The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-25
On the Island
of Miquelon

whimper, conscious, no doubt, OF the good
times ahead, while another more unhappy
animal who had to be left behind was
Wild with envy and disappointment and
nearly leaped into the sea in his efforts
to join his more fortunate companions. The
tails OF domestic animals seem to be more
useful here than elsewhere. / saw a boy
the other day leading a file of steers who
were attached together. the horns of
TO the tail OF the steer just in front of him.
The procession moved along very well until
some of the rear animals became fractions,
whereupon the poor beasts in front had
hard time Of it, being urged forward by
their driver and pulled hack with even
greater energy by the steers behind.
The Governor of the colony is now spend
ing his time at Longlade, where he has
shabby-looking country house. There is
hunting and fishing here and very little to
do at st. Pierre, so he amuses himself as
best he can on the moor and in the forests.
l asked him how many years the governors
usually remained, and my informant told
me / ought to ask how many months, that
they always get away as soon as they could,
and this, too, in spite of the fact that the
salary Is thirty thousand francs.
AT the end of four hours we arrive at
Miquelon, the fishing village near the north
end of the island. 1t is situated in low,
barren isthmus scarcely higher than the
beach and with the ocean ON both sides.
1 am directed to the house of Mr.. Gasp
ard, low one-storied fisherman's cottage,
where the good man in his shirt sleeves
and with a face radiant with smiles, walks
back and forth In the little room and tells
me OF the dreadful season they have had,
losing everything and now close to the
verge OF starvation, while his wife pre-
pares the dinner, an excellent meal of four
courses besides the coffee and liquors of
two kinds-a better meal than 1 could ge.
In my hotel in Chicago and for which the
good woman knows how to charge quite as
high a price. There is a small child in
the house who is just learning to talk, a
bright, pretty little creature who, when
you ask her name. answers, "Antionette
Gaspard, ana / weigh twenty-five pounds"
or If you ask her age, 1.-TWO years, and I
weigh twenty-five pounds" or where she
lives, "At Miquelon, and 1 weigh twenty
five pounds" She is very little like Cato
and Miquelon does not at all resemble
Rome, but 1 cannot help thinking of the
great censor who closed ali his speeches.
no matter what the subject, with the obser-
walton, 1T is my opinion, senators, that
Carthage should be destroyed"
L am also presented to rubicund sep
tuagenarian who seems to be the patriarch
of this little community. He, too. has had
his losses, two thousand francs this year,
he says. and yet DR.. Panggloss himself
could not be more secure in the belief that
all is for the best in this best of all pos
g. nd \
to die gay" 'Il faut rire avant de mourir!"
What wonderfully good doctor they had
at Miquelon! The doctor had advised him
to take glass of absinthe before each
meal, prescription which suited his taste
exactly And what a wonderful priesti
No such priest could be found anywhere
else in the world And then for himself
and his own family he had ten children five
sons and five daughters-just the right
number and divided just as they ought to
be! Then he showed me his house, a long.
low. rambling structure-far better, he said,
than that twO-storied house near by, for
when the winter and the big storms came
the man in the two-story house had to
flee from 1t and take shelter with him;
that big house was likely to fall any time
and kill everybody. Then he invited me
inside and a large installment of his sons
and daughters looked at me as If / were
a meRagerie. He gave some directions to
one Of the girls and she proceeded to roll
up the oilcloth on the parlor floor. pull up
trapdoor and descend into the darkness,
returning with a bottle of quinquinia, of
which 1 had to take a glass-a curious
mixture which the old man insisted was
the best bitters that had ever been COM
pounded by human ingenuity! Then he
took walk with me and showed me the
lobster pots, such Holsters as never were,
and the clans and the mussels until be-