Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-01-26
The Suffering in France is
Made More Intense
By Storm.
SNOW, SLEET AND RAIN
Hunger Facing People, EspeCi-
ally in Paris, Where Sup
plies Run Low.

Paris, Jan. 26.-Hundreds of persons
have perished In the valley of the
Dopbs. The floods throughout France
have reached the dimensions of a
great national calamity.
Growing Hourly Worse.
Paris. Jan. 26.-The food situation
grows hourly worse At Pont Royal
the Seine is rising nearly an inch an
hour The whole of France is still in
the grip of an unpreced -1ted storm.
Rain, snow and hail are ing every
where, the coasts are stor Sound. and
ships are fleeing to harbo $of refuge.
A binding snowstorm rag 1g in Paris
today, coupled with bitter cold, added
to the CONSERVATION and suffering of
the poor and homeless.
Nation Shows Pluck.
In the face of. national disaster
France is giving a fine exhibition Of
pluck and solidarity. Political divi-
sions have been buried and the gov
ernment and people are united TO solve
the problem of relief Every resource
of the government, including the army,
is employed today. Boats were re-
Questioned at all ports and soldiers
and fire-nen worked tirelessly. Never
theless Premier BRAND and the other
ministers who have not left their
posts for 4S hours were unable to re-
spond to the appeals for help coming
from every direction. ss'. s-s,s
Change In Paris for Worse.
The situation is Paris was not
changed appreciably, except more.
streets have been converted into
canals, more districts evacuated, few
more pavements caved in and traffic
communication completely paralyzed.
One of the greatest causes of alarm
continued to be the constant rise of
the subterranean streams under the
center of Paris which flooded cellars
and undermined foundations of build
ings. Whole streets have been roped
off as unsafe.
Wire Service Cut OF.
Another serious phase is the falling
of the wire service. 1t is impossible
today to communicate by telephone be-
tween the two banks of the Seine.
This greatly crippled relief.
The rich as well as the poor are be
ginning to suffer. The wealthy
Champs Elysees district is without gas
DIT electricity and some of the homes
have no heat In the Ivry and Abort
VILE district row boats and auto boats
this morning found 5000 persons i'm
prisoned in the second stories of their
homes. Paris Is beginning to feel the
pinch of hunger. The supply of fresh
meat and vegetables is failing and
prices are soaring.
Estimate Loss of 5000, 100000.
Premier BRAND and Minister Of
Finance Cochery today estimated the
flood losses would exceed 5000 1000, 900. |
Paris is divided into five sections, each
in charge of a military commander, !
who will control relief and rescue !
work
Throw Bakers Into River.
Some bakers who attempted 10
double the price of bread were roughly /
handled today and two of them were
thrown into the Seine. Details from /
the flooded regions in the provinces /
are narrowing. Rivers in the south |
west are rising rapidly. The immense /
losses to industry were refiected-cn /
the boOrse today. where bad slump .
in industrials and railroad stocks oc-
Cured.
show Places Under Water.
Great sections of the French CAPT
tai are under water. Six square miles
of Bois De >Boulonge are submerged.
Waters have inundated the Palais
Bourbon, the foreign office and
scores of historic monuments along
each side of the river. special
of the cabinet was held to-
day to consider means to cope with
the situation. Military forces have +
been summoned from all parts of the
country In Paris the situation be-
comes more desperate momentarily.
BOuIevards Cave In.
The Rue Royale, the famous
church edifice, is sinking and several
streets and boulevards have begun to
cave in. Owners of row boats de-
mand fabulous prices to remove fur
niture and valuables to safety.