The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1910-01-28
REJOICING IS
-: SHORT LIVED
: -. .~I.+-. -------4,e:>~. .5@....:
;: -" H,.-...-- .,:>y... ... ...
.Parisians Believed Waters
We're Subsiding.
SITUATION NOT IMPROVED

& "0HIShsa'y all III VIC 0SinS LUG ~ d
Rapid Overflow Where the River
Had Broken Its misunderstanding
Torrent Runs Through the City Of
Paris at the Rate Of twenty-five
Miles an Hour.
Paris, Jan. 28-The sun is shining
In Paris. The rain ceased throughout
the afflicted district before noon anG
as the waters of the Seine appeared tt
subside the lamentations of the popu
lace gave way to rejoicing. It is hoped
that the worst is over, but the wish is
father to the thought.
At IL o'clock the water gauge showed
drop in the waters of the Seine al
Point Royal. The subsistence con
tinued for thirty minutes, amounting
to three-quarters of an inch. Cries oil
Joy from the watchers were taken u1
by thousands along the Quays. ~
Later it was asserted that the fall
was due to the rapid overflow into the
Bercy quarter from points where the
Seine had broken barriers. The ex
perts say that the river is still rising
but that the maximum flood should be
reached soon. The Bercy quarter has
been abandoned by the residents.
The valley of the Seine now presents
a terrifying spectacle. The flood is
miles wide for twenty-five miles above
and the raging torrent runs through
the city at the rate of twenty-five
miles an hour It is flush with the
parapets of the bridges where it is
not actually overlooking them, turning
streets into muddy lagoons and chok
ing underground workings of the city
to the bursting point, ~- =: o..
Paris resembles a beleaguered city
The military commander. in each OF
the five sections into which the me-
tropolis has been divided holds his
soldiers in constant readiness for dis.
patch to points of danger. The gov.
eminent of the municipality has placed
the military barracks and public
school buildings at the disposal of the
refugees, who already number more
than 100000. -, -, II. ~ ..s...... III.
Miles of Streets Washed Away.
Miles of the boulevards of Paris, one
of the city's chief points of pride, have
been washed away, many of the most
notable structures in the city, to see
which travellers have been wont to
come from the corners of the earth
have already suffered heavy loss and
are in danger of collapse; $4,000 are
homeless and subsisting on scant pro.
visions furnished by the city; the in.
dustrial life of the city is completely
suspended and the one thought in the
minds of the people is the imminence
of staggering calamity that may yet
come if the Seine continues to rise.
For once Paris has been sobered.
The gay mood that permitted the PEG.
pie to look on the flood for their enter.
tainment, has departed and grim fear
is now in the hearts of every one and
is plainly written in the faces of all.
Every subway in Paris-and Paris
has more underground tunnels than
any other city in the worlds now
flooded. This is the cause of the enor.
nous damage, damage that in Paris
alone is likely to run over 100000, 900.
These sVbterranean rivers have
caused the collapse of scores of streets
and are responsible for the water that
now stands in varying depths over
nearly half of the city.
Had it not been for the filling OF
these subways the loss would have
been comparatively slight, confined
mostly to the property along the river
front. AS it is every part of the city
has been affected.