, 1894-01-13

falls fiom the ceiling where the electric
light buns behind glass, there shot a sort Of
dull led CLEAN Just above the heads of the
Consei natives, and Immediately following
this, like the report of two or thee duelIing
pistols, the sound Of an explosion was heard.
Smoke instantly settled under the ceiling
along the upper gallery thick and white, and
through it l could see people rushing from
the places in II front Of me and heara ries from
that quarter and 81 ON the benches below. The
Deputies Of the Right and the Socialists of
that side were in commotion. There was a
lain of something hard upon my head, and
something struck the pillar in front of me.
1t was a nail. l saw M. Dupuy put his hand
to his head as if he had been hit. Deputies
we've now running from the centre 10 aid
stuE cd or wounded colleagues. The. Able
Lemire was standing up wiping the back of
his neck, which w&s bleeding, with q land
kerchief. He tottered, and was assisted by
M. d'Hulst and another colleague until, fainC-
ing, he was carried out. Half a dozen De-
puties, guarded on either side by friends,
with the blood running from their tacss, were
led out of the Chamber, dropping blood as
they went along. Meanwhile the smoke
seemed to settle in dust, and an indeacriba-
Bile odour filed the air. Even on the desks
on the far side Of the House a covering of
dust had fallen, and big horse shoe nails
'werelYing everywhere. 1t was a bomb. A
bomb had been thrown from the second or
upper gallery. Dynamite had invaded the
Chamber of Deputies. =.
In the real centre, and on the left, and even'
in most of the other galleries no one had.
moved. The physical sensation experienced
by almost everybody was that of being stun
ned, for although the report of the explosion
was slight. there had been a violent concus-
sion of the air, which not only shattered
some Of the deputies desks, but in one case
tore into bits a letter which q deputy was
writing, and dashed out the ink from my ink
stand, which was fixed in front Of mo. 'Nine~
tenths Of the deputies, though profoundly
moved, yet kept their places. Nj. Dupuy was
among the first to realize completely what
had aiken place. The few deputies who
were just under the gallery from which the
bomb WIS thrown had felt the full force of
the explosion and were rushing madly from
the House, but M. Dupuy recalled them by
his bell and loud cries Of "Silenoe, gentle
men" Stretching out his arm he said, Cen
tlemen, the sitting continues This admi-
rabie GOODNESS was greeted with 8 burst Of
applause. at would not be" be said ''to he
dignity of France nor Of tLeRepublic that such
attempts, whencesoever they may come, of the
cause Of which, moreover, we are ignorant,
should De able 10 disturb your u6ItD5ralt7u5'
at the close of the sitting the Bureau will hold
a meeting and take in AL calmness the neces-
sary measures. Tho next speaker ia M. de
Montfott." The effect Of these words was
like those Of a general on a battlefield to
his soldiers before a charge. Cheers went
up from every quarter of the House, and NJ.
de Montfort, rising to the tribune, said. 'One
of my daughters was in one of the galleries
near where the explosion took place. I,
however, wish to do my duty In contesting,
as | have announced, the conclusions of the
report on NJ. Mirman. We here, more than
others, should do our duty, and especially do
our duty as soldiers"
"But in coming to the Chamber we come
also, it seems to me, under fire." DRIED VI.
Rivet. The remark is worth preserving,
because its readiness was SO Enthusiastically
French. At all events, it was worth a score
of serious arguments in M. MIrman's favour,
and when the Chamber came to vote it gave
the probationary deputy 326 votes to l23
against him.
During the vote the Deputies were to be
seen examining The damage that had been
done all around them. M. Gasilnir-Perier
still sat with his arms folded and his face
very pale. Something was expecteo OF b.
and he responded worthpy tc the feelings u
the moment
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