Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-10-06
Versailles Correspondence of tho Pail Mail Ga
zstte.
Women Of the Commune.
The Trial of the PetrOIeu.es-ConvIc vIctIans
and Sentences

We had full Court on Monday, Sep
tember 4th, to witness the trial of the frs
batch of pet7oLeuSeS, five in number. The
President was Colonel Boisdenemetz, who
had transferred his sittings from the Palace
of Justice, and the prosecutor, Captain
Jouenne, whose eloQuence has been sc
fatal to the Communist prisoners of the
Fourth Court during the last three weeks.
It had been reported that there was some
young and attractive women in the first
batch, but the statement proved only hall
true. Tie women were young enough, the
oldest being no more than thirty-two, and
the youngest twenty-four; but their ap-
pesrance was repulsive In the extreme,
being that of the lowest, most depraved
class of women in the worst quarter OF
large towns. Their clothes were sordid,
their hair undressed, their features coarse,
bestial and sullen. It was difficult to get
up much interest in creatures so devoid OF
all that graces their sex, and [ was not
surprised to see the Court gradually thin
as the day wore on. Let me here, how
ever, make a remark which is founded on
personal observation. No matter how
hideous may be tile crimes of which a
man is accused, and let the man himself
be the most abject and despicable being
of his species, there is always some woman
who believes in him, grieves for him,
and would be ready to sacrifice
herself on his behalf, If by so
doing she could secure his safety.
At every trial where a man is being
judged one may, by searching, discover a
woman whose face is fixed yearningly on
the dock, and who, when sentence is pro-
nounced, elbow forward alone to take the
criminals head between her hands and
sob some words of comfort into his ear.
Bot this is not the case where women are
concerned. When a woman falls she
seems to fall absolutely unfriended. Her
crimes have not often been her own. The
retribution is all hers, and there is nobody
who cares either to share it or alleviate it.
During the two days trial of the petro1eu-
SeS, heard not single word of sympathy
pronounced in favor of them-not one. 1
went out on purpose during the adjourn
ment for luncheon on the first day, and
mixed with crowd of working men who
generally hang about the public entrance
to the Court, hoping that L might pick up
a stray waif or two of information respect
ing some of the women. AS I expected,
there were several men who knew them.
and lived in the same street as they, and
there was one who seemed very precise on
the subject of the youngest prisoner, who,
said he, had acted as ambulance woman
cades. But there was no sympathy on
their part-rather the contrary; and this
though they were almost luchrymose in
to former acquaintance of theirs
who had got into trouble 'for usurping
functions" To make all this moro pitt
able, it appears that the women are as
much forsaken in their captivity as they
are in Court. Every male prisoner at the
Orangere has visitors who bring him mon
ey or food delicacies; but scarcely one
woman in ten receives visitors. Nay, there
is thing that would seem incredible but
for the curious contradictions in woman's
nature-some of these abandoned crea-
lures had managed to save a few francs
out of their nameless misery and to con
ceal them in the lining of their clothes
while they were being searched; but in
stead OF spending money on their own
wants. as men never fail to do, their one
thought was how to get it conveyed to
their paramours.
PRODUCTION OF EVIDENCE.
The names and trades of the five 11etro.
leuSeS were Retif. paper maker; Suetens,
washer women; Marchais, charwoman;
Papavoine, seamstress, and Bocquiu, who
is married. milliner. The charge against
them was that of having set fire to the
Palece OF the Legion of Honor, and to the
mansions of Counts de Chabrol, de Baneux.
and de Bethune, in the Rue de Lille. The
evidence was of a rather Sensational char
acter, for Nine. Thome, wife to the con-
cierge of Count de Chabrol, described,
how her masters house was invaded,
rsnsacked, and finally set fire to, her hus-
band the while being apprehended in the
cellar where he had hid himself, and summa.
rily shot by the insurgents at a barricade.
Nine. Thome, however, could not identify
any OF the five prisoners as having taken
part In che sack1ng of the houses or the
executions. All she knew was that the
plllage was chiefly conducted by women,
and that the women showed even q greater
pertinacity than the men in resisting the
Versailles troops. There was abundant
evidence to the same vague effect as this
from other persons; but few witnesses
could positively swear to the identity of
the women arraigned. Tt should be men
toned that in opening the case Colonel
of examining the prisoners separately, that
is, only one remaining in Court at a time,
the reason being that all the five had accu-
sations to bring against one another This
arrangement, however, was only carried
out as regards the girl Retip, and proved
quite unnecessary, for the prisoners in
stead of accusing, sought, with q
generosity rather rare in criminal
CourtF, to disoulpate one another
As to their own personal defence, it was in
every case the same ; they had followed
their paramours to the barbados, but
once there, had done nothing save help
the wounded. They appealed to such
witnesses as recognized them to say
whether it was not fact that their sole
occupation had been to forage for lint.
and the witnesses acknowledged that GER
tainly three out of the five women had
been acting as ambulancers; but they also
contended that the women carried rifles.
and exorted the insurgents not to fall back.
Two conciergers of the Rue de Lille.
named Stehlin and Audet, gave a lament
able account of the depredations commit
ted by the battalions of Eudes and Megy,
and by that rufianly corps, Les Enfans
PerduS, who were the scum of ell foreign
nations, and enjoyed, even among the red
dest Communalists, reputation for fe-
rocity and thievishness. These, as we'll
as the other witnesses, placed it beyond
all possible doubt that the Palace of the
Legion of Honor and the Rue de Lille had
been deliberately fred with petroleum,
not accidentally ignited by shells.