The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1910-01-28
FLOODS INCREASING
INDUSTRIAL LlPE OF FRENCH
CAPITAL RAPIDLY BECOM-
ING PARALYZED.
TELEPHONES OUT OF COMMISSION
Underground Labyrinths Are Rivers
Sewers Overflow and Epidemic of
Disease Feared With
Suffering.


diers, comprising the garrison of
Paris, were placed at the disposition of
the municipal authorities to fight the
flood whose ravages are spreading ruin
and CONSERVATION throughout the city.
The water at Pont Royal has touch
ed 26 feet above low tide and is rails
ing at the rate of nearly half an inch
an hour.
The damage already done is meal
culable. The industrial life of the city
is rapidly becoming paralyzed. Only
two sections of the subway are in OPP
GRAFTON, while three-fourths of the sur
face lines are tied up.
Many Factories Shut Down.
Factories are shutting down because
of the lack of power, due ito the cleo
trio plant having been flooded. Half
of the telephones in the city are out
of commission and telegraph and rail-
road communication is demoralized.
The disaster locally is due chiefly
to the fact that the whole marvellous
underground architecture of the city,
which is honey-combed with labyrinths
of subways, is filling up with water,
causing the sewers to burst and the
streets to cave in and threatening the
foundations of buildings.
Scene Majestic, But Appalling.
The scene on the river front is ma
jestic, but appalling. The stream has
broken it's barriers at several points
io &C. &c IN
the surrounding streets, converting
them into veritable lakes. At any
minute it may be necessary to blow
up the Alma bridge, where the water
is but few inches from the keystone
Of the arch, as a dam there might
turn the course of the Seine in such
a way as to flood several of the most
fashionable sections of the city.
The subway stations at the Orleans
terminus and at Quai 5'Orsay are
flooded and closed and the sinking Of
the Rue de Poitiers let the water
through foot and a half deep into the
Rue de Lille and the Rue de PUnivers-
lite, streets in which live many of the
old aristocracy. The Vaugarard dis
trict, near the Boucicult hospital, also
is inundated.
The weather grows worse rather
than better. Paris is the center Of
an area of low pressure and bitted cold
and rain and sleet are falling through
out the flooded regions, adding to the
suffering of the poor and homeless
ones.
Price of Bread Advanced.
The price of bread and other food
has increased, owing to the fact that
communication with the provinces is
crippled. No trains from the south
are coming beyond Choisy-le-Roi.
At Clarendon, where the swollen
river Marine enters the Siene an area
of 200 square miles has been flooded.
The submerged district includes AL
fortville and Ivry-sur-Seine with to-
tai 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 caskets lifted
from their resting places are hoatlng
down stream.
Relief on Large Scale.
Relief is being organized on large
scale. Appeals for funds issued by the
Red Cross and other societies are
meeting with the most generous re-
sponses. Edmond Rostand has offered
to give the receipts which are expected
to be enormous, from the first nights
presentation of his play, "Chantic-
leer."
Physicians fear an epidemic when
the flood subsidies as the overflowing
sewers are likely to contaminate the
drinking supply of water. Further
more, swarms of rats driven out of
their underground homes are invad-
ing residences.