
towns are deep beneath the waters and
evacuate their homes. The domestic
supply of water at several towns has
been cut off.
The animals of the geological gar
dens. which were in danger of drown
ing. have been removed to higher
Appeals for funds issued by the Red
Cross and other societies are meeting
with generous responses. Edmond
Rostand has offered to give the re-
.s,I, tod 70 hn
Gus, from the first nights presentation
of his play "Chanticleer.
Physicians fear an epidemic when
the flood subsidies. as the overflowing
sewers are likely to contaminate the
drinking water and rats driven out of
their underground homes are invad-
ing. resid dences.
The report that the Eiffel tower
should be perpendicular when undis-
turbed is erroneous. 1t is explained
base and each support supplied with a
hydraulic lifting apparatus which
works automatically.
Before noon the police compelled
the evacuation of the Hotel Ralais
D'Orsay, near the Quai D'Orsay, and
the surrounding houses.
The palace of the Legion of Honor
is menaced and an accumulation of
driftwood above the Isle of st. Louis
threatens to sweep away the barrier
of piles and the Pont Des Arts.
News from the provinces show there
is a general improvement in the flood
situation this afternoon. except in the
east and along the aff1uents Of the
Seine and Meuse.
Electric Lights Fail.
Water laps the quays at the Place
De La Concord and the Scurs-La-Reine
Telegraphic communication in the
South of France is rapidly going to
pieces Traffic between the Pont Des
Arts and Pont Neuf is suspended The
archway of the submerged tunnel be-
tween the Quai D'Orsav and the Aus
teriitz stations threatens to fall A three