Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-08-21
THE BASTlLE.
How, When and for What Purpose 1t Was
Built-Its Destruction Remarkable

THE BASTlLE.
How, When and for What Purpose 1t Was
Built-Its Destruction "A Remarkable
Escape.
Although Roy was but fourteen year
old, he was a great traveller. He had
crossed the Atlantic in calm and stormy
weather, had seen the great pillows
rolling mountain-high, and had looked
over the vast expanse of water when it
was clear. smooth and blue as a lake.
He had visited a number of noted
castles in Great Britain, Westminster
Hall and the Tower of London, had rid
den up and down the Champs Elysee
in Paris, and visited the Tuilleries and
Louvre. In fact, he had seer many
wonderful things far and wide.
Now here is a conundrum for your
solution. He had seer all of these
things, and yet had never been more
than q hundred miles from his home in
Troy, New York. Impossible, you say.
No; it is as l say; and he had escaped
a great deal of the weary labor which is
usually involved in sightseeing. Now
for the solution, as l can not wait for
yours.
His father had a fine library, and,
discovering Roy's fondness for travel,
tried to satisfy his longings in that d.
rection as best he could, by giving him
books and portfolios of e%ngrayings.
Then Roy had attended Prof. Stoddard's
and Cromwell's lectures, and spent
night after night in the very midst of
Europe.
At school to-day he had heard a pro-
lessor talking to the senior class, and
he used this expression: GAS horrible
as the Bastile."
"Bastile, Bastile!" How the word
kept ringing in Roy's ear all day long!
"What was the Bastile?" His father
never explained to him what he could
find out for himself. But now he was in o
quandary. He did not know where to
begin his search. s.Was it in Japan or
Italy? What was it?" Strange to say
it never occurred to him to look in that
wonder-book. the dictionary, which
would have given the key to unlock the
mystery. His mother was absent from
home; SO he had to content himself
with waiting till his father returned in
the evening. To be sure, there was his
sister; but then-well, girls never did
know anything, except what you didn't
wish them to. CLet me whisper aside
to the girls that his sister only a week
before had to write a composition about
the Bastile in school. Her teacher had
read the class q short account of it and
then obliged them to write in fifteen
minutes all they could remember.
Clara had received the highest mark).
Now l will tell you what Roy learned
about the Bastile when his father put
him on the right road, which road led
neither to Japan nor Italy.
The word Bastile or Bastel was used
in France to designate any fertilization
intended to withstand a military force.
But when the Bastile is spoken of now
but one place is meantime great
gloomy prison OF Paris.
The building of the Bastile was be-
gun in the latter part of the fourteenth
century. during the reign OF Charles V.
and was not completed till many years
afterwards. II stood on an island of
the Seine, and consisted of four tall,
round towers connected by thick walls
with tour other similar towers so as to
form q rectangular building. In the
center was an open court, and there
t stood an immense clock which could
be seen from the towers windows. The
: building was surrounded by q deep
ditch which had walls of solid masonry
and were filled with water when the
Seine overlooked.
Charles V. did not intend the Bastile
for u prison, but only as a piece Of
| fertilization. 1t was not long, however,
before it was put to that use, and from
the beginning OF the reign of Louis XII
it was used altogether for that purpose
> The prisoners were always those who
. were supposed to be enemies Of the
, Government, so hat at different times
many illustrious and royal persons were
: confined there.
1t was always an object of grea
: hatred to the Parisians, though not uset
as a general prison, and did them little
: harm. But none were admitted within
Its gates and everything was carried or
1 IN such a mysterious manner that they
pictured its horrors much worse thar
they really We're. So when tie revolu
x ton OF 1889 came one of the first place:
9 attacked was the Bastile. Thousand
f of people rushed along the streets cry
ing ''To the Bastile," "Down with tn
Bastile." After storming it's walls TO
0 almost a day, those in charge wer'
r obliged to surrender. The peopl,
t rushed in, and the Bastile was soon n,
more.
G There are many curious and thrilling
9 tales connected with the Bastile.
can tell you but one. A man was con
fined there by the name OF La Tude
II Some one in power, plying him in hi
. loneliness, obtained for him the priv
. lege Of a companion by the name o
: Allegro. Together they planned a wa.
. of escape. 1t vas to climb to the tol
OF the chimney and descend to the ditcl
g by means of a rope. This chimney wa
. full of gratings and bars which must b
/ loosened in order to make their ascen
possible. From the top Of the Gimme,
to the ditch was two hundred feet
They found that there wa q space o
q four feet between their cell and the on
Q below. After tearing up a tile iron