Books › Musical Courier 1910-02-16: Vol 60 Iss 7, 1910 › scan 11
Scan 11
Musical Courier 1910-02-16: Vol 60 Iss 7, 1910
7 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1[Artists contemplating American engagements can secure valuable practical advice by consulting Mr. Delma-Heide, Paris representative of The Musical Courier.]
2Cable and Telegraphic Address: "Delma-Heide."
330, RUE MARBEUF (CHAMPS-ELYSEES).
4PARIS, January 31, 1910.
6The inundations of Paris have taken an extension beyond anything recorded within the past three hundred years. All the night from Thursday to Friday the river had been rising and, in spite of the efforts of the soldiers at work on temporary dams, it inundated the districts on both sides of the river. The result was a complete disorganization of traffic and a series of catastrophes at various points in the city. The Gare Saint-Lazare was entirely surrounded by a lake of muddy water, which necessitated the streets being closed for hundreds of yards round. At the Place de l'Opéra the ground showed signs of subsidence, and in the afternoon a part near the Grand Hôtel and the Opéra House collapsed. As the whole of the place is honeycombed with underground railway lines, sewers and telephone and electric light trenches, the collection of water there is a serious affair. Over 10,000 telephone subscribers are cut off from their exchanges. Telegraphic communication to London is reduced to a single wire and great difficulty is found in communicating with other countries. The Municipal Council has proposed that the Government should declare a state of siege in order that the work of fighting the floods and rescuing the victims should be placed under control of a single central authority. The flood has extended its ravages in the Champs Elysées district, which is plunged in darkness and many people were forced to flee in haste. Owing to the breaking down of the temporary dams erected by the engineers in the vicinity of the Pont de la Concorde, a great part of the Champs Elysées was engulfed and the entire district was plunged in darkness as a result of the rupture of the electric light cables. The Grand Palais was almost surrounded by water and the cellars were flooded. Nearby avenues have been converted into immense lakes. In wealthy streets, such as the Avenue Montaigne, the Rue François 1er (from which the American Ambassador and family have fled to safer hotel quarters near the Etoile), the Rue Bayard, and the Cours-la-Reine, the conditions are now in many respects similar to those in the poorer quarters. The district between the Pont de la Concorde and the Avenue d'Antin is totally deprived of drinking water. At the Presidential Palace of the Elysée the water has found its way into the cellars, and the kitchens are flooded. The palace is deprived of gas and of electric light. All through that street (the Faubourg Saint Honoré) pumps are at work. In THE MUSICAL COURIER offices, Rue Marbeuf, candles and petrol lamps have been called into service, as the gas and the electric light have failed; nor is there now any elevator or "lift" service in the building. The price of petroleum and of coal has advanced 35 per cent. On the left bank of the Seine families are reported to be starving, and soldiers in boats are distributing provisions from street to street. The last few days, as night came on—with no electric light and no gas—the atmosphere of ruin and disaster was terrifying. Every street from the Institut de France to the Palais Bourbon was flooded. A few lanterns fixed at intervals were lamentably insufficient and only served to intensify the gloom. To reach the Boulevard Saint-Germain and beyond was a difficult problem. The Pont des Arts, the Pont des Saint-Pères, the Pont Solférino, the Pont de la Concorde were all barred. The rues de Saint-Pères, de Seine, Mazarin, Bonaparte, du Bac, were all impassable and guarded by troops. Higher up, the collapse of the quai d'Orsay prevented progress in that direction. No sign of life was visible in the houses along the stream. Many who, unable to find their way home, wandered about for hours before finally reaching their destination by circuitous routes. The cellars in scores of houses in the Boulevard Saint Germain, Rue de Rennes, Rue de Sèvres and adjacent streets were invaded by the flood. The large department houses, Bon Marché, Printemps and the Galerie Lafayette, had their cellars flooded. Many of the hotels, Continental, Meurice, l'Athénée and others, fared no better; the same experience for many of the cafés, restaurants and theaters. In some parts of the city the bakery ovens are inundated and their proprietors announce that they are unable to supply their clients with bread. The entire residential quarter around the Rue de Lille and Rue de Verneuil is deserted. The Avenue de la Tour-Maubourg is flooded almost from end to end and is pouring torrents of muddy water into the Rue Saint-Dominique, which as far as the Avenue Bosquet is transformed into a muddy river, rushing toward the Champ de Mars. All the streets giving on the Rue Saint-Dominique and the Rue Grenelle are completely flooded. The Esplanade des Invalides has been transformed into an immense lake. In the whole quarter the only means of transport or obtaining provisions is by boats. Various painful scenes are witnessed in some of the inundated streets. In the workmen's houses women and children are seen at the windows calling for help—some of them for bread. The Metropolitan underground railway has of necessity been closed to the public almost from the beginning; also most of the tramways and 'bus lines are out of use. At the Tuileries the tunnel of the "Métro" or subway is full of water and traffic may have to be stopped in that vicinity. Near the Place de l'Opéra danger seems to crowd upon danger. The conditions there which a few days ago caused anxiety have become alarming. According to the Paris New York Herald, the Prefecture of Police was informed Friday evening that the fine new building forming the corner of the Boulevard des Capucines and the Rue de la Paix (opposite the Grand Hotel), threatens to fall. The pavement around it has already subsided to the level of the road. This accident is due to the earth falling into the Métropolitain works, which are now invaded by the floods. Later in the evening all vehicular traffic in that part of the Avenue de l'Opéra was stopped. Imminent disaster threatens the surroundings of the Gare Saint-Lazare, when the engineers expect the Cour du Havre, the Place du Havre, the Cour de Rome and the Rue de Saint-Lazare to subside at any moment, causing adjacent buildings to collapse. The nearby cafés and business places have been closed. The Hôtel Terminus is accessible only from one side. The Metro works in the Place du Havre are flooded. Water which was pouring out from the openings in front of the Cour de Rome ran through the Rue de l'Arcade and Rue Pasquier, toward and crossing the Boulevard Haussmann. Since then a rumor has spread that the Hôtel Terminus was to be emptied, but the report is unfounded. As the disaster grows, offers of help for the victims have been increasing in number and generosity—and as usual in such cases the Americans are among the first to open subscriptions. One American, Mary d'Este Sturgis, has placed at the disposal of the Union des Dames de France a new house in the Rue Richard Wagner at Auteuil. The house contains fifteen rooms and the Union will at once put fifty beds in it for women and children who have been forced to leave their homes. Steam heating is included. Madame Sturgis has also given a furnished apartment in the Rue Octave Feuillet for the use of a family, victims of the flood. The Union has established relief stations in every part of Paris, and in the distressed suburban regions—nearly 1,500 beds being provided and the homeless ones are also fed by the Union. This organization has collected some 100,000 francs with which to continue its ministrations. Several persons have been drowned in the streets of Paris, and several others have been hanged to
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