Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-06-06
Internal Machines.

tue and even benevolence. 1t was, how
ever, the third time that what the French
call an internal machine was used in the
streets of Paris for regical purposes within
the present century.
The first was Bourbonist contrivance,
directed against the life of the First Coun-
sci Bonapart. "This machine" says Sir
Walter Scott, in his life of Napoleon,
"consisted of a barrel of gunpowder
placed on cart, to which it was strongly
secured, and charged with grape shot so
disposed around the barrel as to be dis
persed in every direction by the explosion
The fire was to be communicated by
slow match. 1t was the purpose of the
conspirators, undeterred by the indiscrim-
mate slaughter which such discharge
must occasion, to place the machine in the
street through which the First Counsel
must 60 to the opera, having contrived
that it should explode exactly as his car
riage should pass the spot" Never, dur
ing all his eventful life, had Napoleon
narrower escape than on this occasion, on
the l4th of December, 1900. st. Regent
applied the match, and an awful explo-
sion took place. Several houses were
damaged, twenty persons were killed on
the spot, and tfty-three wounded, in
Guiding st. Regent himself. Napolcon's
carriage, however, had just got beyond
the reach of harm. This atrocity led to
the execution of St. Regent, Carbon, and
other conspirators.
Fieschi's attempt at regicide in 1885
was more elaborate and scientific; there
was something of the artillery officer in
his mode of proceeding, although he was
in truth nothing but scamp. Fieschi
hired front room in house in Paris, in
a street through which royal corteges were
sometimes in the habit ofpassing. He
proceeded to construct q weapon to be
fired off through the open window on
some occasion when the king was expect
ed to pass that way. He made strong
frame, supported by four legs. He OBJ
tanned twenty-five musket barrels, which
he ranged with their but ends raised lit
tie higher than the muzzcls, i'll order that
he might fire downwards, from the first
floor window into the street. The barrels
were not ranged quite parallel, but were
spread out slightly like fan; the muzzles
were also not all the same height; so that
by this combined plan he obtained sweep
of fire, both in height and breadth, more
extensive than he would otherwise have
obtained. Every year during Louis
Philippe,s reign there were certain days
of rejoicing in July, in commemoration Of
the circumstances which placed him OH
the throne. On the 2Sth, the second day
of the festival i'll 1886, royal cortege was
proceeding along this particular street, the
Boulevard du Temple. Fieschi adjusted
his machine, heavily loaded with ball
-four to each barrcl,) and connected the
touch-holes of all his twenty-five barrels
with train of gunpowdcr. lie had
blind at his window, to screen his opera
tions from view. Just as the cortege ar
rived, he raised his blind and fired, when
a terrific scene was presented. Marshal
Morticr, General dc Virigny, the aid-de-
camp of Marshal Maison, n colonel, sew
eral grenadiers Of the Guard, and several
bystanders were killed, while the wound
cd raised the number of sufferers to nearly
forty. In this, as in many similar instan-
ces, the person aimed at escaped. One
ball grazed the kings arm, and another
lodged in his horses neck /; but he and
his sons were in other respects unhurt.
Fieschi was executed, and his name OBJ
tained for some years that kind of notori-
ctv which Madame Tussaud could give
it.
We now come to the attempt of Orsini
and his companions. 4 Birmingham
manufacturer was commissioned to make
six missiles according to Il particular mod
cl. The missile was of an oval shape, and
had twenty-five nipples near one end,
with percussion caps to fit them. The
greatest thickness and weight of metal
were at the nipple end, to insure that it
should come foremost to the graund.
The inside was to be filled with detona-
ting composition, such as illuminate Of
mercury; conclusion would explode the
caps OH the nipples, and communicate the
explosion to the illuminate, which would
burst the iron shell into innumerable
fragments. \ Frenchman, residing in
London, bought alcohol, mercury, and
nitric acid; made detonating compound
from these materials, and filled the shells
with it, Then cnsued a very complicated
series of manGuvers to get the conspira-
tors and the shells to Paris, without ex-
citing the suspicion of the authorities.
On the evening of the l4th Of January,
1868, the Emperor and Empress were to
90 to the opera and Orsini and his con-
federates prepared for the occasion. At
night, while the imperial carriage was
passing, three explosions were heard.
Several soldiers were wounded; the En-
peror's hat was perforated General Ro-
quet was slightly wounded in the neck;
two footmen were wounded while stand
ing behind the Emperor's carriage; one
horse was killed. the carriage was severe
" shattered; and the explosion extin-
guished most of the gas lights near at
hand. The Emperor, cool in the midst of
danger, proceeded to the opera as if moth
ing had happened. When the police had
sought out the canse of this atrocity, it
was ascertained that Orsini, Pierri, Rud-
dio and Gomez were all on the spot; three
of the shell grenades had been thrown by
hand, and two more were found OH Orsi-
nj and Pierri. The fragments ofthe three
shells had inflicted the frightful number
of more than five hundred wounds. Or
SIM himself had been struck by one of the
pieces. Ruddio and Gomez were con-
demncd to the galleys; Orsini and Pierri
were executed. Most readers will re-
member the exciting political events that
followed this affair in England and France
nearly plunging the two countries into
war.
AT the Capital, in these days, man
who does not want an Office, or hasn't got