The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-05-14

ness. The door was of thick plank,
there were no windows, and the air
within If the storm was of long dura-
ton, became most oppressive.
The great hurricane which destroyed
the property of the father of the flu
ture Empress of the French occurred
on the 18th of August, 1866, some sew
en- weeks after Josephines third birth
day. Young as she was at the time,
it made an indelible impression on hef
mind, and after she was Empress she
used to thrill her ladies-in- waiting by
vivid descriptions of that day, of ter
rors. She had been snatched from her
morning bath by her father who had
only time TO wrap her in large bath
towel, and the tull fury of the storm
burst upon them as NJ. Tascher and
his baby daughter passed through the
door of the case-avent where Madame
Tascher and the terrified household
slaves had already sought refuge.
Scarcely had the massive door been
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 guaVa 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 be-
came hot to suffcation; means and
cries arose from the terrified negroes;
but little Josephine uttered not a word.
Close clasping her arms around her
fathers neck, and clinging also to her
mothers hand, she lay quiet and calm.
The hours passed slowly; but finally
the door ceased to strain at its fasten-
ings. and NJ. Tascher commanded the
huge negro who had charge of it to
open it little way. Carefully and
slowly the bolts were drawn and day
light admitted. All was quiet with
out. The darkness that had accom-
panied the storm, caused by the dense
clouds and sheets of rain had been dis
PEELED by the sun, which was now shin
Ing brightly. The wind had died away
to moan; exhausted nature lay pros
trate, torn and bleeding Hardly a
tree was left standing; huge ceibas and
sapote trees had been uprooted and cast
TO the ground. But the most mourn
full spectacle was the palm avenue, for
IN place of the columnar trunks, with
their waving plumes, was a ragged
row of shattered stumps. The huts of
the negroes, which had been grouped
ABOUT the sugar mill, were entirely de-
slFOEeu. ana soon a hundred despair
ing beings were cropping in their ruins
But the browning desolation Of all was
the total destruction of the Taseher
mansion.
Only the great sugar house remained
standing of all the buildings pertaining
TO the estate. To this structure the
now homeless family directed their
steps. Its walls were of stone some
two feet in thickness its rafters heavy
and covered with earthen tiles. the
doorways were broad, with granite lin
tells. Above the ground floor, where
the machinery was placed, were two
large chambers. The beams support
ing the floor were sound and strong,
and the floor itself intact, and there the
family took up their abode. M. Tas-
cher de La Pagerie never rebuilt the
great house, and thus fate, or fortune,
willed that Josephine should know no
other place of residence while she lived
in Trolls Ilets, unless visiting at the
house of friend, or at school. But
she was to live to know still stranger
places of abode: the grim Carmelite
prison, the stately palace Of the T1lil-
cries and cheerful Malmaison, in whose
gardens she cherished the plants of her
native isle.