Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-20
NO MAFIA SYMPATHY
Among the People Of Tunis Who
Are Afflicted With Sicilians.
A DAUGHTER OF GEN. BOULANGER,
View of Rudini and Crispi In Italys Cham
ber of Deputies.
WITNESSING A GENUINE FRENCH DUEL
CORRESPONDENT OF THE DIsPATCH.l

Captain Driant, of the French army, liy
in Tunis, and during my stay here hav
seen them many times. Madame Driant
whose mother is an Englishwoman, is of
very attractive presence, average height
golden hair, blue eyes, and rather pale
clear complexion. She is of a lively ten
permanent, which, suppose, she Inherit
from her father During the time of Genera
Boulanger's popularity Captain Driant wa
put back in his grade in the army for pub
fishing q bo6k-"La Guerre de demain,
| (The war of to-morrow)-and, I believe
was transferred to Tunis, to be out o
! France should his father-in-law get int
| power.
They say Captain Driant is very abl
| warrior, and no doubt had his father-in-lav
become Emperor of France, he would no
now be only poor captain. However, il
| spite of the eviling of General Boulanger BY
the present Government, Monsieur anC
Madame Driant do not disdain to attend the
entertainments given by the representative
of that Government, Monsieur Massicant
the resident General of Tunis. At ker
messe given in the gardens of the Resident
General a few Sundays ago, at which the
public could attend at 10 cents head, re.
marked Monsieur and Madame Driant very
cordial with the Resident General and the
other dignitaries present.
Some Light on Boulanger.
When General Boulanger was the most
popular man in France, he made very
ostentatious tour through Spain, in CON-
pany with his daughter and her future hus-
band and mysterious lady, whom it was
said afterward accompanied the General in
his memorable flight from Paris read in
book lately published-"La Derniere
Bataille" (the last battle)-by Edward
Drumont, the real reason why General
Boulanger fled from Paris, and why he did
not take advantage of the manifestation at
the Care de Lyon, march at the head of the
mob and take the Elysee, the Presidents s
place, by storm, and install himself Dicta-
tor, or Emperor.
The General had no doubt that the mob
of Paris would rise to a man in his favor,
but he was afraid Minister Constans and
General Saussier, the Governor General of
Paris, would turn out several regiments,
capture the General and disperse the mob
hold a court martial, and, at the break of
day, when the air is rather harsh, the Gen.
eral would be aroused and told: 'Mon
General, c'est pour aniourd hui lie peleton
vous attend" that is to say, a picket of SOL
diers were waiting outside to let daylight
through the poor General.
Captain Driant, though only a poor Cap
tain, puts on lots of style and has several
turnouts-a dog cart, q barouche, etc. Nine.
Driant is always dressed in black. be-
lieve she is in mourning for one of her rela-
tives. can also say that General Boulan-
ger will soon become grandfather.
A Glance at Rudini and Crispi
When in Rome few months ago I had
the pleasure of gazing on the Chamber of
Deputies and two of Italy's most promi-
nent men of the present day, the Marquis
di Rudini, Italy's present Prime Minister,
and Signor Crispi 1 had Deputies ticket
for the sitting on the day on which Crispi
was to yacate his post as Prime Minister to
the Marquis di Rudini, but unfortunately
when 1 arrived, even at an early hour, the
house was full. However, witnessed
sitting few days afterward, at which the
Marquis di Rudini and Signor Crispi were
present.
Italy's later Prime Minister,.the staunch
supporter of Bismarck and the Triple Alli-
ance, is a very crafty looking individual,
and is entirely different from the bluff and
hearty Marquis di Rudini. Signor Crispi
is Sicilian, the country of the Malta, and
perhaps if he was in power now he would
take up the cause of his countrymen with
greater vigor than his successor, and at the
time of this writing New York would be
in state of bombardment by the Italian
fleet. Crispi looked very disconsolate, and
appeared to be bowed down with grief over
his recent fall from power. He sat with his
head bent forward and his face covered with
the palms of his hands, his elbows resting
on the back of the bench in front of him.
Occasionally a colleague would come up to
him and Crispi would take both the col
leagues hands in his own and rub the
colleagues arms in such manner as
seemed to say: ''My dear friend, am COM
pletely heart-broken, and there is nothing
more Of interest left for me in this world"
The Personality of Rudini.
The Marquis di Rudini also came up to
his predecessor several times and shook
hands with him affectionately. The Mar
quis is a splendid man physically; over six
feet tall, full bushy beard and mustaches,
and is as remarkable for his hirsute adorn-
ment as Crispi is for his badness.
The italian Chamber of Deputies cannot
yet write, as in France, "Liberty, Equality
and Fraternity" over its doors, as I can tes-
tify from what 1 witnessed the day of my
attendance. L occupied seat in the part
tickets, and during the interesting parts of |
the debates, when the occupants Of the re-
served sections arose in their seats and |
craned their necks to their hearts content,
Jhe occupants of the public seats were |
sternly forbidden to bulge in their seats, |
by half dozen guards and attendants who |
stood guard. 1 remarked the inequality to |
one of the soldiers, saying we did things |
in America. 1 am afraid L |
would not do so now, considering the Italo- |
American imbroglio.
A Genuine French Duel.
1t does not fall to the lot of every |
,ojourner in France or her colonies to acci- |
lentally witness a real live French duel, |
such as fell to my good fortune lately. One |
afternoon about 4, while strolling through |
IN olive grove in the neighborhood of Tunis, |
came on a group of eight or ten unmis-
akable Frenchmen halted on its outskirts. |
At first I did not pay any attention to them,
linking 1t was party on an afternoons
outing, until l saw two of their number
livest themselves of hat, coat and vest and
mother take two shining swords from a
mysterious bundle, which lay on the ground
md hand them with much ceremony to the |
,ombatants. 1 at first thought it was to be
! sham encounter, but seeing that the COM
oatants did not wear masks, and the evident
'arnestness of all present, 1 soon decided
otherwise.
The whole affair was very romantic, and
,ame up to my ideas of what duel should
DC, culled from pictures and descriptions.
The mysterious group on the edge of the
wood, the two carriages within hailing dis
ance, the combatants stripped to their
hirts, and the shining sword blades. Sew
.ral of the group wore peg-top trousers so
much affected in journalistic circles in
Paris, and which gave such an unmistak-
Ible French air to the group.