Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-04-29
DEVILS ISLAND.
The Barren Rock on which Dreyfus Is
Spending His Exile.

The Barren Rock on which Dreyfus is
Spending His Exile.
am sure that when the north pole is
discovered and with it the proverbial
Scotsman he will be found to be accom-
panied by an Italian. Italians are the
most ubiquitous race in the world. Here
in Rome, for instance have found one
who was imprisoned for 10 years on
DEVILS island, where Dreyfus, innocent
or guilty, now languishes. a distin-
guished personality, "a years old, who
has fought all his life in Italy and
France for the liberty Of the people, is
General Paolo Tibaidi of Piacenza. His
family was originally Florentine, and
among his ancestors another Paolo IL
baldi. the we'll known painter, was a
master Of Michael Angelo. The general
Is still strong, we'll built man, with
flowing white beard.
When / called on him, he entered
with admirable quickness Of memory in
to the past, recalling all the details OF
his adventurous life. "Oh, DEVILS is
land, he exclaimed, with twinkle in
his eye, "is a devil Of a place TO live IN.
| was landed there on the bare rock,
without a tree, grass or other vegeta'
ton. Fortunately all the other conyicts
In the island had been condemned. like
myself, for political reasons. They greet
ed me with warm sympathy, and one OF
them shared with me his hut until
built my own. which was 2S feet by :
feet. with thatch for a roof and beaten
earth for floor. The furniture consist.
ed of camp bed without mattress, q
handful Of straw for q pillow and tive
big stones for chair aud writing desk.
Nv life was spent with j. others, each
taking his part of the hard work Of try
ing to cultivate the portions Of the IS
land that seemed the least sterile, catch
ing birds without firearms and fishing
from the shores. The government pro-
visions, sent daily from the adjacent
Royal island, consisted Of pound and
a half of the worst bread for each con-
Wet. q piece OF old meal or salt fat.
beans or rice, little oil and six cent?
liters of tafa, kind Of spirit. We took
turns as cook, and gained quite a rep.
utation for preparing I~lian dishes
which l had learned to make when
volunteer in the Italian war Of 1915
against Austria.
at is impossible to describe the sui.
ferings to which we were subjected by
our cruel keepers. According to their
caprice, we were chained and kept Ion
months on bread and water or beaten
almost to death with ropes, and Sc
obliged to remain in bed for weeks at q
time, suffering horribly Mazzini and
Campanella, the philosopher, had been,
although absent from France, condemn
ed with me to deportation for life on
the charge of having conspired against
the life of Napoleon III. In 1857 Ledru-
Rollin gave General Nino Bixio 81, 600
to organize an expedition to rescue me,
but several attempts Of the kind only
served to make my situation worse.
Contemporaneously, however, the press
and public opinion in France claimed
my liberation, which obtained at last,
arriving in time to fight for the French
republic and to have the sad privilege
of signing with Trochu the capitulation
of Paris to the Germans. "--Rome Cor.
Westminster Gazette.