The Penn's Grove record., 1910-02-04
SEINE CHECKED IN
RISE OVER PARIS
Water Reached Highest Point in
History.
FOURTH OF CITY FLOODED
Paris Has Not Had So Gloomy a Day
Since the Siege by the German
Army in 1S7O-Pestilence is
Feared.

Paris, France.-The floods In Paris
were well above the highest previous
record for high water on the Seine
when 1t was officially announced thai
the river was at last stationary. Al
noon, when the water was still rising
at the rate of an inch and a quarter
an hour, and the rain falling heavily,
the gauge at the Pont Royal showed
thirty feet eight inches. The high
water record for the Seine in July
1915, at the Pont Royal stood at nine
meters eighty-two centimeters, or
about thirty feet six inches.
Not since the siege of 1870 mas
Paris had so gloomy a day. High
officials expressed the fear OF de
~vastating %upheavals because OF the
choking of the sewers. All day at
the Care st. Lazare this fear seemed
about to be turned into a reality OF
disaster. The ground heaved from
the gigantic pressure OF water as
though a small earthquake was in
progress. Huge cracks appeared IN
the massive walls.
Several houses sank somewhat dur
ing the day. Their occupants fed or
the reluctant ones were driven out by
the police.
Ruin in Place de FOpera.
The Place de IOpera seemed to be
threatened with utter ruin. A large
area of the roadway sank and the
same effect was produced at various
points in the sidewalks of the Boule-
wards DIES Capucines and Madeleine,
while lamp-posts not only there but
in many other localities leaned peril
ously. The Champs Elysees, the
Boulevard Haussmann, and many OF
the most elegant streets in those and
adjoining quarters were under water.
In many of the thoroughfares there
are dangerous ~subsidences of road
ways.
The cellars of the Coincide Fran
caise were full; those of the Presi-
dents palace have been invaded. A
horse, cart and man dropped through
the gravel drive near the Jardin de
Paris. The man was rescued, but the
horse was lost. The great railway
terminal station at the Quai d'Orsay
is considered to be in serious danger.
Very little water entered the base
ment of the Louvre. Thus far work
men, toiling through the bitter cold
night, raised the height of the river
wall to a point where, if it holds firm,
will prevent further danger.
Terrible Suffering of Poor.
The tale of misery of the poor in
the districts which are worst afflicted
grows more and more heart-rending.
The hospital at Juvel was evacuated,
some of the patients being carried out
in a dying condition. 1t is feared
that the utmost a for the present
relief of those who have been rem
dered destitute by the flood that can
be raised will be Inadequate. The
most dreadful danger of all awaited
the subsistence of the waters. The
people, both the rich and the poor,
already were beset with the fear of
an epidemic. In some quarters pota-
BILE water was difficult to obtain.
Many families departed in haste for
the shores of the Mediterranean.
Another peril which could not be
measured was hidden by the weak
ness of thousands of buildings, which
may only be declared by their col
lapse after the subterranean waters,
INV dClplu5 " OuOldlu luC VCIy Walls
they have undermined, shall have re-
treated. The authorities attached the
gravest Importance to this contingent
cy. If what is dreaded should hap
pen there undoubtedly will be great
loss of life.
The Figaro gave a 1ugubrious
warning of the danger to the city
from the numberless channels filed
with water, under tremendous press
ure, which honeycomb underground
Paris. The explosions of sewers
which were reported from time to
time, may momentarily cause the
downfall of many buildings.
Already in some quarters ominous
cracks appeared in the walls of the
more ancient houses.
Weird Scene Presented.
At night the city presented a weird
spectacle. Soldiers, sailors, firemen
and police were hastily constructing
temporary walls by the light of camp
fires and torches in an endeavor to
keep out the invading floods, while
pickets patroled those sections of the
city which are plunged in darkness
by the bursting of the gas mains and
the stoppage or the electric lighting
plants.
Converts Become Hospitals.
Charitable organizations cooper
ated with the authorities in throwing
open their buildings and ~succoring
refugees. Several converts and a
number of public buildings were
equipped with military cots and bed
ding and transformed into hospitals.
The Red Cross performed splendid
service in distributing food and cloth
ing.
Nevertheless numerous pitiful in
stances are cited of women and chill
dren who had refused to leave their
homes in the submerged districts,
shrieking from their windows for
bread.
During one day 1900 persons were
removed from houses in the Eleventh