THE SIEGE OF PARIS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2265, 26 September 1914, Page 8

THE SIEGE OF PARIS

MEMORIES OF FORTY-FOUR "..YEARS AGO,.-:,';.- • . ■ g COLD, SUFFERING AND WANT ;v»S"I had thought, after forty-four : ..years, that I.had schooled-myself to.forgive, if not forget, the outrages of 1870. : but now—never r There is a. sediment .'which has'been ,, lying!dormant at the ' bottom; of my heartuintil' how, and this \ '■'■terrible war. has,. brought it to the surface and oyorwlielmed me with its intensity." These words were spoken to , nn Australian, interviewer by Mme. An■geleHiginbotham, a French resident in Sydney, and'one had only to see. her eyes hear 'her.■voice .choke; .■'', with emotion,,.the inteTviower' states, '. ..to realise thejexistence of that- undying ■■• .Ihatred . and", biiferness between France and Germany. It would seeni that 1870 is .deeply graven on every Frenchman's -.-. arid Frenchwoman's, heart. The, recol- -,: -lections of that hideous ".time. for. France ': are- all: the more vpoignant..for' Mme. ; Higinbothanv as she- was an eycr-witness ■to. the horrible; scenes of bloodshed and which devastated.Franco that ■'year." Although '.only.a- little; girl, , , the; ;;,sufferings and experiences' she then went '■through have remained in her memory .'J to this day.--.';. -..'.'...'. .V ~.- ..,'v. ; . ,:.■ Bitter Memories of i Childhood. ; v,-.'....'' 1 never had any- childhood," she "-said. -"I was barely*ten when all that J; misery: occurred; ;and it left 1 me old and •■-saddened beyond my years.!' There is a' /■'beautiful flower garden: near the ' Bbis • i'X Boulogne, now, arid -.when -I ..shut my V/eyes/T. can see the same place.as, I.re- ;; ntombsr' it : ,then., They had been,building a roadway ,there,, and tho soldiers j availed .'themselves, .of. :the, excavations. ;■. already made .to form a pity into which . .they .piled-."the dead, hi hundreds, and -covered them simply with quick-lime.' ; I can.see.that every time.Tvisit those ■ -gardens in Paris. '■; ! : ; .■'..'; ■ [ ::.; .''During the-siege of Paris, we lived' Von horse, donkey, dog, cat,'and rat flesh, ■;. which was giyeii to us'in.rations, every ;. day. ; I .have.,waited day after day in tho. queue to receive the tiny portion of • horseflesh which.was to.satisfy our whole .family. One of theother children would ;. be sent perhaps.to wait, in the queue for bread. Arid the. cold I .That winter ■was. the coldest that France,had experienced for years, and towards the end of : the siege far more people died from cold than from starvation. The soldiers used to be pulled out of tho trenches /quite inanimate, and. I have' often been frozen stiff while standing in the .queue.' . I would forget to change my position for some timer'and then, when I would .try, I would: find I couldn't move. The ■ old women used to-bring'--their:folding (chairs,,,and their foot-warmers,- and : their knitting, moving up step by step, .as the , people ahead 1 got served. ;We "liwould wait three, and four hours at a time to.rcceivo our few inches of horse- . meat. ;'Towards the :end I became bo - famished, and the awful black bread and rico had such aneffect oirme, that I absolutely couldn't swallow food. I ; remember after tho. siege hugging my 'plate of food "to mo .and .crying hecauso ~1 was starved' and. couldn't .eat what was now before me. My,.people, were rich',-.- and- we. had money to buy anything, but:there : was nothing to; buy. : Money was of no value, whatever. I've /seen young -people fall dead in tho streets from "sheer inanition. • .'.:-.' ,'.j : "In those days there were not nurses like there are: now. There was tho ■ Geneva. Cross. Society, but, riot •half : enough members to do all the work. . That is why so many women ..arid children volunteered to help: nurse the-sick and wounded. Every drawing-room in Paris was turned into'a hospital ward. All the furiiitijre-n'as'pilediat one end'to make.Toom for the nien, and in. most :'cases , the fumiturelwas burnt in order to provide firewood to warm them. ' ■ When tho Cermaris Came. ■ ■■•'..■' "And the'day. the . Germans .entered : Paris there;wasn't a. cat, av.'.we:say in French.'; They: entered from, the .east- \ erri : side, came through tho ; Bois . de Boulogne and the ■ principal boulevards, -.. and all they saw wore desolate streets, . and houses-hung .with black.. That was ■the reception 'they.' got.--:.? Every:.' house ■ liiung out black;'tiie children tied, their / Mack aprons, and skirts,' trousers, anything "'that'-was black, to the windows and-pillars of tho houses. When they '". tad passed through, the Germans waited on tho outskirts until the. indemnity . was paid them—and'it. was paid every, cent of it, {up- to the very fiecond-it was demanded./"And.then..the scenes that, followed!'; crippled, and almost overy person in.the.streets was in mourning. ,-There-was, not a family in France which,hid,not.suffered loss, and -one saw nothing but black and desolation everywhere. It- is for that reason, that T came to-Australia with , my family three years "afterwards. . ■; . -"And wheiil think that all those hoirible scenes' are being enacted,_ and . France br'utali.se'l once more, is. it any. . .wonder that, I feel my very heart breaking, in sympathy, and.pity for-her? : It. v is tortuiVto.think.:that all this blood- ; shed, and devastation is taking placo iii tho most beautiful country in the world, '■: and among •»-■ people whoso one pride is the beauty.,o£ their'.country;, .'rind, whoso ono ambition is to lead a peaceful and ■". happyfamilylife.' That is all they want, the do'riot want money... . A Frenchman: works hard, and he plays well, too,' but"lie "cares more for 'La vio d'iuterieur' : than anything elso in.--. tho -world. People have" reproached us,' arid said we did riot prepare sufficiently for thiswsr. Mon.Dinr! Why should we ' devoto the ■energy and.brain.s and'money of forty-four years to building up a' monument of hate, and craft with which to meet tho bloody slaughter , of to-day? No - we have-not done this, but wo aro prepared: Wo have pur army, and our men, and you will seo how they will fight for their beloved Franco.., When the war is over, and the full news of its'proceedings is reported, you will see how the French have;fought. With the. brave English at our sido, and the Russians to lielp"us" said Mrs. Higinbotliam, "We will win in tho end, but— iat what a costl" ■ ,