Evening star., 1901-01-14
DAYS oE.< PARIS COMMUNE
RECALLED BY A WOMAN NOW LIVING
IN CALIFORNIA.
Awful scenes of That Carnival of
L.w'e".ns.. described by q.
Eye-Witness to Them.

Eye-Witnes. to Them.
From the San francisco Chronicle
"Oh. the barbarities and atrocities were
horrible! Even, after this long lapse of time
cannot bear to think of some of the
frightful things I saw during that fearful
period.''
Mrs. j. H Holt shuddered perceptibly
as she brought to mind the scenes she
passed through during the terrible days of
the Paris commune, thirty years ago. The
mild-mannered, sweet-faced lady sat In her
studio at 1881 Howard street, this city,
and told of the days and nights of agony
and terror. and she displayed the various
relics saved from those fearsome days she
seemed to live over again the siege, with Its
starvation, and the subsequent street bat
ties between the regulars and the com,
munists, with the bloody dramas enacted
by the War-craZed populace.
I'VE lived right in the midst OF the COM
mune during the worst period and saw SO
many terrible incidents that it Is impossible
to recall them ALL" she said. Some OF
them. however, cannot be effaced from
memory. The most terrible brutality that
l ever witnessed was the treatment accord
ed a woman of the commune by the regular
soldiers and the rabbe that accompanied
them after the communists were driven
back.
THE woman was accused of having
thrown burning coal oil on the soldiers
while they were attacking the barricadeS
just below the Place Vendome. She was
captured and dragged through the street
past my hotel, subjected to the most awful
1ndignities You could hardly conceive that
savages would be as brutal as were these
people who had that poor woman. She was
bound so that she could scarcely walk; her
hands were tied behind her back. and as
fast as she got on her feet she was again
haa on
was torn to rags, and finally. when she
was nearly dead from the beating and hor-
rible treatment. she was propped up against
the wall of a house on the opposite corner
from us and shot to death.
Many Women In the Mobs.
"a large proportion of the rabble which
followed In the wake of the soldiers was
composed of women. and l must say that
the atrocities perpetrated by the female
fierds We're many times worse than those
of the men. The victim of their spite was
almost torn limb from limb: her face was
scratched and streaming with blood. her
hair was torn from her head by handfnls;
she was cut with knives and beaten with
sticks until her whole body seemed to be
one mass of cuts, bruises and blood
This was but one incident of many that
were witnessed during that time, and to
recall them all would simply bring my mind
back to matters that are much better for
gotten. l was in Paris all through the long
and wearisOme siege, and was in a position
where could see and hear everything that
was going on. l know that the world has
always had an erroneous idea concerning
the communists, and | have seen many
stories written about the commune by peo-
pie who evidently knew nothing about 1t.
The communists have never received JUS
tice from history. and after the terrible af
fair was over and told some of my friends
in London what knew about those people.
they would not believe me. because they
h,1 hnn nrI IA rny,f str yie
Long before the war began with Ger
many the people of France We're crazy for
war. and after working hours were ovec
the streets were filed with working people
swarmlng about and crying. ON to Ber-
lin Everybody in Paris thought that all
they would have to do would be to get on
the cars and go, on to Berlin. They laughed
at the idea that Germany would defeat
them. I made one of my friends very in
dignant by saying th3t If they went to war
with Germany they would get worsted. He
thought it was an insult for me to think
OF such a thing" ia
The "Garde Mobile"
When the German troops surrounded
Paris the French soldiers were all away,
having gone out with the emperor, and
there was nobody left to. defend the walls
except the small tradesmen. These formed
the home guard, or, as it was called 'Garde
Mob,.e.' They were asked to defend the
| city and agreed to do it, providing they
should be assured that they would have
| republic instead of empire after it was
all over They We're given this assurance,
| and We're promised that they should have
| three years to pay their mercantile bills;
| they We're to have free rent. and were to
| receive 20 cents a day for themselves and
| 10 cents day for their families for pro-
| visions during the time they were on the
| walls.
| during that long siege they stayed there
| and many of them starved. Their wives car
| red food to them, and there was never a
| murmur over their hard lot. 1t was these
| same men who formed the commune which
| took charge of the city after the siege was
| over. They did. SO because every promise
made by the government was broken. and
| ,--ey We're determined to have republic
''Just before the siege began / went to
| Minister Washburne and told him l thought
l had better get away. ~ asked me if
afraid nervous, and l said l was
| not he then said that t.ie best thing for
me TO do was to remain where l was [
| took his word for it and remained. AS soon
| as the siege was established all meat was
| given out in ratlOns to the inhabitants. At
| nrst it was not hard, but it was not long
| until we began to feel that we were in
danger of starvation. Food became so
scarce that 1t was almost impossible to get
! anything to eat, and then we began to
| skirmish about for what We could.
Americans Gave Them Food.
"One day lady who was living in the
| same house with me went out with me to
see if We could get something to eat We
| walked for nearly half day, and all we
| could find was a few sparrows. 1t got so
| bad that finally l told the lady that / he
| lieved | knew where l could get something
| to eat. Mon Dieu, where? she said I told
| her to come with me, and we went to the
| cafe under the Grand Hotel. 1t was a
saloon, you know, and ladies did not go
there. OF course we spoke in English and
| when they heard us they jumped to their
feet and said: Come in and sit down. We
haven't heard American voice for so
long that 1t is like music to us We told
| them that we would talk to them IL they
would give something to eat, as we were
| starving, and they hunted around and
found US lot of things. canned goods and
potted meats, and then We told them that
| we would come again for more when these
| gave out. We went back four times
| I'VE began to have such queer feelings
about this time that We had to call in a
| doctor We were all in tremble all the
| time so that we could hardly stand We
could not sleep, and as night after night