Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-01-15
BAZAlNE'S PLACE or SE(;l.l1SlON.

HAZAlNE'S PLACE or SECLt1SlON
The I.lc dc sni"tc Marg"critc-Tn'
Man In the Iron mask.
From tho New York Herald.
Marshal Bazuino has commenced Iii
term of twenty years scclusion, in &C
cordancc with tho terms Of tho pun
ishmcnt tixcd by Marshal MacNlah,n
The Islc de Sainto Marguerite, wlcr
he is to take up his lengthy residence
is on the Mediterranean coast q
France, opposite Cannes, and abou
two miles and u half from the shore
It is close to the 1tJinn frontier, IN.
is II of the group of two Isles calico
Lorins. Ste. Marguerite is of small
extent, is covered with wood, md TIN
climate. AZ may be inferred from IT.
position, is Of a salubrious character
Baznine does not exnctly 60 into exile
nor is he to suffer the ignominy of be
ing transported to u penal colony. H,
will always have in view the coast o
France, and close ut hand are man,
towns and villages, where, before hi!
eyes, can be constantly cen the indus
try and every day life Of his fellow
c%onntrymen in one OF tho most attrac
tive portions of France.
Ste. Marguerite was once before til.
prison Of MI individual whose life wa,
OF romantic interest and whose history
has been the subject of labored anu
extended research. The Man in thu
Iron Mask was confined on the isIant
from 1854 to 1905, when he was re-
moved to tho Bastile. The dungeon
in which he was i~ncarcerated is still
pointed out. It's solid windows are
guarded by twelve iron bars. The
only approach to i! was through the
Governors ooms. In the midst OF q
small garden is n square building with
u door on each face, and evidently con,
structed with Il view to strength and tc
prevent prisoners confined in it from
escaping. It is understood that the
condemned marshal will be accompa
MED by his wife and children. anG
that restraint on his movements viii
extend to his safe-kecping. In othcl
respects he will have the privilege O.
moving about within the confines O.
the island as much as he pleases.
THE MAN IN THE X MASK.
The Man in the Iron Mask was diff
ferently treated. He was closet,
watched, and not allowed to hold con
%versation with any one save the ~jailors
Various surmises as to what this his
torieal character really was. have beer
thrown out. At first it was concluded
that it was an illegitimate son of Loui,
XIV, by de la Valliere, who, having
boxed the ears of his half brother, til,
Dauphin, was condemned to imprison
ment for life. Thisassumption proved
unfounded. 1t was again insisted that
he was the Duke of Beaufort, "Kine
of the Markets." and afterwarG
some believed that he was the
elder brother of Louis XIV, that
he Was a son of Anne, of Austria, by
the Duke of Buckingham. The Queen,
having the impression removed from
her mind that she was barren, after.
ward gave birth to the grand monarch,
who, discovering, on reaching matu.
rity, the condition Of affairs, consigned
his elder brother to a life long impris.
onment. Conjecture has exhausted it.
self to find out who the masked MAJ
was, but it has not yet been settled
with anything like certainty. He waa
transferred from N place of confine-
ment to another, and on his Journey
wore q mask. He was removed from
Ste. Marguerite in 1893, and conveyed
on q litter to the Bastile, where he was
treated with distinction. When the
latter fell. search was made for papers
or relics that might lead to his ident :
hcation, but none were fonnd.
CHANCES OF PARDON.
Marshal Bazaine may not consider
the place of his seclusion the most
agreeable. The old buildings cannot
be suggestive of the most cheering
emotions: He is, however, close to
Italy, and he has the Mediterranean
expanse to the north, south and east.
If DESTROYS of escape there cannot fail
to be many favorable opportunities,
but, cftcr all, the Marshal may expect
that at the expiration of a few years he
may be permitted by the government
to leave Ste. Marguerite a free man
a fortune that did not befall the Mys-
FERROUS Man of the Iron Mask.
The Red River Raft.
There is now a certain prospect that
the great raft, which has been an OBJ
struction in the Red River, in Louis
lana, " since the advent of white
men in this country, will soon be re-
moved, and that navigation will be
opened for steamers from Shreveport
La, to Jefferson, Texas. The history
of the raft and the attempts to remove
it is exceedingly interesting. In 1905
the obstruction of logs reached one
hundred miles. Since that time RATS
have formed at various points IN the
river near Shreveport. One of these was
removed by Captain Shreve in 1880, by
the help of a Congressional appropria.
ton, and another between 1910 and
1914, under a government contract, by
Gen. Williams. In 1854 the raft region
extended only twelve miles, and at that
time Captain Fuller, aided by a Con-
g%ressional appropriation of $50, 900,
attempted to remove it. At the end Of
two years, however, the appropriation
had been exhausted and nothing &C.
complished, and the work being ADAM
doned, the obstruction began to in
crease. The present raft region ex-
tended thirty-ive miles from q point
of forty miles above Shreveport to the
Arkansas State line, and contained, be-
fore the present work commenced,
nearly fifty RATS, from eighth of Il
mile to a mile in length, and occupying
the entire width of the river, navigation
only being accomplished through the
bayous around the raft, but as these
were only available at very high water,
navigation was insignificant. In 1871
the attention Of the engineering de-
partment was again directed to this
work, and an appropriation of $40.
600 having been made by Congress,
the work Of preliminary survey
ing was entrusted to Lieutenant Wood.
ruff; who completed it in 1872, and
submitted plans and specifications for
the removal Of the raft, and thea an
appropriation of 500, 600 was made.
The plans were accepted, and Lieuten.
ant Woodruff reached the raft region
in January last, with a snag-boat and
all the requisite machinery for his
work. The following description
shows the difficulties to be overcome :
Logs, roots, and snags of every descrip
tion had been crowded and damned in.
to a tangled mass, becoming more com
pact each year as the pressure from
above increased. Annual freshets had
brought down mud and deposited it in
and owe this mass until it was entirely
covered with earth, small islands, or
stow heads" thus being formed. Up
on these tow-heads were growing trees,
usually willows, three feet and more
in circumference.
In addition to the removals of logs