SIEGE OF A FLAT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1388, 14 March 1912, Page 6

SIEGE OF A FLAT.

* PARIS TENANT'S BATTLE WITH THE LAW. M. Cochon, the celebrated secretary of tho Tenant's Defence Leagne, was on January 30 ejected by the authorities from his flat at 62 rue Danzig. For some timo ho has been the centre of a picturesque contest- At first the police sat on his doorstep in order to prevent him from removing his furniture before- ho had given up "his key to his landlady. When that matter was settled he was given a certain timo in which to find another homo and vacate his flat. He failed in his search for new quarters, and when his period of grace expired he decided to defy tho efforts of the police to eject him. The door v;as barricaded from tlio inside with heavy beams, and once more the red flag of the revolution hung from tho balcony. A crowd of sympathisers assembled in the street and sang the "Tenants' Song." M. Cochon appeared at the window with his wife and children nnd lowered a basket, in which his comrades found tho message: "In perfect health. They have cut off the water, but I still have a bottle of wine." There was also a. request for provisions, so baskets of eatables were procured and were drawn up. Tho garrison were prepared to hold out for many days, but it fell suddenly on January 30. A force of police armed "ivith axes and hanimers began a battery. After halt' an hour's work they gained an M. Cochon and his family were turned out into tho street, and their furniture now litters the pavement. M. Cochon himself was arrested for insultins the representatives of the law. When the police arrived he shouted from tlie balcony, "Hero come the mokes."