The sun., 1910-01-29
'DELUGE UNDERMINING PARIS
STREETS CAVE M BUILDEN6S
IN DANGER or COLLAPSE,
River sim Rises and Every Quarter af thg
CITY Il Now Flooded Drsdgea Unsaie
Streets Darrioadcd-Cemmn
ton Cut or Worst Pertis Ahead.

freshet In the Seine appears to hare
reached the maximum to-day the situAr
tion in Paris and its suburbs remains yey
bad. The river is out Of bounds. and chr
improvised dams set up to restrain n \
have yielded one by one before the rising
waves -
The ground on which Paris stands = \
like an excavated mine which has begun
to break down. Il cracks and orumojes
as It thaws and the water penstratcs ~
cavities.
At Colonies a hundred families ure
Imprisoned in a furnished hotsl op siis
Boulevard valny. In a boarding schor1
fifty young girls are Imprisoned Tbcys
are constantly cranin their necxs. cut
Of the window begging for help.
The quarter Of the Invai ides has octf
rsvaged by the food. Providing sur-
plies Of food has become diffcuft "a IN
the streets. About the Court OF the uni-
versity women stand at the windows
with children In their arms oallinx for
holp and for bread for their chiidren.
They say they have been fasting FOR two
days.
PARIS. Jan. 2s.--This evening Paris pre-
sents an appearance OF complets desola4
tion. Everywhere streets are baFre4
owing to constant caving In OF the ssrs
face in fresh places Trafac moves With
the greatest difaculty and impenetFabic
blocks are formed in the main strecfx.
From time to time soldiers m&roi,
through the streets TO the posts 70 which
they have been assigned. The whole
impression is az OF city under siege af
after some terrible catastrophe.
IL rained rather heavily during the
morning and the Seine continued 10 fis8-
All the signs point 10 still worse oondi+
tions In the city before any improve1neoe
can set in. The experts at the netsoru-
logical station say that heavy rains rn4y
! be expected for some days 10 come
The only hope for the cessation Of tte
food lies in the fact that q heavy frost
prevailed last night. II the cold snap con~'
tinues. checking the thaw. IL may bring
: relief eventually. but there is stili q tor
rent in the Marne and other Tributaries
Of the Seine which must have It's outlei
before any material subsistence can oe
expected.
/ Eg1DouIl0k
reaches OF the Seine and Marne that kleF
are falling Ia discounted by the. alafrD-
, ing rapidity with which the food con-
. tinues TO rise and spread in Paris iistIg.
|, Experts believe that it will be at issxt
two days before the fall In the upper
, region 10 recognizable in Paris
At 9 o'clock this morning the wafer
, rat the Pont Royal stood just under thirty
two feet During the night the wxter
. washed over the hastily erected walls
|, on the parapet OF the Cours de IA neips
, and invaded the Place de In Conoord&
where the water 10 now some sir inttkse
, deep. There are signs that IL viii spocl
|, spread along the Jsrdins des Tuilsrtoo
, and invade the Louvre. the basoment q
, which In already full OF water. A
or the twenty-four bridges In Paris
eight were closed this morning.
The water has now invaded every quar-
ter. Il has penetrated TO the cellars OF the
Coincide FRANCHISE, preventing the even
ing performance. and is causing trouble
in the cellars under the Paris ONCE ~
. THE SUN.
. Along the riverside workmen are
feverishly erecting walls OF cement On
Q top OF the embankment whore the river
= threatens to overflow. Several bridKAs
{ brought down by the food.
. Several persons lost their lives through
: the food to-day. One soldier waa
drowned while engaged in salvage work
|. and on the Champs Elysees a woman
. disappeared. being swallowed up as
consequence OF the cavein OF tho paw
ment.
!. In the inundated sections OF the city
planks have been installed on woodsn
horses, from which tbs bakers peddio
= bread to the people. The market gar
deners of such suburbs az are not stib-
merged have started improvissd markets
n their farm wagons and supply the place
&c the shopkeepers whose shops ara
under water 4
The river is still rising and communica-
" ton with the outside world has beoon1e
difficult. At o'clock this morning tho
. water overhowed near the Sc. LAzare
railway station. reaching that locality
through the sewers and CUTTERS and tho
Metropolitan subway, which Ii Ia cotlrss
OF construction on the Place du Havre.
The inundation arose with inooncsivabls
rapidity amid general panic among
}. officials and onlookers.
Soon there was eight inches OF water II
{ the neighboring streets. and IL kept rising
( without interruption. spouting In oa&s
}. cades from the various street openings.
| The artificial lake thus formed soon en-.
tended TO the Boulevard Haussmann. TIE
soldiers OF the engineer corps vainlv try
8 ing 10 stop It with barrier OF sand bags.
At 10 O'Clock in the evening the water
4 had reached . depth OF 10 inches and the
{ sidewalks fell In. One by one the street
lamps on the Piace du HAvre topplcd and
..uk sn4o tha In ka laax win a thA afreaA r,rnr..
ticaIly In darkness. The force Of tie
water flung the sewer covers into tho cir
and Ioosened the gratings and carried
away everything movable In its track
The greater number % houses In the
neighborhood were evacuated.
y The soldiers OF the i0tth infantry IN
.,.,,, ,,nskr,anfa.4 ~ rrtara n nfon fta