Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-04-25
SCENES OF REVOLUTION.
what "Erecting Barricades" Means


The following is an extract from a let
ter from Paris, dated March %. sup
pose it has never been your lot, you
happy Englishman, to see a barricade
erected before your very windows2 / am
less lucky, and can tell you exactly how
the thing is done. At daybreak on the
18th inst, eur quarter was overran by
the patriots of Batignolles, and from that
moment it has been one continuous
round Of drums beating the rappeL and
trumpets sounding the alarm. This, OF
itself, was sufficiently irritating for the
quiet inhabitants of usually very quiet
street; but you get used to most things,
and even in the occasional firing close at
hand there was nothing very startling,
and it only called forth an angry excla-
nation, and perhaps an imprecation or
two against the passive attitude of
Government. This state of things re-
mained unaltered until Wednesday, the
22d; but after the lamentable affair of
the Place Vendome, the patriots of
Batignolles got afraid some reprisals
might be attempted, and that very eve
ming barricade was made at the top
oe the Rue de Turin, cutting it off from
the Boulevard de Batignolles. A most
blackguardly looking sergeant of the
National Guard came up escorted by
six cut-throats, you would say, Judging
by their appearance. The sergeant
stopped, and said to his followers,
E0entrez-moi cite rue, an pen leSte, ct
.faites-moi une 6arriccde que ce sout ca
A lieutenant passing by stopped and
asked, Why make barricade in that
placer The sergeant looked round
with scowl, and said, We have orders
and then turned his back on the officer,
who went away struggling his shoulders
And our barricade was made que C est
ca, in stone and earth five feet high and
four feet deep, with two embrasures, be-
fore which two seven-pounders were
pointed, and sentinels were placed to
guard this new toy. 1t is always sur
rounded by knot of hideous-looking
ruflians, dressed as National Guards,
such men as one only sees during a revo-
luton, as if they remained below ground
the remainder Of the time. Every day
a few stones are added to the works,
and smaller barricade has been CON
structed in front of the parent barricade
as an outwork. The seven-pounders,
too, have been replaced by twenty-four
Founders. Every now and then de-
tachment of patriots takes one of the
cannons out for an airing. They drag
it along the boulevard for half an
hour or so, and then it is restored
to its place before the embrasure.
At night unsuspecting cabmen drive
up our street, when they are
stopped by a sentinel, who crosses bay
onet, and in commanding tones calls
out, On ne pdSSe pas 4u ldTgeP and
with praiseworthy prudence the cabmen
drive rapidly away. Ip the day time,
every now and then some alarm causes
the shops Of the neighborhood to be
hastily shut up, and the dirty guardians
of our liberties are in very bad odor with
the shop-keepers, especially with those
who have been subjected to requisi..
tions, and have been paid with red
hons Des boas qui soat trcs asau-
rails, as a grocer remarked to me- How
is all this to end2 1t seems difficult il
should end without much bloodshed, but
then help must come from without. The
of the armed well-thinking men
inside Paris is alarming. At the time
write there is continual drumming 90
ing on under my windows, and cannon
in the distance, but it may be a salute
from Prussian corps. Our barricade
has been made; how will it be pulled
down? That is the question. l am but
a quarter of a century old, and without
the coup d'etat and sundry |
emeutes, l have seen the latter years Of |
a monarchy, an empire, two republics
and two revolutions