Dynamite Outrage in French Parliament.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6896, 7 February 1894, Page 4

Dynamite Outrage in French Parliament.

HEROISM OF THE PRESIDENT. GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENE. The Chamber of Deputies was a full one on December 9th, and, as is always the case on Saturdays, the public galleries were filled to their utmost capacity. An uninterestiug discussion was m progress, and a deputy had just stepped down from the tribune at 4 o'clock, when there was a sudden flash m the air, followed by a loud report, and a shower of missiles fell on the deputies and the public m the galleries. In an instant all was confusiou ; many deputies were wounded about the head and face, but the principal havoc was wrought m the galleries, ■whose occupants rushed for the door m a wild sauve gui petit, fearing that other explosions were about to occur. There were many ladies present, and they fled shrieking from their places into the corridors. A correspondent of the Morning Post, of December 11th, gives the following description of the scene : — " I was m the gallery of the Chamber at the moment of the explosion, but was only conscious of a tremendeus detonation ; of the sound of the glass roof, through which the Chamber is lighted by jets of gas, bursting into a million fragments, which fell like a shower of fine hail on the carpeted floor beneath ; of a momentary silence, followed by an unearthly yell, one of the most horrible sounds I have ever heard ; and then, after another stupefied lull, I witnessed a rush of Deputies, some screaming and gesticulating, to the doors, and others to the benches of the Right, where about twenty of their colleagues, both Republicans and Conservatives, were lying inanimate and bleeding, la a wonderfully brief space of time, however (it might have been twenty, but it only seemed two minutes), the Deputies had practically regained their calm, the clouds of dust which, had filled the Chamber like smoke from a cannon had settled down, the President, although himself wounded m the face, was vigorously ringing his bell to obtain a oessation of the tumult, and the victims were receiving medical attendance m the lobbies." The Times correspondent wrote :— The physical sensation experienced by almost everybody was that of being stunned, for although the report of the explosion was slight, there had been a violent concussion of the air, which nob only shattered some of the Deputies' desks, but m ono case tore into bits a letter which a deputy was writing, and dashed out the ink from my inkstand, which was fixed m front of me. Nine-tenths of the deputies, though profoundly moved, yet kept their places. M. Dupuy was amongst the first to realise completely what had taken place, The few deputies who were just under the {gallery from which the bomb was thrown had felt the full force of the explosion and were rushing madly from the House, but M. Dupuy recalled them by his|bell and loud cries of "Silence, gentlemen." Stretching out his arm, he said, " Gentlemen, the sitting continues." This admirable coolness was greeted with a burst of applause. "It would not be," he said, " to the dignity of France nor of the Republic that such attempts, whencesoever they may come, of the cause of which, moreover, we are ignorant, should be able to disturb "your deliberations. At the close of the sitting the Bureau will hold a meeting and take m all calmness the necessary measures. The next speaker is M. de Montfort." The effect of these words was like those of a general on a battle field to his soldiers before a charge. Cheers went up from every quarter of the House, and M. de Montfort, rising to the tribune, said, " One of my daughters was m one of the galleries near where the explosion took place. I, however, wish to do my duty m contesting, as I have announced, the conclusions of the report on M. Mirman. We here, more than others, should do our duty, and especially do our duty as soldiers." " But m coming to the Chamber we come also, it seems to me, under fire," cried M. Rivet. The remark is worth preserving, because its readiness was so characteristically French. At all events, it was worth a score of serious arguments m M. Mirman's favor, and when the Chamber came to vote it gave the probationary deputy 326 votes to 123 against him. j During the vote the deputies were to be seen examining the damage that had been i done all around them. M. Casimir-Perier still sat with his arms folded and his face very pale. Something was expected of him, and he responded worthily to the feelinga of the moment. "The Chamber," he said "will understand with what feeling of sadness I ascend the tribune at this moment. I thank it, I congratulate it for having listened to the voice of tho President, and for having pursued its deliberations with dignity and calmness. It was lest I should disturb it tliat I waited until now to ascend this tribune. The Chamber has done its duty, and the Government will do it also. (Loud cheers.) It is responsible for public order, and it will not fail m its duty. (The cheers became louder.) There are m this country laws which protect society. They are entrusted to our care. We shall apply them." (Renewed cheers, though M. Thivrier and one or two other Socialists were silent.) At the Prime Minister left the tribune amid the applause greeting bis well-chosea words, M. Dupuy rose. " Gentlemen," he said, " m your name, your President joins m the words just uttered by the Prime Minister. At the close of the sitting your President will carry to the persons injured m this odioua attempt the feelings of sympathy of the entire Chamber." Cheers broke out spontaneously on all the benches save those where the 'Deputies already mentioned sit. Their silence was noted by some members m the Centre. " Not everybody applauds," cried one, and for a moment it almost looked as if a discussion was to burst forth m regard to the explosion. M. Jourde, the Socialist, one of those who had applauded, said, " I ask to speak," evidently intending to assure the Chamber that Socialism had nothing to do with what had taken place, but M. Dupuy's clever tact was triumphant. "At such a time, gentlemen, I know but one feeling, a feeling of emotion and pity. (Cheers.) Your Bureau will assemble to take those necessary measures of order and security which concern it." With this he put on his hat and closed the sitting. Such is an exact account of this extraordinary event as seen and heard from one particular point. Points of view, however, are as numerous as the nails of the infernal machine m question, and it is hopeless to think of chronicling them. Those who sat the sitting out missed some of the most painful scenes of this memorable day. On quitting the place I went into the outer lobby, where ordinarily the public is never admitted ; the sight was already startling. No one had been allowed to leave the building. It appears that immediately after the explosion, by the presence of mind of the ushers, the doors were closed and the public overflowed into apartments and corners of the Palace to which usually they are rigorously forbidden entrance. Drops of blood were everywhere. The place had become a hospital. In one room was a woman on a mattress with her breast almost torn away, while all about were men and women iv the hands of surgeons, who were extracting bits of iron from their wounds m the face or hands. In another place the late Minister of Agriculture, M. Viger, was dressing the shattered fingers of one of the servants of the House. The Abbe Lemire was reported to be dead, but as a matter of fact, while seriously injured at the base of the brain, his life does not seem to bo m danger. Everywhere was that ominous hospital odor of the antiseptic used on such occasions, and on diairs find tables lay cotton and bandages. The scurrying i bout of the hospital doctors wild had been hastily summoned, the frightened, speechless air of the huddling crowd of spectators, the soldiers on guard, the occasional scream or groan from behind a closed door, all these elements of a gruesome dream of war, recalling the most naturalistic of M. Zola's chapters iv "La Ddbacle," bad existed, it must be remembered, for a full half-hour while the Chamber was at its post. When just at the close of the silting M. Dupuy passed through the motley crowd to his apartments everybody cried " Vive le President," and, himself scarred by one of the flying nails, he replied, " Vive la France ! Vive la Repubhque. — Paris correspondent London Times.