Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-25
WATER IS STILL RISING
Labyrinths of Great City Filling Up
Rapidly.
MAY DYNAMITE ALMA BRIDGE
Explosion at Factory Wakens
Stricken Capital-Palace of the
Legion of Honor Is Menaced.

PARIS. January 23.-Fifty thousand SOL
dierS, comprising the garrison of Paris,
were placed at the disposition of the mu-
ncipal authorities this morning to fight
the flood, whose ravages are spreading
ruin and CONSERVATION throughout the
city.
At o'clock this morning the water at
Pont Royal had touched twenty-six feet
above low tide, and was rising at the rate
of nearly half an inch an hour, with the
prospect of the rise continuing until mid
night.
The damage already done is incalcula-
BILE. The industrial life of the city is rap
, idly becoming paralyzed. Only two sec
| tons of the subway are in operation,
| while three-fourths of the surface lines
are tied up. Factories are shutting down
becauseof the lack Of power, due to the
electric plants having been flooded. Half
of the telephones in the city are out of
commission, and telegraph and railroad
communication is demoralized.
Labyrinths of Paris Filling Up.
The disaster locally is due chiefly to the
fact that the whole marvellous under
ground architecture of the city, which is
honeycombed with labyrinths. is filling up
with water, causing the sewers to burst
and the streets to cave in, and threaten
ing the foundations of buildings.
The scene ION the river front is majes-
tic, but appalling. The stream has broken
It's barriers at several points and is pour
ing its yellow torrents into the surround
ing streets, converting them into veri-
table lakes. At any minute 1t may be
necessary to blow up the Alma bridge,
where the water is but a few inches from
the keystone of the arch, as dam there
might turn the course of the Seine in
such a way to flood several of the
most fashionable sections of the city.
Explosion at Factory.
A tremendous explosion which awaken
ed the stricken city at o'clock led to
the report that the Alma bridge had been
blown up, but the explosion proved to
have occurred in a chemical factory at
Ivry -Sur-Seine, eight miles above 1t is
presumed that the water surrounding. the
factory came in contact with chemicals.
causing the explosion.
During the night the subway stations at
the Orleans terminus at Quai dOrsay
were flooded and closed. ana the sinking
of the Rue de PoitierS let the water
through a foot and a half deep into the
site, streets in which live many Of the
old aristocracy. The Vagugirard district
near the Boucicault Hospital also Is in
undated.
he weather grows worse rather than
better and at noon Paris was the center
of an area of low pressure and bitter
cold, and rain and sleet were failing
throughout the flooded regions, adding to
| the suffering of the poor and homeless
| ones. The price of bread and other 1000
in S6ad. iTxr f,f1af
communication with the provinces IS
| crippled. No trains from the south are
! coming beyond Choisyle-Roi. The de-
pieted supply OF drinking water has cauS-
\ ed the greatest alarm With the rise of
| the flood but few inches higher the
| pumping stations still in operation must
| stop, and Paris, in the midst of a minia-
| ture ocean, will be without water mt to
drink.
Situation in Suburbs Bad.
The situation at between twenty and
thirty suburban towns above this city is
worse than in the capital itself.
! At Charenton, where the swollen River
Marne enters the Seine. an area of 2v
| square miles has been flooded. The sub
| merged district includes Alfortvilie and
| lvry-Sur-Seine, with total popula atiOn
| OF J0,60p. At this point the soldiers ana
| nremen are dong heroic work in regscu-
! ing families in boats and pontoons At
| Alfortviile the cemetery mas been washed
out and caskets lifted from their resting
| places are floating down stream
! From Auteuil to ST. Germain the lower
portions of all the riverside towns are
deep beneath the waters. and soldiers are
forcing the residents to evacuate their
homes. The domestic water supply at
several towns has been cut Off.
/ The animals of the geological gardens
which We're in danger of drowning, have
been removed to higher grounds
Relief is being organized on "a large
scale.
Funds for Poor.
Appeals for funds issued by the Red
Cross and other societies are meeting
with the most generous responses Ed
mond Rostand has offered to give the
receipts. which are expected to be
enormous. from the first nights presenta-
ton of his play "Chanticler.'
| Physicians fear an epidemic when the
floods subside, as the oyerfiowing sewers
are likely to contaminate the supply OF
drinking water, and rats driven out of
their underground homes are invading
residences.
i The report that the Eiffel tower should
be perpendicular when undisturbed is err
4 roneous. 1t is explained that the tower
was built with water base, and each
support supplied with hydraulic lifting
apparatus which works automatically.
Before noon the police compelled the
evacuation of the Hotel Palais dOrsay
near the Quai d Orsay, and the surround
Ing houses. The Palace of the Legion OF
Honor is menaced and accumulation
of driftwood above the Isle of st. Louis
threatens to sweep away the barrier OF
piles and the Pont des Arts.
News from the provinces shows tina,
there is a general improvement in the
flood situation this afternoon, except in
the east and at the affluents OF the Seine
and Meuse.
! Lighting System Is Injured.
Telegraphic communication in the south
of France is going to pieces rapidly
Traffic between the Pont des Arts anC
Pont Neuf is suspended. The archway OF
the submerged tunnel between the Qua