Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1910-01-27
PARIS IN FEAR
OF EPIDEMICS
FLOOD SITUATION HOURLY
GROWS WORSE
Death Toll May Run Into Thousands.
Streets Are Rent and lncaIcuI-
able Damage Done by
Deluge
tAssociated Press;

Associated PressJ
| PARIS, Jan. 26.-The snowstorm has
ceased and the weather is moderating,
but the Seine is still rising and Paris,
like doomed city, is holding its
breath in terror.
Half the city is in darkness. In the
gloom galloping orderlies are bearing
instructions that can no longer be sent
by telephone. The army of police, fire.
men and soldiers give the appearance
of city fighting for its life.
! Every minute brings graver dangers.
New areas are being inundated, quays
are collapsing, yawning chasms appear
| in the streets. The water of the Seine
has invaded the entire labyrinth of un-
derground Paris. 1t threatens ruin and
destruction everywhere.
| What new disaster will come to the
waterlogged city before the Seine be-
gins to fall, no one can predict.
Already the damage is officially es-
timated at $200,000,000 and every hour
adds millions more.
The catastrophe promises to exceed
the, limits of a national disaster and
become international The death roll
is also growing at a frightful rate and
when the epidemic which now appears
| inevitable breaks out it will run into
the thousands.
Fever Breaks Out
Scarlet fever has appeared among
the refugees at Ivry
Among the superstitious there is
talk of the destruction of Paris as
result of the approach Of Halleys
| comet.
public subscriptions have reached
nearly 100000, while the Red Cross ana
other relief societies have done noble
work.
At a conference between officials OF
+he chamber of commerce and M. Ca
cherv and M. Dupuy, ministers OF nm
ance and commerce, respectively IL
was decided to ask parliament to au-
thorize an extension Of time for COM
mercial paper because of the general
DISCRIMINATION of business.
Because of the failure of the lsht
plant Paris is confronted win DARK
ness.
the great depots in the outskirts OF
Paris are almost inundated.
A bulletin says the water at Pont
Royal will reach the 30-foot mark To-
morrow morning.
The prospect for the immediate fu-
ture is serious, as it is estimated that
the Seine tonight and tomorrow Will
rise from two to three feet.
Gallery ImperIed
At o'clock this morning the water
was rising rapidly and had reached
to within a few inches of the parapet OIL
the quay at the Louvre,
The flood threatened momentarlly TO
inundate the sculpture gallery where
are kept the Venus de MILO ana olHer
priceless art treasures.
The danger to the Louvre is increased
bv the presence at this point of Dig
sewer, which, 1t is feared, will burst;
/ Masons were assembled hurriedly and
are working under high pressure in the
glare of faring gas lamps building up
a concrete wall to keep out the wafer
The yellow water boiled through the
chasm and swept all before it. Forty
houses in the vicinity had to be eVac-
uated, storekeepers abandoning every
thing.
AS the gas main burst when the sta
| tion collapsed, darkness added to the
terror of the people.
Late dispatches from the provinces
bring a ray of hope. These indicate
that the situation has improved, ana
| that the floods have reached their crest.
The tributaries of the Seine are be-
ginning to show tendency to drop.
The Rhine and Saone rivers, however,
are still rising.
Reports OF villages submerged ana
| people absolutely without rood are
reaching paris constantly. Saint Lau-
rent is flooded and the people are with
out drinking water.
At Conflans-sur-M -Marne score OF
houses have fallen and many people
are homeless.
At Sevres the famous government
porcelain factory is completely sur
rounded by water.
Al O'Clock the walls of the d'Orsai
railway station gave way under the
enormous pressure and vast volume
of water poured under the roadway.
lifting it bodily and washing blocks of
wood along like straws.
The whole quarter is now flooded to a
depth of two feet.