Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-01-25
Paris At MERCY
0F RAGING FLOOD
sTREETs cAvlNe IN AND FouN-
pATIoNs OF BUILDINGS ARE
THREATENED.
WREckAeE AND DEsoLArIoN
APPALL RESIDENTS OF CITY
Streets Of French Capital Arc Raging
Rivers and Water. Continue to Rise
Food Prices Soaring and Water Fam )
inc Feared-suburban Towns In
Worse Condition.

Paf1s, Jan. 2o.-F1fty thousand SOL
diers, comprising the garrison Of Par
Is, were placed at the disposition of
to fight the food whose ravages are
spreading ruin and CONSERVATION thru
out the city. At o'clock this morning
the water at Point Royal touched
twenty-six feet above the low tide
was rising half inch per hour.
The damage done is incalculable.
The industriaA 4fe of the city is rapid
y becoming Z falyzed. The subway and
surface lines, railroad communication
disaster locally is due chiefly to the
fact that the whole marvellous UNDER
ground architecture of the city, which
is honeycombed with labyrinths, is
filing up with water, causing sewers
to burst, and streets to cave in, threat
ening the foundations of buildings.
Scene Majestic But Appalling.
The scene on the river front is ma
jestic but appalling. The stream has
broken the barriers at several points
and is pouring it's yellow torrents into
the surrounding streets, converting
them into veritable lakes. 1t may be
necessary to blow up the Alma bridge,
where the water is but a few inch
from the keystone Of the arch, as a
dam there might turn the course of the
Seine in such way as to flood several
of the most fashionable sections Of the
city.
Water ExnIodes Chemicals.
A tremendous explosion which awak-
ened the city at o'clock led to a re-
port that the Alma bridge had blown
up, but the explosion proved to have
occurred in a chemical factory, eight
miles away. probably the result OF wa
ter coming in contact with chemicals.
At noon Paris was the center of an
area Of low pressure, and it is bitter
cold, rain and sleet falling thruout the
flooded regions, adding to the suffering
,of the poor and homeless.
Food Prices Increase.
The price of food increased owing to
the fact that communication with the
provinces is crippled. The depleted
supply Of drinking water caused the
greatest alarm. With the rise of the
food but few inches higher the pump
ing station, still in operation, must
stop and Paris, in the midst Of a min
iature ocean, will be without water fit
TO drink.
Other Towns Menaced.
The situation at between twenty and
thirty suburban towns above this city
is worse than in the capital itself. At
Charenton, where the swollen Marne
enters the Seine, an area of 200 square
miles has been flooded. The submerged
district has population Of $4,000. At
this point soldiers and firemen are do
ing heroic work rescuing families in
pontoons and boats. AT Alfortville the
cemetery has washed out, caslSets float
Ing down the stream. Relief has been
organized on large scale and appeal
for funds are meeting with most gen.
.rous response.
Epidemics Feared.
Physicians tear an epidemic when
The waters subside, as the overflowing
Of sewers is likely to contaminate the
drinking supply and rats driven out of
heir underground homes are invading
he residences. The hotel Palais d. Orsay
Ind surrounding houses have been
ordered evacuated. The Palace Legion
,f Honor is menaced.
News from the provinces shows a
general improvement Of the situation
his afternoon, except in the east and
Vt the affluents of the Seine and Meuse.