New-York tribune., 1903-02-06
THE BRITTANY FAMINE.
Caused by Failure of Sa,dine Fishery
Distressing Scenes.
Paris. January 90.

ner of Franco. which IN the tWenuelh century
eth retains the ignorance. bgotry. backward
ness but withal simple perseverance and dogged
courage OF the Middle Ages is in the throes Of
a famine resembling these which occurred pc
riodlcally in the same region in the days OF
Anne de Bretagne or of the Crusades. The
primary cause OF the disaster is the failure OF
fhe sardine fishery which has brought over
hundred thousand Brttons TO the verge of star
xatton The privaton is intensified by the
rieagre crops of potatoes, wheat and buckwhea''
owing to the religious disturbances last summer
when the peasantry, instead Of sowing the WIN
ter crops. were up in arms with pitehforks ana
rusty frelocks. absorbed by the quixouc task
Of nrotecting the Sisters of Mercy from expul-
sion ,nder the Law CT The associations, voted by
the Chamber of Deputies.
The leading Partisan newspapers have opened
s,tscrirtions lhat Of the "Gaulols' haVlhg
tn three days raised 10000, the Figaro" SIo'-
600 and the temps $4,000, and these amounts
promise TO be soon tripled or quadrupied- scores
Of special correspondents have been dispatched
10 the suffering province and veritable search
light has thus been cast upon the peasantry,
and a picture is presented so vastly different
from anything existing in the United States
that a summary of the social condition of the
benighted and unfortunate population Of Brit
ta1v is Of humanitarian interest.
II IS erst of all TO be noted that ignorance is
sc general in Brittany that, NJ. Combes
,,osnted out fn the Chamber OF Deputies, il is
twenty years since obligatory instruction was
decreei for Brittany as well for the rest of
Franc, and yet the great mass of Breton chill
dren .re ignorant Of the French language They
o-,.,-se sn their medieval dialect and can
a,,ter read nor write. In 10 communes In
,ta diocese of Quinper there is not single
cb5d who understands French. The oulh oI
ia. nop,lation exists in the same prlTnltVe way
=, IN the dark ages. Peasant AND nsler loih
tie in mud huts. Families are huddlea toseIhei
light and day in one common room Win ear
Ioor and under sanitary conditions that ihIsh'
well produce epidemics of pest or FEVER ihe
loa+hson,e u1alady known the itch" prevails
everywhere. and may indeed be easily causht
f-v the uayfarer in rural thatched roof INNS
,,-bare t,a most elementary cleanliness, com
forts and sanitary requirements are wanting
The 4-np7;st, traveller Arthur Young, who IN
,he autumn Of 1TSS rode through Brittany On
horseback came to the town or Conoours'
where Chateaubriand spent part Of his chlIo-
hood. and made the following entry in his diary;
The country has savage aspect huspaiofS
not much further advanced, at least III SKILL
than among the HuronS, which appears IN
credible amid enclosures; the people almost as
wild as their country, and the town OF Coin-
tou-r one Of the most brutal, filthy places that
.sr he seen. mud houses. windows. This
descrintion holds good to-day, and the accounts
r-tvera l,v the Partisan correspondents OF the
.eAIatin.~ the Figaro and the "Gaulois OF the
Breton villages which are little else than Mucous
,7eaps Of wretehedness. indicate that the IN
l,slitsutg are in as backward state as are
those of the remotest districts OF turkey OF
Russia.
A renoTter of the ''Francais' visited Pen
,,,arch. one OF the most important fishing ports
EVRix hundred fisher
,.o -here Twenty sa-dine factories are situ-
..5 s- +,,e rleSgbborflocS, and In ordinary times
,,-oziaa work for a thousand women and girls
,c,o wash the fish, prepare it for preservation
and boil If ia oil The head fisherman synolc
de Ia peche" explained that in average years
@ fisherman earned from S120 to $40. but this
year those who earn $40 consider themselves
lucky. Girls engaged II preparing and boiling
sarafnex in oil usually ern $50 year, but now
they earn scarcely anything
..r4ow about The factGies?
WELL repljed the syndic, IAN establishment
.. Ct C,uenole that has hitherto turned out
eieh+ hundred chests. holding hundred boxes
~ sardipes each. haJ this year delivered only
$50 chests
What, according your estimate is the to'al
loss for Penmarch Lone!'
WHY al least 100000: it is simply ruinous"
The renorter walked along the shore near the
i,orts Of St Guh1oie ana hefl1y- IIouPS VI
fishermen stood shivering in the cold' mourn
fully regarding the sea. They were silent and
e1oorov and di not have the heart to return
home 10 their outs, where their wives and chill
dre, were clanoring for bread. Some Of them
,r-sr7a,ed . l,clt seeking crabs, cockleshells and
eaevread Uhih they brought home 10 feed their
families wit. In some instances these people
have lived or days nothing but seaWeed
,ero-+er entered the hut of a fisherman
named Ia4icol. He forty-eight years old
md had esht children. His wife and her brood
Of frfar+s1yere collected in the two rooms Of the
hut Tn, mother, with q wistful-eyed baby in
her Ian sat before a large hearth, on which
yliy,7r7erd a fire If dried seaweed, mud and
STRAW The eldest daughter sat on the floor,
ln;ttin stockings work that she must lay
aside ae next day, because there was no more
v.o-s,i yarn Larnicol strong, thickset man.
stood leaning against family bedstead with
felde arms
..,e have had no food since yesterday" said
he Il went out this morning and waded
srond the rocks hoping TO find some mussels
or heIIfsh. but came back empty handed We
ar going to pat the children TO bed, that they
~ not suffer so much from hunger
Ter paces distant the reporter entered an
her hat. where the distress was very much
ne same Floch. the name of the fisherman,
,-as father of eight children. His mother was
wing in a litter, where she had been bedridden
frr 4o7,r wears The day before they had some
,,etsta SOUP but that day they had no fire, po-
tatoes or bread. The hut Of Guillaume Garrec
WAS next visited. He was forty years old, and
his family of seven were squatted ABOUT the
g. ,+ tfa single room OF the hut before fire
made Of seaweed and wet straw, that gave out
smoke ra4er than heat. In corner of the room
hpfnr an mn