The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1917-06-21

West India island of Marti-
nique, where Theodore de
BODY was engaged in making
an archaeological reconnaissance In
the interest of the Museum of the
American Indian (Heye foundation) Of
New York city, he was enabled, thanks
to the kindness of Mr.. Simon Hayot,
a resident of this island, to visit the
birthplace of Josephine Tascher de la
Pagerie, who subsequently became the
wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and en-
press of France.
The great events in the life of the
unfortunate empress are too well
known to students and historians to
need recital in this short paper, says
Mr.. De BODY In the French edition of
the Bulletin of the Pan-American
Union. The writer thinks it may be
of interest to Am~ericanists, however,
to have some record of Josephine's
birthplace. Due to the various politi-
cal changes that took place in France
after the fall Of the first empire and
to the republican form of government
which was subsequently adopted, no
efforts were made to preserve the
buildings in which Josephine spent her
childhood. At the time of writing a
movement has been started by the gov
of Martinique, NJ. Camille Guy,
an historian of note, to preserve what
ruins still remain of La Pagerie and to
erect within the walls of what once
was the plantation residence q fitting
monument to the empress.
Famed for Its Hospitality.
The property of La Pagerie, ances-
trail home OF Josephine, Tascher, Sec
ond daughter of Messire J. G. Tascher
de la Pagerie, lies some two miles west
of the small village of Trois Islets, on
the southwest coast of the island of
Martinique. No record can be found
as to how long this La Pagerie prop
erty had been In possession of the
Tascher family. That it was famed for
hospitality, ever in the days when ere
ole hospitality in the West Indies was
at its zenith, is a cherished tradition
among the inhabitants of Martinique.
Sugarcane vas extensively cultivated
at La Pagerie, and there can be no
doubt at, with a large number of
slave With the high price that
sugs .dnded in those DAYS, Mon
sieur ---,.ner was a weIl-to-do planter.
There still remains ON the plantation
the ruin of the old sugar house, where
the cane was ground by the windmill
process and the juice boiled in the open
copper kettles.
Local traditions have 1t that .Jo-
sephine was born in the old sugar
house, instead of In the plantation res
idence. 1t seems that the island Of
Martinique was visited by one of the
typical, alldestructive hurricanes
which are such a common occurrence
In this region; the family, anxious for
its safety, took refuge in the more sub
%stantially constructed factory, and it
was here that Madame Tascher's sec
ond child was born on the oath of June,
176S.
Not Much Of Residence Left.
But little remains of the Tascher res
idence. Successive hurricanes sue
,eeded but too well In effacing the hand
work of man, and one can now find
but the low, t~hree-foot-high walls of
the residence proper. These walls are
so overgrown with tropical vegetation
that 1t Is well-nigh impossible to pho
tograph them. 1t Is the plan of the
commission headed by Monsieur Guy,
! the governor OF the island, to remove
this vegetation and the debris inside
the walls. and to erect therein the mon
ument to Josephine.
Strange to say, the b~est-preserved
ruins on the La Pagerie estate consist
OF the kitchen walls. What higher trib-
ute a the writer pay TO the delights
of the far-famed Martinique cuisine
than to say that he considers 1t a 1T
| ting tribute to the hospitality Of Jo-
s~ephine,s parents that Of all the plan
tation buildings, this should be the one
to be the best preserved One can
even see the old fireplace, where the
Tascher cook prepared her delicious
~creole connections.
Local tradition has 1t that 1t was
! young Josephine's custom to daily be-
take herself, accompanied by q faithful
old negro "mammy" to a certain pool
on the property to indulge in a bath In
the refreshing waters OF Al hmpid rivu'
let. This nanny" named EuphemIai
was an old family slave, and was gen
orally credited as being a prophecies
! II no mean order. II seems to have
/ n..n har r.,oAon. ~ allow herself X, uf