Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-04-09
A TALE OF TAE COMMUNE.
Destruction sna Restoration II the Pa
tnoas Napoleon Coiuann ia the Place
Nend0as.


lCassalls Magazine
The famous Napoleon colams Ia the
Place Nentloine Paris, Was constructed by
order Of the great soldier from cannon
captu ed ia lls - ars, ani was dosi sned %
illustrate ia bronzo the wonderful career OF
the Corsican boy. IL vas modelled after
the Trojan column, and is to-day one Of
the conspicuous and notable landmarks Of
ths French capital. Bat il has had a Curl
0us history. Ia 1871, when Paris WAS held
by the commune, 10 was resolved 90 pull
down the pillar, aad steps were inmedi-
ately taken u undermine Is base, the idea
beng u cause II 70 fail with one grand
crash. symholical OF that national fan
which the communists hoped u see take
place As result OF their misguided efforts.
A bed OF sand, faggots and manure was
prepared for the huge mass 70 fall upon,
that the c0ncussion TO the surrounding
buildings might be lessened. The OHcidl
,Jo,TR0i, on the morning OF May l6, am
aOunced that the column would positively
fall that day at two o'clock. AT the
hour named large crowd of spec
tators assembled. The members OF
the commune and their staff, amount
ing 20 two hundred, attended on
ho setback. Bands played and every
thing was done 10 give the occasion "a
festive character. Colonel Mayer, COM
manding in the Place VeEdome, assembled
70 the top OF the column and waved
small tricolor aag. He then tore the flag,
cried 4" Long live the communev' tied the
fiash al To the rails ~ the summit of the
L a Ill . ha
were tightened the bald struck up the
Marseillcs," and all eyes were fixed on
the doomed monument. IL falls" ex-
/ claimed the onlookers, ani the great mass
/ bowed slowly toward the Rue de la PaiX.
/ As it fell it broke into pieces in the air
and struck the ground in four portions.
/ loud yet duh report followed. and
/ clouds Of dust rose into the sky, but the
/ conclusion was nothing like so bad as
most people had expected. The column
/ forced Itself some way istO the ground,
/ but no windows were broken, nor was the
square in any way injured.
/ As soon as the huge fragments had set
| tied t.emselves. Colonel Ma er mounted
them and waved red fla. the populace
cheering and shouting, Long live the
commune" At nearly the same moment
there was posted at Versailles, the head
/ quarters OF the Cove nment troops. brief
yet significant dispatch, dated Mont Val
erian: The top of the Vendome column
has disappeared from view"
The excited commun SITS Immediately set
about making the indi gnity TO the memory
1 OF Napoleon even greater than it had
already been, by breaking the brOnzes OF
the column and throwing them into tho
Seine and carrying them into hiding in
distant parts of the city, SO that by night
fall Of the following day not piece weigh
ing twenty pounds of the once magnificent
monument which lowered into the air one
hundred and five feet remained in the
Place Vendome, or was anywhere to be
I found.
But the fortunes Of war changed. The
communists were driven from the city,
and order once more reigned. lmmedi-
ately an effort was mad, TO restore the
many ruined public and private port ons
of Paris, the Napoleon column among
them. Rewards were offered for the find
ing Of the missing pieces, under the stim-
ulus of which the Seine was dragged and
thousands of out -the-way places ex-
plored. Strange TO say, every piece Of the
great monument was found. IL was once
again raised, and to-day the heroic figure
of the great Emperor stands as proudly or
the summit OF the magnificent pile in the
Place Vendome a. though it had never
been plunged piecemeal into the Siene by
fn angry populace-