Washington sentinel., 1899-03-18
The Most Tragic Winter OF Modern
Times.

On September I, 1870, at the
battle Of Sedan, eighty thousand
Frenchmen surrendered to the
Germans. Amongst them was
Napoleon III. himself The Ger
man victory marked the downfall
ot the second Empire. On sep
tember 4 the third Republic was
proclaimed wi:h Gambetta at ITS
head, and Trochu as its military
chief. Many ofthe German leaders
would have ended the war at this
juncture, but the desire to compel
frances humiliation was too
strong. The German army con.
tinued its advance towards the
capital, and on September 70 the
siege OF Paris commenced.
Through the dying year and be-
yond into the new, the siege con-
tinued, until, within the great ring
Of the Prussian outposts, there
hovered about the city the gaunt
shadow OF starvation. Butchers
meat grew scare, then scarcer,
then failed. Horse flesh became
a not uncommon food, then a
necessity, then a luxury, then
even an impossibility, Curiously
enough, almost throughout the
siege, the restaurants were able to
serve meals with all manner oil
choice delicacies. 1t was notwell,
perhaps, TO be too inquisitiVe. 1t
did not tend to promote an appe-
tite to persist too closely in inquir-
les as to the basis of any delicate
eRtyee that was served up. 1t was
food, it was palatable, and more
than this the hungry individuals
had no right to expect. Bread was
the difficulty, and the restaurant
keepers we're obliged to put up
notices, asking their customers to
bring their own bread. as they
themselves were unable to supply
1t. By January eatables were at
famine prices. A hare. we learn,
cost $40; a lark lin all probability
the dainty bird was a sparrow IN
disguise) sold for 50 cents each;
an apple stood at the same high
figure; whilst a fresh egg brought
as much Bread and butter be-
came an almost impossible luxury,
for, apart from the scarcity Of
bread, butter cost $3.50 pound.
One restaurant keeper invested a
considerable amount OF capital on
an elephant. The trunk was con-
sdered the It'd bit, and when we
learn that small pieces Of about the
size of a mans hand fetched 50
each, we would imagine that the
speculator reaped a substantial
gain. AS a matter Of fact, how
ever, we learn that he lost consid-
erably over the transa ction. 1t is
not often that one is called upon
to decide the edible merits of cats
and dogs; but, during the siege,
those who were able TO afford such
luxuries were able to form very
decided opinions upon the subject.
The hind leg OF a dog, Properly
cooked and served with red cur
rant jelly, proved to be almost
indistinguishable from hare.
Apart from this, the flesh of cat
was held by connoisseurs to be
distinctly whittier, more tender and
more succllent than thot OF "a dog.
Whilst the richer folks could in
dulge themselves in food, amongst
the poor there prevailed the most
terrible misery. Outside the
bakers and butchers shops there
ranged long strings of women,
waiting and waiting hour by hour,
throughout the wintrY day, in the
hope Of obtaining small scraps Of
food. In these long waits. many
tell through sheer exhaustion, in
some cases dying or even dead.
The city was, OF course, to all
intents and purposes isolated from
the rest ol the world. The sole
means of exit was by balloon, and
t was in this manner that Gam
BETA managed to reach the outly.
ing provinces and eventually to
establish himself at Bordeaux.
News was brought into the beleag-
uered city by the use of carrier
pigeons. One method by which
people were enabled to communi-
cate with in ilviduals inside the
French capital was by means Of
minute photographs Of the front
page OF the Times. containing as
much as FIVE columns OF French
advertisements. Copies were sent
to Gambetta, who transmitted them
by letter to Bordeaux. When re-
ceived in Paris, the pigeons letter
was magn6ed by the aid Of a
magic lantern to an enormous size,
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