Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-01-27
Large Part Of City Doomed Buildings and Quays
Collapse Streets Washed 0ut--$200, 000,0oO
Loss death List Is Terrible and Epidemic
Sure to Come People Fighting for Lives.

Paris, Jan. 27.-At o'clock this
morning the water was rising rapidly
and had reached to within few inches
of the parapet of the quay at the
Louvre. The Hood threatened momen-
tarily to inundate the sculpture gal
lery. where are kept the Venus of Milo
and other priceless art treasures
The danger to the Louvre is in
creased by the presence at this point of
a big sewer, which it is feared will
burst. A gang of masons is working
under high pressure building up a con-
crete wall to keep out the water.
The subway station at Bercy COL
lapsed with a terrific roar early this
morning, nearly carrying TO ruin a
nearby police station in which a num-
Der of flood sufferers had sought ref
uge. Forty buses in the vicinity had
to be evacuated. AS the gas mains
burst when the station collapsed Clark
ness added to the terror of the people
Late dispatches from the provinces
bring A ray of hope, Indicating that the
there has improved and that
the floods have at length reached their
crest. The affiuents of the Seine are
even beginning to show a tendency to
fall. The Rhone and Saone rivers, how
ever, are still rising.
Rcnorts of villages submerged and
people absolutely without food are
reaching Faris constantly. Saint Lau-
rent is flooded and the people are with
out drinking water. At Contlans-Sur-
Marno a score of houses have fallen in
and many people are homeless. At
Seyres the famous government porce-
lain factory is completely surrounded
by the food.
Paris, Jan 27-At 2 A. M. the walls
of DOrsay railway station in Paris
gave way under the enormous pressure
and a vast volume of water poured I'M
der the roadway, lifting it bodily and
washing the blocks of wood along like
straws. The whole quarter is now food
ed to a depth of two feet.
Paris. Jan. 26-The snow storm has
ceased and the weather is moderatlng'
but the Seine is still rising, and Paris
like a doomed city, is holding its
breath in terror. Half the city IS in
darkness. In the gloom galloping or
derlies are bearing instructions which
can no longer be sent by telephone
The army of police, firemen and sol
diers give the appearance of a city
fighting for its life.
Every minute brings graver dangers.
New areas are being inundated. quays
are collapsing, yawning chasms appear
in the streets.
What new disaster will come to the
city before the Seine be-
gins to fall no one can predict. AL
ready the damage is officially esti-
mated at 5000, 100000 and every hour
adds millions more. The death roll
also is growing at a frightful rate, ana
when the epidemic which now appears
breaks out, it will run into
Already scarlet fever has
a appeared at Ivry.
The authorities are facing the sit
uation with brave hearts, and are
bending their energies to the rescue
of the imprisoned and the succor of
the homeless. The public subscrip-
lions opened by the newspapers have
reached nearly 100000. while the Red
Cross and other relief societies have
gone nobly to work.
The extent of the floods in Paris
may be judged by the fact that about
half the length of the quays within
the city are under water, which is
pouring into the streets, and thousands
of laborers and soldiers are working
like mad to build cement walls and
hold back the current. The foreign
office and the hotel Palace De Orsa
have been abandoned as the cellars
are full of water The Continental
hotel and many residences in the aris-
tocratic section are rapidly being
wrecked There is 10 feet of water
in the subway station in front OF the
Care ST. Lazare. and the sinking OF
the square threatens to carry down the
adjacent buildings.
With the failure, of the gas and
electric lighting plants, Paris IS con-
fronted with an oil famine. Scores of
oil barges from Rouen are tied up in
the Seine and the great depots of dis
tribution in the outskirts of Paris are
flooded. The oil refineries of Rouen
are endangered. The situation in the
provinces is the same.
An official bulletin tonight stated
that the water at Port Royal will
reach the 30-foot mark tomorrow
morning The prospect for the i'm
mediate future is grave, for it is esti-
mated that the Seine tonight will rise
from two to three feet. Moreover, 1t
is feared that the high tide which is
setting in beginning tonight will ag-
gravate the situation
Reports reaching here from Rouen
reports that the quays and fields for
many miles are under water Half
the town of Plaisance in the depart
ment of Gers is under water and hun
dreds of refugees are making their