Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-26
.OMISC OUT OF THE FLOOD
Serious Risings Of the Seine Few and
Far Between.
T FLOODS IN 800 YEARS
neHaofies of TIE GAY French Capital
Troop 20 Those who Observed
It's GIories whea II was
quite Dry.

three groups. according 70 the height Of the
water registered on the gauges II was on
this river az Paris that the worlds first
system for forecasting floods was worked
out, In 1854 and Il has been IN use ever
since. so the city authorities OF Paris knew
two weeks or more ago OF the calamity
that was in store for them.
Since the daily readings Of the flow Of
the seine at Paris and other points were
begun, In iTS2 there have been forty-siN
floods, counting the present one. Accord
ing to the classification Of height, thirty
one % these were ordinary" twelve ex-
traordinary'' and three exceptional the
exceptional ones being those Of 1870. 1sN
and iR10
In the century preceding f752 there we're
five devastating iuundations of the city
that Of les being the worst on record, until
the present time. .. ... .....-
Torrents in the sewers.
The great sewers. which Jean Vatican
made famous. and through which the sight
seers float in boats with guide, have be-
3 come 20 many additional flood streams. and
I ct the present TING nearly every inch Of
the 100 miles OF the sewer system is a roar
ing torrent breaking It's way through the
street surface here and there, and adding
section after section Of the city TO the sub
-tTeRsed district And the network Of un-
de7fTound. railroads has become a river
eyttem Under the streets.
- Most OF the famous structures damaged
or threatened by the present flood antedate
the beginning Of the flood records OF Paris
in 1919 by many years, in some cases cen
turies. The JardIn des Plantes. which was
lthe first institution to feel the effects Of
the present rising. is on the lever left bank
r7of the Seine near the entrance OF the river
within the city limits Although botani-
ca3 garden. II includes a museum Of natural
t.history and a geological collection. chiefly
famous for the bear pits The Jardn des
Pfantes was founded in 1876 by Guy de Ia
! Brosse, physician TO Louis XIII. and was
originally nothing more than a collection
Of medicinal herbs The celebrated Button
was appointed director Of the Jardin du
Roi, as II eame to be called IN 1879, and he
ae1tanded It's sphere by founding collections
in every department OF natural history. In
g 179s the royal menagerie was transferred
60 It, and IN 17s4 the library.
Notre Dame. on the lie de la Cite. the
famous walls OF which have been washed
BY many floods. was founded in 1163 on the
site Of a church Of the fourth century and
was consecrated in 1852, but the nave was
not completed until the thirteenth century
The foundation stone was laid by Pope
Alexander Ju. at that time a refugee in
France. In I7ss Norte Dame was converted
into the temple Of reason. The sculptures
were mutilated ana the statue OF the Virgin
replaced By one OF Liberty. The orgies Of
which the church became the scene let TO
ITS, being closed the following year. In
f795 It was restored to the Catholics.
u Rendezvous of Wolf.
~ The Louvre, the basement Of which is
flooded. Is supposed to derive its name
Afrom an ancient rendezvous Of wolf hunt
-ers, known as the Louvsrie. The begin
ming OF building on this site was in the
time OF Philip Augustus, who lived in the
-fiatter part OF the twelfth century. But the
present structure was not begun until the
-sEeign OF Francis I. 1515-1S47.
o A study OF the map OF France showing
the topography OF the county through
which the Seine flows. together with ref
erence 70 the meteorological statistics OF
the country shows the causes OF the many
floods Of Paris, as they have been deter
mined by Vernon -Harcourt and other en-
E1aeers.
sncThs area OF the Seine basin in s0s7O
square miles, Of which 375O consist Of slop-
ing impermeable strata, 376o Of fiat i'm
tpermeable strata, and e 500 square miles
a CoR PsFmeable strata, SO that the permeable
strata occupy about three-fourths Of the
basin. The fiat impermeable strata more
oyer have little influence In the produc-
tion Of torrential floods. and, therefore,
practically about only one-eighth Of the
basin is Of q strictly torrential character.
Accordingiy, the Seine possesses the char
acteristics OF gently flowing river. dif-
fsring in this respect from the other prin-
cipal rivers Of Franee-the Rhone. the
Lore. and the Garonne-whose basins con-
Gist mainly Of impermeable strata.
r. The Seine itself has been divided into
four neutral sections with distinctive ap-
s.pellatI ns; the Little Seine. from its source
to Its Nonfluencs with the Yonne at Mon
stsreau the Upper Seine, from Montereau
TO Paris Just above which place one OF its
most important tributaries. the Marne,
vgaowB int the Lower Seine. from Parts to
81. Aubtn. near Elbeuf, at the limit OF the
tidal nOw, and the Tidal Seine. from ST.
aAusin 20 ths sea.
- Pt4i6uI Paris.
-s'slSo. have no appetite this evening" the
FrenchWouan says "a she sits down to
table with the American who has spent
some years In PARA "Ah mon pauvre
Parish on, how you are to be pitiedt'' She
continues. crying softly 20 herself "our
heautiful Paris, Paris so amiable, har-
moniOus and douxl Do you remember the
seine on q hot summers day, sleepy and
good-natursd when the bateaux mouchea
eKinnsd lightly over it3 They lodged the
baFges and giided under bridges, taking IA
beyond the limits Of the city to 81 CLOUD
or 90 Boaiogns where we would sit dow
on the grassy banks and watch the poplar.
admire themselves in the water and whsr,
We would see the river flow slowly BY, a
though in It's calm, contented way II found
ltho envirOns 30 lovely that II loathed 70
pass on. DO YOU, remember the fairyIfk,
spectacle the Seine presented in the even.
inK, at the Pont Royale when an IN,
lights were lit and reflected themselve.
m every ripple Of the shining surface and
the moon wove a long white path over IA
And DO you remember the rivers weir,
fascination. It's dark secrecy. and Its voice
1sss expression OF grim. silent TRACED,
which always struck us a. We walked owe
ne Pont des saints Perces late In tn
sveninEf
@And 20 think that now the sleepy good
sfnred river, the silent witness to TRACED,
passion. has become a mad. rushing tor
Z The stream which previously brough
ure 70 thousands or eonsoled the sor