Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-03-12
HEROIC MEURTRIER.
The True History Of a Great
French Athlete.

Twas at one time employed in a Gov
ernment Office. Every day from ten
until four o'clock l became a voluntary
prisoner in a depressing office, adorned
with yellow pastcboard boxes and filled
with the musty odor of old papers.
There | breakfasted on Italian cheese
and apples which l roasted at the CRATE;
I read the morning papers, even to the
advertisements; | ryhmed verses, and
I attended to the affairs of state to the
extent of drawing, at the end OF each
month, a salary which barely kept me
from starving.
l recallto-day one of my companions
in captivity at that epoch. He was
called Achille Meurtrier, and certainly
his fierce look and his tall form seemed
to warrant that name. He was 4 great
big fellow, about forty years old, with
out too much chest or shoulders, but
who wore felt hats with wide brims,
short, but ample coats, large plaid
trousers, and red necktics under rolling
collars. He wore a full beard, long
hair. and was very proud of his hairy
hands. The chief boast of Meurtrier,
otherwise the best and most amiable of
companions, was to trifie with an
athletic constitution, to possess
the biccps of a prize fighter, and, us he
said himself, not to know his own
strength. He never made a gesture
even in the exercise of his peaceablc
profession that did not have for its OBJ
jcct to convince the spectators of his
prodigious vigor. Did he have to take
from its ease an empty p%asteboard box,
he advanced toward the shelf with the
heavy step of a street porter, grasped
she box solidly with a tight hand, and
carried it with 4 stiff arm as far as the
next table with a Struggling of shout
dcrs and %frowning of brow worthy of
Milo of Cretona. He carried this man
ner so far that heneveruscdles appar-
ent cfiorteven to liftthc lightest objects,
and one day when he held in his right
hand a basket Of old papers, I saw him
extend his left arm horizontally as if to
make Il counterpoise to the tremendous
weight.
l ought to say hat this robust creature
inspired me with Il profound respect,
FOR | was then. even more than to-day,
physically weak and delicate. and in
consequence filed with admiration for
that energetic physique which l lacked.
The conversations Of Meurtrier were
not Of Il nature to diminish the admira-
tion with which he inspired me. Above
ali, in the summer on Monday morn
ings, when he had returned to the Office
after our Sunday holiday, he had an in
~gxhaustible fund of stories concerning
his adventures and feats of strength.
After having taken off his felt hat. his
coat and his vest. and having wiped the
perspiration from his forehead with the
sleeve of his shirt to Indicate his san
guinc an neutrality-suspicious.. he would
thrust his hands deepin the pockets of
his trousers, and, standing near me in
an attitude of perpendicular :olidity,
begin Il %monologue something as
follows:
>What a Sunday, my boy! Pos
itively 40 fatigue can lay me up. Think
of it-ycsterday was the regatta at
bonneville le-Pont-at six o'clock in the
morning the rendezvous at Bercy for
the crew OF the Marsouin-the sun is up
we Jump into our rowing suits and
seize the oar and give way--one-two,
o~nc-two-as far as Joinv;lle then over
board for 4 swim before breakfast; strip
to swimming drawers. a Jump ovor-
board. and look out for squalls. After
my bath | have the appetite of Il tiger.
Good; seize the boat by one hand and
call out, Carpenter. pass nc a small
ham. Three motions in one time and l
have finished it to the bone. Charpen-
tier. pass me the brandy flask. Three
swallows and it is empty
So the description would continue
dazzling Homeric.
1.-The hour for the regatta-noon, the
SUI Just overhead. The boats draw up
in line on the river, before a tent gaudy
with streamers. On the bank the
Mayor. with his scarf of office, gend-
armes in yellow shoulder belts, and a
swarm of summer dresses, open para
soils, and straw hats. Bang! The sig
nal gun is fired, the Marsouin shoots
forward of her competitors and gains
the first prize, and no fatigue. We dine
at Creteil. How cool the evenings in the
dusky arbor; pipes glow IN the dark
ness, and moths SINCE their wings
in the flame of the cmelcttc an
.kirsch. At the end of a dessert
served on decorated plates, we hear
from the ball room the call of the cor
net. Take places for the quadrille!
But already a rival crew beaten that
same morning, has monopolized the
prettiest girls. A fight! teeth broken,
eyes blackened, ugly falls, and whacks
below the belt; in a word, a poem o.
physical enthusiasm, of noisy hilarity,
of animal spirits"
And the evenings Of my astonishing
companion were not less full of adven'
ture than his Sundays. C~ollar-and-el
bow wrestling in a tent, under the rec
Tight of torches, between him, simple
amateur, and Dubois, the iron man il
person--rat chases near the mouth O