Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1894-02-02


has horror of the sight of blood and at
an operation suffers all the pain of the pa
tient.
There are five of the Reclus brothers, and
they are all socialists and freethinkers, al
though their father was Protestant min
lister and they were brought up under re-
Igious influences They are all clever, but
their peculiar opinions have cost them dear
from a worldly point of view. jacques
Elisee Reclus is the most distinguished of
the brothers. He was born in 1880 and was
graduated at the University of Berlin. In
early life he came to America and here had
q romantic and remarkable experience. He
entered the employ of cotton planter who
had an only daughter. One day the girl
told her father that she was determined to
marry Elisee Reclus. The young man &C.
cepted on condition that the father should
at once emancipate all the slaves in his serv-
ice The cotton grower naturally enough
refused to do so, and Reclus out of spite
married a negress. Reclus had two daugh-
tiers and then lost his wife. He married a
second time, suppressing the religious cere-
mony and celebrating only the civil mar
riage. This second wife died, and then Re-
clus married third time, suppressing both
the religious and civil ceremonies.
Jacques Elisee Reclus is known through
out the world for his magnificent and
scholarly work, "Nouvelle Geographic mi
verselle," which he began in 1875 and which
last year obtained the gold medal from
the Geographical Society of Paris. He is
socialist in politics and laid down the
pen and took up the sword in 1871 during
the exciting days Of the commune in Paris,
and the army of Versailles captured him
with his weapon in his hand. The learned
geographer was condemned to deportation
for life. and in prison he was awaiting his
transfer to a convict ship.
Elisee was then Al years old and was al
ready celebrated as a geographical author
ity. The hopes of his life, all the brilliant
promise of his literary career, seemed in a
moment blasted. The news of his great
misfortune shocked the scientific men Of all
nations. In England they were prompt to
act, and a petition signed by Darwin and
other scientific men of eminence in the
country was addressed to Theirs.
The petitioners said that the life of such
man as Elisee Reclus, who had already
rendered brilliant services to science and
literature, gave promise. of still greater
services in his vigorous maturity. They
expressed the view that such a man be-
longed not only to the country that gave
him birth, but to the entire world, and that
in reducing him to silence and sending him
to languish far from the center of civiliza-
ton France would cripple his talents and
lessen his legitimate influence upon the
world.
The appeal was heard, and the penalty of
deportation was commuted to sentence of
perpetual Punishment from France. From
that time until recently he never set foot
upon his native soil. It was in Italy and
Switzerland that he labored for II years on
his New Universal Geography" and the
former political convict has produced on an
average volume year.
The eldest of the Reclus brothers is Mi
| chel Ellie, who was born in 1927. He was ed
| ucated among the Moravian brothers at
Neuwied- sur-la -Rhin and studied theology
at Geneva, Montauban and Strasburg. He
was exiled in 1851, returned to France four
| years later, entered the Credit Mobilier and
| busted himself in the cooperative associa-
| tions During the commune he was named
| director of the National library, and subse-
| quently condemned for usurping the func-
| lions thereof, was sentenced to imprison.
| ment, but he fled to Zurich and afterward
went to London. M. Ellie elaborated with
his brother Elisee in the introduction to the
Dictionary of the Communes of France
and under an assumed name has published
articles in many newspapers and foreign
reviews.
! Onesime Reclus was born in 1887. After
| studying in Germany he served in Algeria
in the zouaves. Then he visited, besides
Africa, many European countries. He has
published several works, chief among which
is La Terre vol d'Oiseau," one of the
most brilliant descriptive works in the
French language His benevolence is not 6
matter of theory, but of practice. One day
he gave ], 500 francs, every sou he possessed
| in the world, to relieve the embarrassment
Of comrade. ."'... +.
| Armand Reclus was born in 1S43. He en-
tered the navy in 1860 and was promoted tt
the rank of lieutenant in 1914 He was
made ordnance officer under NJ. Jauregui
berry and has been associated with Bona
parte Wyse in the Panama isthmus explora
tions. He is also the author of severa
technical works: He received the decora
ton of the Legion of Honor for his courage
/ In the Franco German war.