New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1857-06-15
Poor Josephine.
FROM @. A. sALA,s JOURNEY DIVE NORTH.

| Il
Poor Josephine's story was very simple and very
sad one She Was the daughter OF French dancing
master long settled in Russia, and Russian subject
Her mother had been some French baletdancer, who
had waltzed away from her obligations, and had pi-
rouetted into an abnegstion Of her social ties Such
things happen. She was Madame Somebody at Pal
ermo, while her husband WAS Monsieur Somebody
else at Moscow. he had gained enough money by
his profession to send his daughter to France for her
education whence she returned Ito her misfortune)
young beautiful and accomplished. Her father pleased
himself with the notion that his Josephine must in.
dubitably become the wife Of pussant segneur;
but unfortunately, in the midst Of this dream he died.
He, it is to be remembered, had been naturalzed
Russian subject, and his child was one after him.
The girl, left alone and unriended in this Gehenna
Of q country, fell, The dancingmaster had disspa-
ted all his economics Of roubles, and she lad no
money. She went to St. Petersburg having money,
in caleche with eight horses, lit was before the rail
way time, with government padaroshna or official
permission to travel post and courier riding twenty
versts ahead to secure relays Of horses NJ de Sarda
napalasof Of the Empress's regiment of cuirassers
OF the guard took magnificent apartment for her in
the Italianskaia Ouitza; she had caleche brough
am, a country house-the very model Of q Swiss
chalet in the gondola with
velvet awning, white satin cushions, and Persian
carlet box at the Basenio theater, and one at the
French opera house; lady's maid, chasseur,
matre dhotel, Danish dog nearly as large as don.
key-every luxury, in fact. NJ. dc Sardanapalasof
gave some magnificent champagne banquets at her
4 apartments. La Beresina, US the Muscovite Paris
ienne was called, was the reigning beauty of the
demi.monde of St. Petersburg. prince of the i'm
perial blood positively came to OF the Beresna's
petit souper and deigned to express his opinion that
/ she was charming. IT,.
N. de Sardanapalasoffs mamma was the Princess
Zenobiaschkin and he the most dutiful of sons
80, when she signi6ed to him her maternal commands
that he should obtain the imperial permission to travel
for two years. and escort her to Paris Italy, and the
baths OF Hombourg, he FASTENED to comply with her
mandates in the tmost filial manner. Some unjust
com onfno
Some envous persons declared that the Emperor HIM
self had, through the medium Of the Princess Zeno-
baschkn offered the alternative of foreign travel or
the Caucasus to the young guardsman and Of COURSE
unfounded report having got abroad that M. de Sar
danapalasof while on duty at the palace of Tsarski
Selo, had been kicked in full uniform by vindictve
major of dragons: the cause of the humliating
recton being alleged to be the detection of the Beres
mas noble friend in the act Of cheating at ecarte.
Be it as may, N. de Sardanapalosof desolated
to part with the Beresna but be did it it must have
affected him greatly TO be obliged to sell off the whole
of his Tor her splendid furniture-nay as much of her
own private jewery as he could, BY fraud or force,
lay his hands upon. So much did it affect him, in
fact that he went off with the whole of the proceeds
of the sale in his pocket and left the Beresna without
friend in the world, and with scarcely hundred
roubles in her pocket.
Josephine (she had done with the name of the
| Beresina now did not float down that golden tide
that runs the sands of Shame in that great salt
fathomess of tears, which you shall descry no
land leebow, or weatherbow, save the headlands
of Death. With stern and strong determination to
sin no MORE she went to Moscow, where she had some
| acquaintance, if not friends She was clever with
her needle. She could embroider she could make
bonnets; she had both taste and talent. 1t was not
long before she obtained employment in the shop of
one of the most famous French miners in Moscow
For her misery she was still very beautiful. have
said that the fashionable mliners Of Moscow are
dealers in other wares than millinery. The buyers of
those goods are the dissolute young mobiles of the
guard. Josephine might very have had another
another ladys maid, had she so pleased but the
poor girl was sick of it, and determined to be
milliners workwoman all her life, rather than be
golden toy to be tossed aside when its attraction had
worn out. She refused solicitation after solicitation
offer after offer from the snuy old French bag (there
is nothing SO bad bad PRECAUTIONARY into whose
employ she had entered. This unprotected outraged
girl declared that she would longer remain in her
service. She would go she said, that very instant
and rose to leave the workroom The woman put
out her arm to prevent her passing the threshold and
Josephine naturally pushed it away This was all
the milliner wanted.
every we'll, very WE'LL" she said ''bear witness,
mademoiselles all, this person-my servant, mind
has been guilty of INSTRUMENTATION and rebellion to-
wards me, her mistress We shall see we shall see "
n She went that day and lodged complaint against
her workwoman at the police office. The girl was a
Russian subject, and there was no help this side of
Heaven She was arrested that afternoon and carried
to the Siege her mistress accompanying her. There
in the bureau, she asked certain questions the
milliner signed paper and paid certain moneys to
the side major of police and Josephine was led away
by two of the greycoats
That same night, very late, French hair dresser
settled in Moscow, who was crossing the Smiths
Bridge on his way home, was fortunate enough to
rescue woman, who, without bonnet or shawl was
standing on the parapet of the bridge, and just
about to cast herself into the Moskva. There was
luckily no boutotenik Waterman near, or it would
have Jared i'll with both preserver and preserved.
The kindly barber took this miserable creature, who
could do nothing but sob and wall and calculate 10,
mother mother !'-he took her to his home, and de-
ivering her to his womanknd enoined them to treat
her with every care and solicitude They told him,
the next morning, that when they came to undress
her they had found her, from the shoulder to the
simply done their infamous duty. The milliner, her
mistress, had perfect right to order to be 6ogged
she had paid for the ,fogging and the police had
nothing further to do save to inflict The unhappy
split each into three) and in the phrensy of her agony
and shame, had Immediately after her liberation from
the police den Of torture rushed to the river with the
intention of committing suicide.
The hair.dresser, than whom kinderhearted seizer
of ringlets never existed would not allow this poor
waf and stray to depart out of his house. Learning
by degrees her unhappy story he offered her asy
lum and treated her as of his own children. She
went on improving for q time; but, by degrees, she
fell intoa sable melancholy. When saw her she had
been mad for eighteen months.
A perfectly white, haggard, worn. out spectral girl.
girl robbed from her coffin. An awful sight, with
restless travelling eyes, with horrible head rocking
backwards and forwards, with hands continually
casping and unclaspng, with knees that (you could
see beneath her drapery) continually sought each
other and then gave time to her feet which beat the
devils tattoo necessarily. She had rich glossy hair
massed on each side of her head her eyes were dark
and lusrous her teeth gates of ivory her form
was slender and gracefu yet had she been as hdeous
as the witch Of Sycorax as terrible as Medusa, she
could not with all her beauty, have impressed you
with greater sense of horror and back.shrinking
| The girl was mad of course She was quite harm
less only rocking herself backwards and forwards
rolling those white eyes of hers and (when she was
| unohseryed) mutterng something about her mother
She used to dine with u.s. and ply her knife and fork
and drink her weak wine and water with the best of
sane people present but, she always relapsed into
the rocking and rolling and the mutterng about her
mother Us we were sitting down to domnoes or las
quenet. Nobody took much notice of her. She sat
by the fireplace, with her haggard face, and tight
| fitting black velvet dress and she was spoken OF,
was alluded to as Cette pauyre Josephine.
|
! SPLITTING ROCKS WITHOUT BLASTING. - Some
French inventors have taken out patent in England
for splitting rocks by the generation of heat without
causing an explosion. They used substance com
posed of 100 parts Of sulphur by weight 100 of salt
pctre, so of DUST so of horse manure and 10 of
common salt The saltpetre and common salt are
dissolved in hot water, to which four quarts of mo-
sses are added, and the whole ingredients stirred
until they are thoroughly incorporated together in
| Xyh 10 rio1 b,,, ho,t ~,