Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1902-07-04
JOSEPHINE IN MARTINIQUE.
An Account of the Great Hurricane o
1864


always been subjected to the widest
commissions of nature. The first
white invaders were told by the ma.
tive Caribs of the fierce wind storms
which swept the island at unexpected
times and the French planters soon
learned that a case-a-vent, or hurri
cane house, was an indispensable ad
1unct of every plantation. These
were not unlike the Cyclone cellars
of the Western plains, though they
were usually built into or under the
side of hill, with walls of stone sew.
eral feet in thickness. The door was
of thick plank. there were no windows
and the air within, if the storm was
of long duration, became most oppres
sive.
The great hurricane which destroy
ed the property of the father of the
future Empress of the French occur.
red on the 18th of August, 1866, some
seven weeks after Josephine's third
birthday. Young as she was at the
time it made an indelible impression
Oii Altl hllhhB anu hllGl ShC W 40 LII
press she used to thrill her ladies-in
waiting by vivid descriptions. of that
day of terrors. She had been snatched
from her morning bath by her father
who had only time to wrap her in a
large both towel, and the full fury
of the storm burst upon them as M
Tascher and his baby daughter pass
ed through the door of the caSe-a-vent
where Madame Tascher and the terri
Ned household slaves had already
sought refuge.
Scarcely had the massive door beer
closed and bolted than the hurricane
was upon them in all it's fury. The
tall palms writhed and bent beneath
its blows; mango and calabush, or
ange and guave trees were quickly
stripped of their limbs or forcibly up
rooted; roof-tiles from the mansion
boards from the negro quarters and
branches torn from trees were hurled
through the air. The door of the case
a-vent groaned on it's huge hinges, and
strained at the iron bars stretched
across it. The air within the cave
became hot to suffocation; means and
cries from the terrified negroes; but
little Josephine uttered not a word
Close clasping her arms around heI
fathers neck, and clinging also to heI
mothers hand, she lay quiet and calm
The hours passed slowly; but finally
the door ceased to strain at its fasten
ings, and M. Tascher commanded the
huge negro who had charge of it tC
open it little way. Carefully and
slowly the bolts were drawn and day
light admitted. All was quiet without
The darkness that had accompanied
the storm, caused by the dence clouds
and sheets of rain, had been dispelled
by the sun. which was now shining
brightly. The wind had died away to
a moan; exhausted nature lay pros
trate, torn and bleeding. Hardly q
tree was left standing; huge celbas
cedars and sapote trees had been up
rooted and cast to the ground. But
the most mournful spectacle was the
palm avenue, for in place of the
columnar trunks, with their waving
plumes, was a ragged row of shat
tered stumps. The huts of the
negroes, which had been grouped
about the sugar mill, were entirely
destroyed, and soon a hundred despair
ing beings were cropping in their ruins
But the browning desolation of all was
the total destruction of the TascheI
mansion.
Only the great sugar house remain
ed standing of all the buildings per
tanning to the estate. To this struc
ture the new homeless family direct
ed their steps. It's walls were of stone
some two feet in thickness, its raft
ers heavy and covered with eartheL
tiles, the doorways were broad, with
granite lintels. Above the ground
floor where the machinery was placed
were two large chambers. The beams
supporting the floor were sound an6
strong. and the floor itself intact, and
there the family took up their abode
NJ. Tascher de La Pagerie never re
built the great house, and thus fate, OIL
fortune, willed that Josephine should
know no other place of residence While
she lived in TroisDets, unless visit
ing at the house of a friend, or al
school. But she was to live to know
still stranger places of abode the
grim Carmelits prison, the stately pal
ace of the Tulleries and cheerful Nal
maison, in whose gardens she cherish
ed the plants of her native isle.