The Oskaloosa herald., 1910-01-27
PARIS PARALYzED;
WATER IS RISING
Fifty Thousand Soldiers Are
Fighting the Flood.
THOUSANDS ARE SUFFERING
Damage Already Done Is IncaicuIable
Under City Becomes Raging
Sea-Weather Cold, Rain
..5t and Sleet Falling.

Paris, France, Jan. 26.--Fifty thou.
sand soldiers, comprising the garri.
son of Paris, were placed at the dis
posal of the municipal authorities to
fight the flood, whose ravages are
spreading ruin and CONSERVATION
throughout the city. 70 The water
at Pont Royal touched rs 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 midnight. AL.
ready the damage done is incalculable.
The industrial life of the city is rap.
idly becoming paralyzed. Only two
sections of the subway are in opera.
tion,. while threefourths of the sur
face lines are tied up. Factories are
shutting down because of the lack of
power, due to the electric plants hav.
ing been flooded. Half of the tele-
phones of the city are out Of commits
sion and telegraph and railroad com.
munication is demoralized.
Underground Labyrinths Flooded.
The disaster locally is due chiefly to
the fact that the whole marvellous un'
derground 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 threatening the founda.
tions of buildings. '
Factory Explosion Causes Alarm.
A tremendous explosion which
awakened the stricken city at five
o'clock led to the report that the Alma
bridge had been blown up, but the ex.
ploslon proved to have occurred in a
chemical factory at Ivry-Sur-Seine,
eight miles above. It Is presumed that
the water surrounding the factory
came in contact with chemicals, caus-
ing the explosion. a%,' ..N
During the night the subway sta
lions at the Orleans terminus and at
Quai d'Orsay were flooded and closed
and the sinking of the Rue de Poitiers
let the water through foot and a
half deep into the Due de Lille, and
the Rue de L'Universite, streets in
which live many of the old aristocracy
The Vaugirard district near the Bouci
cault hospital alsoais. Inundated,
- fSleet Adds to the Suffering.
The 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
falling throughout the flooded regions
adding to the suffering of the poor
and homeless ones. The price OF
bread and other food has increased
owing to the fact that communication
with the provinces is crippled. Nc
trains from the south are coming be
yond Cholsy-Le-Roi.
The depleted supply of drinking wa
ter has caused the greatest alarm
With the rise of the food only a few
inches higher the pumping stations
still in operation must stop and Paris
in the midst of a miniature ocean, will
be without water fit to drink.
Dead Washed from Graves.
In nearly 80 suburban towns the sit
uation is worse than in the capital
itself At Clarendon, where the swol
len river Marine enters the Seine, an
area of 200 square miles has been
flooded. The submerged district in
cludes Alfortville and Ivvry-sur-Seine
with total population of $4,000. AT
this point the soldiers and firemen are
doing heroic work in rescuing families
in boats and pontoons. At Alfortville
the cemetery has been washed out and
collins lifted from their. resting places
are floating down stream. ...