FLOODS IN FRANCE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12660, 31 January 1910, Page 5

FLOODS IN FRANCE.

FOODLESS ; PEOPLE CRYING FO'll BREjAD. Al^yiMING SUBSIDENCEb'. ' RAGING TORRENT 30ft DEEP. TERRIBLE FIGHTS WITH RAl'6. (Press Assn.^ — By Telegraph: — Copyright) PARIS, January 29./ Violent rain and hail continuo m (Paris. Tho Seine has risen 20 foct. , The Comedic Francaise and Notre Dame are threatened. Tho Elysees central telegraph oflicis flooded, and communication between Paris and London destroyed. The residents m some of tho streets have Ibeen foodless since Wednesday, and people are crying from* their AviudoAvs for bread. ' lAlarming subsidences have 'occurred m many streets through the upward pressure of the Avater and the collapsing pf the net-work of scAvors, water-mains, and* hydraulic tubes. Tho roadway m tho Avenue Alcxaaider the Third 1 has collapsed. ' l'ho flooded quarters are without gas, and therefore the price of candles, oils, and food is rising. The cellars bf the Opera House and the Mint arc full of water. The underground section of the Hotel do Ville, tlie Ministries of Marine, War and Finance.* the Marigny Theatre, the Bastille, and the Metropolitan raihvay station are all flooded. A torrent 30 feet deep is racing thirough the underground station at des Irivalides and the adjoining tunnel 20 feet below the roadway. The flood is also roaring through the underground station at the Rue Dsindo. 500 yards from- the Seine. It is* feared ; that the section Avhich passes under "the Seine has fallen m. At the Voisin "aeroplane AvOrks dozens of aeroplanes have been, destroyed, Sbipe of tlie" imprisoned residents have had terrible rights with the rats driven out .of ' the ' sewers by the Avater. The flood extends for a mile north of the Seine to St. . Lazave station, and swept away the Ibarricadies m the Boulevard Haussmartii. The Place St. Michael, the Tronadero, and the Champ do Mars arc all completely submerged. A chasm m the Champs Elysees engulfed a woman. • The ..norti_.rn and eastern railAvay lines aro open, arid the officials are appealing for every boat tliat can be sent to Paris. ' " .'.; •'.-•••' ■•'.■■-/>•■■ The crowd sacked some food shops. |A great dyke at" Geime villi ers burst, flooding - a large area and' imprisoning 700 people m their homes. -Tlie Boucicaut Hospital had. to be hastily evacuated-. Fingineers constructed a footbridge and r carried, the women' patients wh/h. difficulty acipss Avater five feet ydeep. Somo 'of the patients did not suryi\'e the shock. Boats are being made , use of fbr f uneruls. '.■'"."' . The Paris Bourse' is agitated, 'and there is a heavy fall m stocks. The .Ozar has given £1000 and th-? Pope £1200 .towards the relief of the sufferers. y • y ..' (Received ■' January; '3l,- 9.30- a.m.)' PARIS, -January 30. The Hydromntic office; .state's' that' the »Seiiie is sinking * slowly., but steadily. Thero Avas violent rain. with hail at Paris on S'dtiirday niglit. ' Seven thousand people at Genncvilliers liave been rescued. '.-■-.- Parisians are demanding tho straightening of the 'Seine, /at -' whatever . ;cost, like Peter the ' Great's Neva,, which; served as an outlet fbr river floods. When the/- Seine '.quays' \ver© built tho riverbed' Avas > Restricted r in order to deepen the •stream. This largely caused the present disaster. '•■■ ' M. Millerand, ' Minister of Public Works, estimates that 80,000 Parisians are homeless and roofless. Direct telephonic bommunication Avith London has practically ceased. (Received January; 31, 10.10 a.m.) : " : ; ; / v :y y ■ -PARISV Jaihuauy 30. The flobctiii tlie'. river Seine fell, five inches oii Saturday.'- Its' tributaries, Maine,: Aubc, and Aisne, fell 6ft. v LONDON, January- 30. Kuig iSdward lias donated one thousand guineas;' to the relief' 'fund. Queen Alexandra has donated one thousand pounds, and the Prince of Wales five hundred pounds. -.""/■'" ..'".''. Tlie London music halls are. organising benefit matinees.' ' .It Avas by direction of Peter, the Great that St. Petersburg 7 , which/stands, on fhe rJA-er "Neva, ' 'was built to iajkc the place of iloscow as the capital- of .Russia,.