Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-09-20

The announcement published in the
French journals that the state was
about to sell the isle of st. Marguerite
aroused host of strange memories.
says a writer in Rome. On Thursday
last the sale was effected at the prefee-
ture of Nice, and the historic isle was
sold to NJ. Hebert, mayor of Cannes, for
the trifing sum of $4,000 francs, OF
$12, 400, which he paid on behalf of the
city of which he is the municipal repre-
sentative.
The rocky islet of st. Marguerite is
one of the Lerins islands, so celebrated
in the history of early Christianity in
western Europe. 1t stands out in the
azure sea over against the beautiful
city of Cannes, one of the brightest
jewels of the Riviera. st. Marguerite
is narrow rock, bit small as it is, be-
ing only two French leagues in circum-
ference, it has vast renowp. On one
of its rugged sides, scarcely distin-
guishable from the rock, rise the steep,
strong walls of the prison which rem
ders this island celebrated in history,
romance and melodrama.
The narrow sea which separates this
island from it's neighbor, st. Honorat,
is of the loveliest cOlors; auuamarine
is united with emerald. and dash OF
seen here and there, and beneath this
enhancing sea there is visible the
plants and shrubs of the deep far down
below. Within the island is the inccn-
parable pine wood, covering it with a
roof of verdure. Since the uuasi-de-
struction of the celebrated Pineta of
Ravenna, sung of by Dante and by
Byron, there is nothing to compare
with this of the Isle of st. Marguerite
A blush light, pleasant to the eye, per-
meates the umbrella-like tops of these
trees, and carpet of moss and pine
needles bushes the sound of the passing
footsteps. Solitude and silence are the
qualities that men desire mere; yet the
solitude is interrupted occasionally and
the silence broken in upon by the shrill
whistle of the train speeding along the
coast to Italy.
ST. Marguerite, unlike it's neighbor
st. Honorat, is overrun with serpents
and has no water, cisterns that gather
the rain water supplying the place of
springs.
A Mysterious Prisoner.
These are not the qualities that rem
der st. Marguerite renowned far be-
yond the shores of France. On one
side of it's rocky coast rises the state
prison, built as a fertilization by Vau-
ban. That was the prison of tie mys-
tedious parsonage known to the world
as THE Man in the Iron Mask" The
mystery that surrounds that state prls-
oner makes ST. Marguerite interesting
to those who love to penetrate into the
concealments of history.
The story of the arrival at st. Mar
guerite of THE Man in the Iron Mask
begins like a romance. In the spring
of 1857 this island, with its castle,
awoke to a state of unusual excite
ment. Workmen moved to and fro,
boats laden with stones and beams lay
at the little quay and tubs of mortar
stood in the court beneath the ftagstaf.
for. it is said, new chapel was being
prepared and the governors house was
to be raised another story. A new
governor was coming and prisoner OF
rare Importance was to be placed under
his charge.
His Jailer.
Benigne d'Auvergne, Count de Saint
Mars, was named governor of st. Mar
guerite. Late in April he started for
this new post He brought with him
his wife, his family, his baggage, his
servant Flu and masked prisoner, v
whom, says enc authority, eight Pied
rnontese carried every league of the
way in a covered chair, over which was
fitted q frame covered with oilcloth.' -
No one saw that prisoners
face; no one heard the sound
of his voice. A boat was wait
ing at the landing-place; the gov
ernor and the masked man were borne
over to the island prison, and TO this
was consigned the individual who was
known to the authorities as the pris-
oner of Provence and to the world at
large for over two hundred years as
ssThe Man in the Iron Mask"
The "Iron Mask"
One writer relates that the mask was
not of iron, but of black velvet, and
that a spacious cell was given him,
though the governor, Saint Mars,
boasted that there was nothing to CON-
pare to the thick walls of this prison in
all Europe nor to its triple iron grating
and corridor where the prisoner might
take exercise without being seen. A
few prisoners were already here. In
significant Huguenot pastors, who sang
HYMNS to the sea waves and who, says
a svmpathizing authoress, were beat
en- for doing So" No human being re-
ported the jailer, had set eyes on the
masked prisoner during the journey
"All along the route lowing to the way
in which / concealed him) people dlu
seek to know who my prisoner might
be. They all declare here that ne is
either NJ. de Beaumont or a son OF
Croro u-nil -