Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-03-31
TRANSLATED ron THE APPEAL.
THE WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE.



A BIRTH AT THE PoSr DE- TEERE-
: God makes these degrees IN the fortunes o
e Some bowed, bear the burthens of sorrow and
To the BANQUET OF happiness few are entreatedi
r All the guests there are not win the same
law SO1lPsf WRieS, looked up to- seems wrong and
To t6ess says 'Enjoy'!-tO those, Envy; WA Ao'
$ II you should ever pass, Of an evening, along
the nne street OF La Marie, in Brest, halt, when
opposite thar whimsical facade, where the pen
r ell OF the decorator has painted. on the vast
front OF an upholsteTer's ware-rooms, mosaies
eulbelli shed with arabesques of the renaissance
; and avaiIing yourself Of some carts standing
1 in front OF the beautiful S: orehouse, climb "a
) the top or the Httla wall v hich overlooks the
T Pont de Terre and then loUk below.
, Fifty feet beneath, you VIII see, through q
veil Of fetid vapours, sort OF sink IN the cen
tre Of W hich are grouped some deoaying houses
. which are reached by a nliTy and unpaved de-
: scent Thence necessarily emanate, l know
not what horrible miasmas, smelling OF vice
and poverty and thence nightly arise cries OF
{ revsIliDg or strife, sounds Of weeping or OF
PRAYER, strange signs, scarcely defnab e, and
which night he taken either for the duh moaus
ofa savage pleasure or the rstling in the throat
OF the assassirated.
This neighborhood is called the Pont de Terre.
1t is there that the sailor fefOcious with his de-
sires repressed daring long voyage, comes 10
lose his Iivres ard 10 wailow in crime, with q
woman hired by the hour. Thence issued, in 80,
the tsttsred bands which followed Jean Bon
saint Andre and the gUillOtine. There the
body OF the young officer Patrice, hnng from
the street above, fell, swollen with blows, man
gled, pall itating, among a dozen children who
were playing the yeU0}Iltiea, Yet the victim met
with pity at the Pont de Terre a Dasser-by saw
that he still breathedr and cut CT his head.
By cruel contrast, produced by chance this
foul sewer, home Of all that Is most degraded
and miserable in the city, is looked down upon
by elegant buildings, Inhabited by the most
thriving bourgeois of the city. The unfortunate
below can, from his unglazsd easement. con-
template the silken curtains hUctuating oppo-
site in the large windows Of his neighbor. Ia
winter, If hunger and cold keep him awake, he
can hear overhead, the noise OF the carriages
driving 10 the festival, the music Of the ball, its
bursts OF laughter is vol1ptuous murmer.
Nothing is lacking, you see, to the Pont de
Terre /, Is he'll, whose damned have Paradise
in full view, with the certainty OF never en-
tering there.
At the period when our history commences,
the grand buildings Of the street of la Marie
did not yet exist: the Pont de Terre possessed
all its native hideOusness. Before every house
lay q syamp Of staguant water, where the
drunken came 10 drown themselves, and the
assassius to wash the blood from their hands.
Il was the court Of miracles Of the city OF Brest
Itwas not until afterwards, and when the
rich had built Ia the neighborhood, that this
portion OF the city acquired that dubious clean
liness noticeable at the present day. II was
required for that that the cholera should de-
| scend into this lair, and make Of It centre OF
infections dreaded by all, There was pity,
I then because there was fear; and the filth was
carried of with the corpses. Since then, the
Pont de Terre is only an obscure, filthy. un-
healthy quarter.
On the day when our tale begins, there re-
4 sounded in one OF the smallest houses OF the
J Pont de.Terre those agonized AMI broken cries
! which are forced from q woman about TO be-
/ CONS a notiie4, Msrgaret Cosquer was in child
birth.
The Young woman lay in one OF those closed
beds used in Brittany, n sort or long, low boK'
/ shutting up by means Of Siding side. The
| little air that entered the enambs- in which
she lay, reached with difficulty the bOttsm Of
/ this oaken box in which the unfortunate
S1i.hed in terr bic agony. The door Of the
single room Of which the house Of the Cosquers
consisted, was open, and the wenaen Of the
neighborhood allied the entrance. There was
continual coming and going, from the doorway
to the bed Of all the gossips OF the quarter, snx-
1 ious to witness the delivery. Forthe woman OF
the People in that resembles the Queen; her
/ ACCOMPLISHMENT is made with opened doors and
before all eyes.
Not far from the bed sat Iv0n Cosquer the
mason, who, his arms crossed and legs stretched
out, smoked 9Th the calmness Of indifference
Nearer the suffering woman ETss the midwife,
equally impossible.
But, after time her indifference seemed TO
/ dfminhh. She was troubled. The pains OF
1 Margaret became insuPportsble; and the
neighbors began 20 look at each other with
winls. and to communicate their fears TO each
o,hei iR un6er-tones.
! Here bet%elve hours she suffers, and moth
! ing comes Of it. Must be some hidden trouble
MAY be the child may haEe te be extracted
| With The instruments.
/ All. Lord God so tell land Whist II her
side has to be cut open, IKE that OF poor
Therese Corlc did not she suffer When
she was dead, the blood fell from her eyes,
drop by drop, as out OF faucet badly closed.
At this moment, Margaret, who beard al
that was said. uttered stiH sharper cries.
i told thee, said an old woman, that the m
I fortunate could not live through it. The child
/ was put in wTong positions May be II VIII
have 10 be cut out, bit by bit
Here the sufferer uttered a shrek so horrible
that 1t troubled even Cosquer. He rose and
approached tne bed. The eonvulsions into
which Margaret fell at intervals. seized her
with greater violence.
-CosqueT. said the midwife, 60 look for q
doctor can noI take upon me to remain
wi hout help.
! The main lessons now. he replied.
Yes, to begin again in few minutes. Go
lock for a doctor!
DO know any of them (which one do
YOU want me TO go fore
Go bring Doctor Dumont, who Lives near
here,
Il am going TO go. cried womau.-Do not
move. Cosquer. know NJ. Dumont !
And she set ont, at a run.
The mason returned 10 his seat in evident i'll
humour.
"A doctor again. he muttered between hIs
teeth, re-lIghiiug his pipe; IT'S a-gcins TO ruin
US, this childbirth here.
And he sast on Margaret q look OF dull dis
content.
The Doctor sent Tor, soon after entered with
the woman.
Doctor Dumont had served q long time in the
navy, as Surgeon OF the second class he was
A fearless practitioner, who treated a msn as 8
sculptor treats block OF marble, and always
eut deep into the flesh. Used 10 the Language
OF the sailors, on whom he had long practiced
he had preserved its rudensss and cruel gaiety
No one knew better than he how 10 pun upon
agony, or fling joke at Death.
This rude freedom OF mind, and the hard con
adence that resulted from It, had given people
high opinion or his skin. Seeing him alwsys
calm and coarse jester by beds of suffering
the poor creatures had persuaded themselves
that this serenity was caused by assurance OF
success, so that his reputation was firmly eStab'
Iished. Some bold and fortunate cases com
pleted it. As TO the numerous deaths that could
have been aScribed 20 him, they were liltls
thought OF: the medical assassination OF man
of the people is too unimportant thing to be
long spoken of.
Then what is the importance, 10 the largest
number, Of a single deathe In this mass
where one crowds the other, half sutfocsted, tc
pick up few crumbs at the social banquet, 4
man who falls is one competitor the less. and
one place the more. Once bis coffin is carried
, away, his neighbors are more at their ease
and in our perfected society, there are alwayi
more men interested in anOther's dying, thar
! in his living.
When Dunont entered, Margaret uttereI
stiaed cries.
HOY now What Is II. Eat "a IL ny
little uother2 he said, spproseEing-I an
! told you have an abscsss that does not ike Il
break All! ah all That Is ali Il is. Lst u
see a little. Dame! my dear, children are like
bottle Of wine. there is more pleasure in tn
beginning than in the end.
And after sscertaining how far the labou
, had advanced:
Come, patience patience, little balm o
steel, and it will soon be away frOm there.
Atthe same time he drew his foresps from
! his pouch Of leather. The sight OF the ins,ru
raent alarmed Ma garet.
oh, no! no! cried the unfortunate woman
rolling 70 the foot of her closed bed, You VII
! XIII me-leaye ms-f will not. Leave me!
Come. let US zee, then, child! What the devi
We must be more reasonable. You know "
" / can't make q baby AS we shell little pea
/, All ah! ahl Fear nothing, II wiz be over Il
an instant, then you viii suffer no longer 70
haven't always said won't my dear. II is n
time 10 say it now.
= He Is buffoon, this Dumont, murmured I
y ,tf,ar the CosSgssS n were