THE FLOODS IN FRANCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2760, 8 February 1910, Page 5

THE FLOODS IN FRANCE.

AN ARMY OP UNEMPLOYED. United Press Association —Copyright PARIS, Feb. 6. Owing to the floods in Pari s there are 48,000 unemployed. The conduct of the post-office employees throughout the inundation led to the reinstatement of the ..postmen dismissed from the May strikes. A Canadian contribution of £IO,OOO Avas unanimously voted . The Mikado has given £BOO. The contributions in France and abroad amount to £300,000 The authorities are feeding, clothing, and, lodging thousands daily.

FEARS OF AN EPIDEMIC DECREASING.

(Received February 7, 11.5 p.ip.) PARIS, Feb. 7. The fears of an epidemic as a result of the flood at Paris arc relaxed.

THE DEVASTATED DISTRICTS. The “Lyttelt-on Times” says 'that Mr. W. S. Malaquin, of Christchurch, Avho is Avell acquainted Avith Paris, and Avho revisited the city some three, years ago. states that the destruction and desolution caused by the floods are heartrending to anyone Avho has knoAvn Paris in her beauty and grandeur. The meagre and dramatically brief cable messages, lie says, convey a graphic idea or the heavy toll the river has taken from the city, but it is only those. Avho have Avandered along the streets and avenues, and through the plantations and gardens, who can realise how ruthlessly Paris has been treated. As far as his knowledge of the history or Paris goes, such a flood has never been knoAvn before. The previous one of much note was in 1866, when the river rose 15 feet above its normal surface. He remembers, on that occasion, the water coming several feet deep doAAii the streets near the river’s bank, and carts, haystacks, and other signs of devastation an the country uisi-ricts came doAVn the river, and AA'ere stopped at some of the bridges. Amongst other articles Avas a child in a cradle, which he was fortunate to save, as its course was stopped by a bridge. As far as Mr. Malaquin can ascertain from the reports supplied by the Press Association, most of the destruction has been done in a corner of Paris made by an immense bend in the river. It extends from the Austerlitz Bridge to a point further than the Champ de Mars, and takes in the hotels and other A r ery fine buildings on the southern side of the rh-er, including the Palais Bourbon and the Invalides. On the north, apparently, the water has spread for about a mile up to the Opera House, destroving the beautiful Champs Elysoes, with its charming walks; and gardens. Amongst the other buildings within the sphere of the floods on the northern side of the river are the Hotel de Ville and the Louvre, and many aristocratic residences. The floods, in fact, Mr. Mala_ quin says, have been admost entirely restricted to the wealthy and aristocratic portions of the city. The poorer districts, further north, are on rising ground, and they, apparently, have escaped, From a financial point of view, of course, this has made the disaster more deplorable. Mr. Malaquin says that the damage must represent seA'oral millions of pounds, and that Paris caji never be compensated for some of it.