Daily camera., 1899-02-08
A SPIRIT OF MURDER
Seems 70 Constantly Hover Over TIE
City Of Paris.
The 1a0As Are Right for . As1s>1-
tis1s u the Bloody SesAss q
Aevelutfon Of 1Too
AAd 18Th

A~ Aos -
History seems about to repeat itss.s
in Paris. That unhappy city, baptized
so often with blood, is threatened again
with 7muEderous disturbance such as
those which have SO frequently black
ened its fair name. 1t il but thin
barrier that stands between Paris and
slaughter of the innocents. Uprisings
in which blood has flowed freely are
Of such recent occurrence cs to be with
in the memory of all, and the further
back one goes in the country's history
the worse are the deeds OF this highly
strung people. -
a The terrible days Of the revolution,
during which the whole country wa,
deluged with blood, were succeeded by
alull that was broken after the capture
of Paris by one, ,of those terrible muir
der waves that have given the Partisan
populace SO -unenviabie reputation.
On March. 1s. 1871, thedcity was in the
hands OF the red republicans, and nine
days later the. commune was declared
the only lawful government. Nothing
was safe from the wild mob after that.
The column erected to the memory OF
Napoleon and has army in one of the
principal squares sof Paris was pulled
down as af"monament of tyranny" A
SYSTEMATIC war was begun on all pub
lie buildings. petroleum being used to
ignite them and the flames being fed
with oil to make them burn the faster,
No one was allowed to ointerferes with
the progress Of the flames, and the loss
was incalculable, many priceless relics
being destroyed. SS- :z'H 's-
Murder stalked through the streetA
by day and night. Human-l life wa,
counted so cheap that the sight Of the
dead lying in the street excited scarce.
" any attention atsali. WhileitheS1nur.
derers were killing they were. them
selves being killed. for the government
troops under Marshal MacMahon fierce
Iy attacked the insurge and behinn
hastily thrown up barricadesEof paving
stones, wagons, household furniture
and anything that came handiest, the
strife ran red in the streets of Paris
Cannon shot were fired at the barri-
cades. volleys were fred up and down
the streets. the sight Of a man fleeing
for his life, pursued by amob Of demon
firing at the fugitiveelntil he fell riddle'l
with balls. was sight that could bt
seen almost every hour Of some OF the
days. So demoniaeal had become the
murderous mobs of Paris that women
were shot down in the streets, and the
fends who did this. not content with
killing. the living, would. empty their
guns again and again into the flaccid
corpse in sheer excess of passion and
wanton eagerness to kill.
The commune came to an end only
when $4,000 prisoners had been taken
aud Paris had been SO torn by strife
hat it seemed hopeless task to bring
order out of chaos Many Of the pris-
oners suffered death, while number
were transported. The commune wa
beaten down, but not killed entirely
during this terrible era. The spirit OF
the commune survives in Paris, and, as
the late riots prove, it needs only an
opportunity and leader to break oul
red-handed once more f.
The commune and the spirit Of the
commune are old and familiar phan.
IONS of Paris. The war that gave
america its freedom gave birth in
France to the hope that there was re-
lief to the people from the lash linda
which they had groaned for so long.
Contemporary kicked aside by the
mobiles, treated far worse than the
horses in the aristocratic stables, the
French peasants covered and shrunk
from their prosecutors. but nursed feel.
ings of revenge nevertheless.
The storm broke at last, and for once
at least the people had some cause to
kill. The tide of murder rose in every
part of the country. Blood was first
shed on July IL, 1888, in a fight be-
tween the people and the kings troops
that-left France satisfied with killing
The streets literally ran blood. The
guillotine, called into existence by the
necessity for some means of putting
an end to life that would be more ex
peditious than the comparatively slow
method of execution by the headman'x
AK, cut off heads as fast as their owners
necks could be barred and placed be
meath the fatal knife. King. queen.
family. mobiles. suspects, passed byto
the guillotine, until there was no more
aristocratic blood to be shed, and still
the people thirsted for more. Then
came the leaders who had condemned
others to death. In their turn they
were condemned and killed, and those
who saw them go to their death them
selves went to the beyond by way of
the guillotine at the command of newer
leaders of the murder mob.
The suddenness with which the
French nation plunges into vortex
OF blood is only equaled by the ease
with which the country is mopped up
and set to rights again after the reign
Of terror is over. Order succeeds chaos
with amazing celerityts 1t is a faculty
peculiar to the French. No other ma