Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-06-22
a REMARKABLE Aamv


en Who An Have Past. tn,
Want to BUR-. nss
d;-;..y the most remarkable ar,nv
1870 n IN the world is the Foreign
~: n OF France. It is this Ieoion
w ~nisn Is invariably sent into the grsat.
nger. AS rule, it heads the for.
nope whenever there are hard.
20 De borne to which the French
rities do not care to expose the
;suiar troops the Foreign Legion i
designated for the burmese
naturally the question arises, whv i,
In character of the men who All -.
RANKS Is the explanation.
Almost without exception thew ar.
men VINO, while brave beyond ones
elon' nave past which they wish 20
Dury. Many of them are serving under
incognitos, and place no value nnon
tnelr lives Fully fifty per cent arc
foreigners adventures and refugees
writer states that in one comnanv
ne mas found a Roumanian prince 1vbS,
was under suspicion of having mur-
'dered his brother; an Italian Lieutenant
coionei OF cavalry. bearing an illustr;-
Gus name, who had been dismissed from,
Ming Humbert's army in disgrace in
consequence of being found CHEATING
at cards; Russian nihilist, who es.
capped from Siberia: an ex-canon ~ q.
cathedral Of Notre Dame, at Paris wbo
mad been suspended from his ecclesia.-
tical functions in consequence of an of.
tense committed against public moral.
lty; an English ex-captain of the Rife
brigade, and German count who had
not only served as lieutenant in the
First regiment of Guards at Berlin. Init
who had also held g position on the
military staff Of the late emperor of
Germany.
All these men were serving as simple
prIvates in the ranks. and were sub
Jected to iron discipline for which this
corps is celebrated.
In no other European army are the
punlshments so severe as in the Foreion
Legion of France
Composed as it is almost entirely of
social outlaws, men who have broken
with their past, and who have in MANY
cases criminal record behind them. it
Is not astonishing that the utmost Sc
verify Is needed to render them sub
servlent to orders The slightest of
tense or act of aggression against a SUI
perior officer is punished with death.
and during the Tonquin war there were
as many as eleven members of one reoi-
ment court-martialed and shot in one
day. The minor oTenSes are punisha-
bic by the so-called .'silO," which con-
slsts of burying the prisoner in the sand
for hours, leaving only his head ex-
posed to the rays of the sun by day and
to the stings of insects by night; and
the ''crapaudine," in which the man is
bound hand and foot and left for hours
nay, sometimes days-on the sand,
lying helpless, somewhat in the posi-
ton of a trussed fowl.
Many of the most famous names of
France have figured at the head of
these regiments.
Among those who have held the rank
of colonel of the foreign legion are
found, for instance. the names of Mar
shall Bazaine, Gen de Negrier. Gen.
Dupin. who so distinguished himself
by his cruelty during the guerilla war
fare in Mexico, and last. but not least.
the brilliant Col. de Malaret.
The last had in his Younger DAVIS
been one of the gayest and most popu-
lar officers of the Tuileries and par
SfCuiaA ldNoiitC VI INC LupTtSS Eu-
genie.
Having, however. contracted some
horrible malady which had practically
eaten away almost one entire side of
his face, he asked for and obtained the
command of regiment of the Foreign
Legion. anxious to serve his country
and yet to withdraw sufficiently
from the world to be no longer
exposed to the looks of horror,
disgust and pity which the appearance
of his face excited. not only among
strangers, but even among former
friends. He would arrive on the
parade ground with the hood of his
military mantle drawn over his head.
even in the hottest weather, in such a
manner as to shroud and almost entire
" conceal his face. Indeed, one could |
see little else but his brilliant, steel |
gray eyes piercing through the gloom.
His lips rarely opened save to order |
some more or less severe punishment.
Very different was Gen. de Negrier, |
who was beloved rather than feared by |
these strange troops. of whom it has |
been said with some justice that they |
were a strange mixture of the chival- |
rous and high-minded gentlemen of |
birth, breeding and honor and the |
most criminal blackguards- N Y. /
Recorder.