Evening star., 1898-07-13
French Sailors ON the Bourgo$u

To the Editor Of The Evening Star: =
One word on, the subject of the = our
gegne incident, I'M not little sun SIised
to find that. IN spite of the facts b Ausht
out in New York city by sworn depoS lions
before a duly authorized court OF Inquiry,
there is still a tendency among a 2rtaln
writers to maintain assertions on tNe al
legged brutality of French sailors. S'hch
all these eacts concur in stampiis-s as
| totally UNIV arranted and unjustifiabe; We
must rot wiIlfully close our eyes ttt that
which would appea! to every fa1r-nGnded
man. If we are TO place confidence 4 re-
ports Of any kind certainly sworn Gt,posi-
tions are entitled to some respect. ''Fhat
do these show,
ta) That not only the French ..cers,
hut the French crew as well, es'inc'>; de-
cided GOODNESS and courage, and ths, 50
far from hamperins the passengers any
way. they spared no effort to save tt Sse in
spite Of the latters frantic madnds,
madness which, on the other hand$ now
proves to have been the real obstruction to
the sailors maneuvers for the salvats son OF
all.
{b) That the .tnen who were guilty u the
brutal acts sosjustIy condemned werA not
French, but Austrian sailors. who swhen
stocked in safety On the Cromartysflires S
deck. refused to leitd aid to their French
reighbors. m
tc) That the Oily known case iof a
French sailor laying hands on a passenger
on that dreadfs4 night was that of mem
Der of the crew. who, realizing that the
final settling of the vessel was then al mat
ter of seconds forgot himself in his con-
Germ for the safety, ,pf others, and with all
the noble impulse OF and genuine inspired
heroism seized Bfother Romaine, who
stood rear by.fand tossed him far out be-
yond the reafh of the terrible suction
which was to 5anguf all within the radius
of its power.
1t has been asked why the truth wes not
elected before 'the British court of Halifax,
why the French sailors We're sent away
SO hurriedly and au possibility of AN in
teldSent investigation preVented?" Let me
ask in turn why British court should
have sat on the case when all the accused
were French when the scene of the al
legged atrocities was French steamer. AMI
when it was possible to reach French
admiralty court with so little delay? As
to the second query, the thorough and
searching Investigation made by the above
mentioned court in New York is sufficient
refutation of a taunt which is as unjusti-
fed as 1t is unworthy of a man of good
faith.
1t Is sought to make material out of the
steamer Delaware accident to prove the
alleged inferiority of the French race 20
| other races. l heartily join in all praise to
| the brave officers and crew who manned.
without loss of life. vessel on fire. But
! 10 claim that this is a case at all parallel
with the Rourgogue occurrence is indeed
somewhat forced. The Bourgo;,ne was
sixty miles from the nearest land. was
overrun with no less than 800 souls, and
sank within half an hour of the collision
| the Delaware was two miles from iani
| had but sixty-oue persons on board, in
| cluding the crew, and burned so gradually
! that, though the flames had been discover
| ed at 10 O'Clock at night passengers were
| able to remain aboerd until rescued in the
morning. That these two happenings IAN
| in no way be compared seems as plain as
| the most rudimsntary arithmetical axiom.
| l shall only add ibis: That If you wish
! to know the difference between French and
| English Ideas of chvalry under such try
| ing circumstances, compare the conduct
| of the Cromartyshire in mediately run
| ming off from the scene of the disaster
| (the usual thing with Englishmen). and
| returning for a shCrt while. but half an
| hour later, when IT was all over for the
| majority of the Bourgogne passengers,
with the behavior OF the same Bourgogne
some years since when she co!lided with
another vessel and laid by all night, never
| leaving the spot until the other had started
safely again on its journey.
JEAN f. P. DES GARENNES.
July 12 1898.