New-York tribune., 1910-01-27
THE PERIL OF PARIS.
Peculiarly Exposed to Floods in the
Seine-Vast Underground Works.

Two circumstances combine TO place the
city Of Paris peculiarly in period Of floods
its situation and its vast system Of under
ground architecture. Nor is this disaster
by any means a rare one. Overhows OF the
Seine have several times assumed the pro-
portions OF Widespread calamity. Not in
thirty years, however. has the food proved
so serious.
The country in which the city lies is a
shallow alluvial basin, much of it like the
lower Mississippi Valley, below the river
level. Through this plain winds the Seine,
a concentration OF several large tributaries
rising in widely separated mountain re-
gions and uniting in the Seine above Paris.
1t, therefore, takes comparatively little rain
or melting snow in the uplands to swell the
Seine to flood in its lower course. When
there is an unusual rainfall, as now, this
becomes an uncomfortable torrent, already
greatly augmented by food conditions at
it's own source in the mountains Of Cote
dor Among these tributaries are the
Aube. Yune, Loing and the Marue.
From its mountain source TO the city the
Seine follows a direct course, keeping TO
its broad main channel Entering the city.
narrowed between high masonry, it begins
a series Of windings. Thus the concentrated
foods Of all the wide drainage area in Cen
trail and eastern France pile up till they
leap over into the low waterfront streets
of the city, food and burst its sewers and
subways and undermine buildings. Add
to these conditions the numerous islands
that block the stream during its course
through the city and banks at its mouth
and the tidal bores that back up from
the sea. impeding the onrush in the chan
mel, and the conditions OF disaster are COM
plete.
The sewers Of Paris. made famous by
Victor Hugo since the seventeenth century.
despite their great service. have comph-
Gated food perils. The city's foundation is
literally honeyconlbed, and under food
pressure these vast tunnels burst and under
mine the foundations of the buildings. The
main sewers are eighteen feet in diameter
and the total length of this network OF
GRAINS is soS miles. As these tubes also con-
tain water conduits. gas pipes. telegraph.
telephone and power wires, and the pneu-
matte postal tubes, the effects of a bursting
saver are greatly complicated.
Another phase Of underground Paris is
the Catacombs. extending under consid-
erable part OF the left river bank.
A modern addition to the underworld and
the part in which there has been the great
est food damage at present is the subway
system. This began with the opening OF
the METROPOLITAN Underground Railway in
1900 and has been continued till the city
has been interlaced by a network of tun-
neIs. The main line runs east and west
through the centre of the city from the
Porte de Vincennes to the Porte Maillot, q
distance Of seven miles Another more
northerly line from Place de Ia Nation to
the Bois de Boulogne makes a loop Of eight
miles. The new line under construction. in
which there have been bad cave-ins during
the last week, extends under the Grand
Boulevard from the Place de la Concorde
through the Rue Royale to the Place de Ia
Bastile. and thence across the Seine
through the Boulevard Saint Gerrnain to
the Chamber of Deputies. The Orleans
Road also enters the city by subway
Paris altogether covers 10000 acres of
which the Seine occupies 1.760 The river
averages two hundred or three hundred
yards in width and its length in the city
is seven miles. Paris at its lowest levels is
only eighty feet above tidewater
The present flood began with heavy
storms on January II Besides Paris, the
towns OF Billancourt, Argenteuil. Asnieres,
Sevres. Meudon. Lille Chalons. Troyes
Montereau. lie Saint Denis, Ivry, vitry,
Maisons-Lafitte, Argenteuil Poissy Tours
sur-Marne. Juvigny and many others are
severely affected.