The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1899-02-16

DREYFUs ISLAM HollR
The GreatTragedy That was Enacted
= Its Neish borhoo(ks hat Cost
i .ssssA ABOUT 1000 Ewes. s-ssssssI
The island on which Dreyfus is i'm
within sight Of the South
American coast and ~ miles from
Cayenne, French Guiana, is known as
DEVILS island Gle du Diablel, while the
three islands in the little group are
known together as Salvation islands
Giles de Salut). The contrast between
these names is certainly striking, and
the way in which they became applied
to these little rocks is interesting, and
calls to mind one of the greatest TRACE
dies in colonization thatever occurred.
The islands have considerable YER
dure, but in the early days of French
Guiana they had reputation for ster-
ility which they did not deserve, and
on this account no use was made OF
them. They were named Hes du Diable,
and were thought to be Of no value un-
til thousands of wretched immigrants
from France who We're sperishing
among the pestilential sWamps on the,
Kourou river fled to them in the hope
that they might escape death.
g~ It was in 1863 that about $4,000 per-
sons from Alsace, Lorraine and Saint
onge were landed on the. banks of the
Kourou. France was smarting under
the humiliation of having been COM
PEELED to cede Canada to England, and
the bright idea occurred to some of
her public men to replace the lost ter
ritory by clubbing Guiana Equatorial
France" and sending thither fleet after
fleet of colonists. A more cruelty mis-
managed enterprise was never known.
The men who aroused in France en-
thusiasm for emigration knew nothing
whatever of the country to which they.
invited the poor victims. They recalled
that in Canada the French had greatly
enjoyed the sport of skating, and ac-
cordingly a large supply Of skatesswas
sent with the colonists to tropical
America. It was thought, also, that in
their leisure hours they would require
amusement, and so company of actors
was sent on one of the ships to build a
theater in Equatorial France. Those
who provided these means of diversion,
however, forgot to send sufficient food
supplies, and no arrangements were
made for landing and housing the set
tiers. The Chevalier de Turgot, who
was appointed leader of the expedition,
took care to remain in France.
The unhappy victims of this blunder
began to perish by thousands; and they
thought that if they could only get
away from the plague spot where they
had landed they might have chance
to live. They were told that the three
islands which they saw off shore were
the Hes du Diable, and that they were
worth nothing for. human uses. AT
least" cried the poor unfortunates in
their desperation, "they are swept by
ocean breezes. There is no poison in
the air among those islands. We will
call them the lies du Salut,. for we
may hope that they will save us from
utter extinction"
This is how it happened that the
three islands came to be known - -
Salvation islands and the name has
chung to them ever since. AS a group
they are known by no other name. The
immigrants gathered up what was left
of the supply of provisions and $500
men, women and children, all that were
left OF. the u 900 who had landed on thu
neighboring coast, crowded upon thu
narrow, rocky area which could com
fortably hold only about 400 persons
They landed on the islands withou1
shelter or clothing, and being exposed
to bad weather and having only thu
scantiest supply of food their suffer
ing was great and most of them dice
on the rocks which they had hopet
would help to save their lives. A few
hundred of them at last succeeded il
getting back to the French port from
which they had sailed. ?.
The Salvation islands were not occu
pied again until 1852, when the trans
port of convicts to Guiana began. Sain
Joseph and the lie Royal now form
the convict station proper. On Eng
lish maps the three islands are callet
the Salut islands, and the name lie d.
Diable, originally extended over tn
group, now, applies only to the islan'
on which Dreyfus is a prisoner, AM
which is occupied only by him and hi
guards.
The islands are of about the sam
area. They form the apexes of tri
angle, and between them are deep chan
nels where large vessels may ride a
anchor or lie moored to the shore. The,
have little wood or water, but rain i
stored in cisterns. The shores are rocky
and here and there jut out into promon
tories and cliffs. From Devils islam
Dreyfus may plainly see the other tw
islands and the mainland, only seve1
miles away.-N. Y. Sun.
| Old Taverns in Boston. :.
The very Oldest building now stand
ing in Boston which did duty as tay
ern in the remote history of the city
the familiar old structure which still
bears the figures on its easterly side
1890, and makes the southeasterly col
ner of Faneuil Hall square, now occu
Mod hu feh, 1oo1ar hit xu1,ioh fl