THE SIEGE OF PARIS IN 1870.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 30, Issue 19, 8 March 1918, Page 2

THE SIEGE OF PARIS IN 1870.

WHEN THE FRENCH WERE STARVED INTO SUBMISSION.

It may be interesting at this time, when we are warned that the strictest economy in food is necessary, to consider the position of Paris after the Germans decided to starve the city, and France, into submission. It was on the 15th September, 1870, that the Government shut themselves up in Paris, and prepared the city for the rigours of a siege. The isolation was not quite so complete as was at first anticipated. The capital was still able, by means of balloons and carrier pigeons, to communicate occasionally with the provinces, and them with the other countries. But, personal communication v/as at an end, and letters were precarious and intermittent. The investiture of the city was formally completed on the 25th of the month. From the beginning the food question engaged the attention of the authorities, and daily it became more pressing. Prices rose with a bound. Horse flesh, to which the Parisians had been accustoming themselves for some years, was largely eaten, and the flesh of asses was sold for food. Early in October the daily supply of meat was reduced to 2J ounces for every person in the city, and people began to talk of the nutritous qualities of bullocks’ blood. Holders of wheat and flour were summoned to make a return of their stocks to the Government. Beef and mutton were' sometimes quite unobtainable. In the wealthiest quarters of Paris a system of rationing was organised. The butchers’ shops were open only twice or three times a week. Ofter the supply of meat was so deficient that people after waiting for hours were obliged to go away empty banded. POOD CONDITIONS IN OCTOBER.

A newspaper correspondent, says Horseflesh is abundant, and one may indulge in that without limit at the rate of 8d per pound for the choice morsels. Some Parisians have learnt to like it. There is flour in stofe for months and oceans of wine. Coflee and rice are plentiful ; salads, fruit, and a few green vegetables are still to be had, but at a t/gh price. Eggs, not fresh laid, but good, cost 2Jd each. Milk, of course, is not to be had (except for children), and, worst of all, butter (even salt), lard, suet, and all kinds of fat have disappeared from the market, Cheese cannot be had for love nor money in Paris. The women of the working classes 'are most to be pitied, especially the single women, for they cannot earn anything, and many wan and pinched faces are to be seen among them. Their fare was always poor, consequently they have not much strength in reserve to resist want. The hog's flesh, the coflee with milk, and the little piece of cheese, which formed their food, can no longer be had. There is food in Paris for many weeks to come, but it must soon be distributed gratuitously to thousands who never dreamt of living upon charity.” It was recorded that Australian mutton, beef, and veal were quadruple their ordinary rates. Hams, until they were all bought up, realised 2s 6d per pound ; salted cod fetched about Is per pound ; and dried herrings were 5d each. Fowls and ducks ranged from 5s fid to 8s each ; turkeys were £l, rabbits 4s fid to 5s fid and pigeons 2s each. Live geese sold wholesale at 12s fid per head.

Together with the scarcity of moat there was a scarcity of paper in Paris and the metropolitan papers were driven to great shifts. Some were restricted to a single page, printed on silk paper, copies of which, with title and margin cut off in order to make them as light as possible, were despatched by balloon post, and occasionally reached subscribers. The “Gaulois,” which prior to the siege had four large pages, was reduced to the size of a sheet of notepaper. In November the food question became more acute. The capital was certainly not yet in the condition represented to the world by the oversanguine Prussian journals, which kept announcing every week that Paris had only provisions enough for a few more days, and must speedily succumb. Yet signs of famine were apparent., In addition to horseflesh, dogs, cats, and rats were eaten, cleverly disguised and seasoned by the ingenuity of French cooks. Hats ver* sold at 7d each, and the flesh we-s described as being very white and d^’i l cate, like a young rabbit, but witn more flavour. At the beginning of November beef and mutton '.veto orved out at the rate of one and twothirds of an ounce to each person. Prices of other foodstuffs were ; Horseflesh, Is per lb ; asa and mule, 2s 6d per lb. The price of a goose was from £1 to 24c, whereas bo f ore the war the bird fetched not more than 6s 6d. Chickens were from 11s to 12s ; a brace of pigeons could not be had for less than 9s. Ham was Ga Gd a pound. The anxiety to get food was the result of daily conflicts at the markets. The women literally fought for the articles for sale. An extract from a letter written at that time by a lady of good family says;— “I was two and a half, hours getting my piece of horse, and was very much pushed ; but it was nothing to the meat crowd a few days later. The harrier was thrown down twice, and I was very much hurt. I don’t remember how I got out. The women are like devils.”

December came with matters getting worse. Paris was in no way of being relieved, and the troops in the town could not penetrate the ring o? iron which the Germans had set up with their troops. Confident that before long the French would bo forced

to surrender, the enemy were content to wait on in the knowledge that the inhabitants were slowly being starved into submission. But “necessity is the mother of invention,” and the ingenious Parisian chemists devoted their skill to the extraction of nourishment from substances not generally regarded as capable of yielding it. Bones, horns, and hoofs were converted into a produce which might he made into soup. Various finds of greases and the fruit of the cocoanut, in ordinary times used for soapmaking, were purified and rendered fit for the table. Rats were in great demand. They were lured from their holes with sweet bait, and captured by thousands. “ A rat from the drains,” as one of the besieged expressed it, "cost me one and a half francs (about Is 2d.) Mice could be bought for about 3d each. Geese were sold at over £3, turkeys at £4, chickens at £l, and rabbits at 25. Vegetables v/ere scarcely to bo had, and black bread with all but the rich took the place of white. At a siege dinner organised by Baron Brisse, a well-known epicure of the time, the following “tempting” bill of fare was set before the diners:

—"Hors djouvre —Radishes, salt herrings, onions, slightly salt butter, gherkins, and olives. First course— Soup of slightly salted horse, with vegetables ; ass flesh cutlets, with carrots ; mule’s liver, horse lights, with white sauce ; fried gudgeons, celery heads with seasoning. Second course—Quarter of dog braised ; leg of dog roasted ; rats cooked upon the ashes ; rat pie, with mushrooms; salad of celery and. small salad. Dessert —Dutch cheese, apples, pears, marmalade, cake.” The banquet is said to have been a complete success.

The working classes were at first able to supplement their raUons by purchase, but now most things were beyond their power to buy. One pound of horseflesh was, issued to five persons—this to last them three days. For variety, salted codfish was served for three days, and salt herrings for three days. Butchers’ shops were open every third day. Fresh vegetables could only be bought by the wealthy, as a fine cabbage cost about four shillings. Milk was very scarce, and was obtainable only for children. Many families existed upon a fare of beans, rice, and a few potatoes.

The usual result of deficient nourishment was seen in an alarming increase of the mortality. During the week ending December 17, the deaths in Paris reached a total of 1728, being an increase of 273 on the preceding week, and considerably more than double the ordinar-y number of deaths at that season of the year. Of course this excess was more particularly apparent in the very young. Infants and little children perished in large numbers.

Fires caused by the bombardment of the city were few and easily extinguished. Much damage was done to houses, however, and on one occasion some stores of grain and oats were destroyed. Though the loss of life was considerable, the bombardment at that time proved less awful than was anticipated, although later the moral effect was greater. The very poor actually suffered less misery—at least until the final collapsethan in ordinary years. This was owing to the support they received from public and private chanties, and owing also to the large amount of employment created by the demand for ammunition for the defending garrison. The prices of food, however, still increased. In the beginning of January a hare cost &% 16s, larks rold at 2s 4d each, and apples were the same price. A. fresh egg cost nearly 2s, and butter was 30s the pound. Two elephants in the zoological gardens were killed and eaten for food, and a few slices of „he trunk which was considered the beet part, cost 24s each.

On January 19th tbs last of a caries of sorties which had been carried out against the Prussian Army encircling Paris was entered upon. Ii was, like those preceding it, doomed to failure. The French could not break through. Their desperate efforts e.ided with, the hospitals crowded with wounded, and a large numbos of dead added to an already list. !’«> is Wit) noncarer Icing saved. . Following this blow, nets broke out in the streets o! Pa T ic, ard mrey were killed and i.vmed in the fighting. On that 23rd Ci January It was decked by tne Ooverrnifit trac, uoWffiß tne people to u*e a d*atb fv <m starc-pitulatu/a warn nceejaary. Fan «»> held tie City in its deadly grip, an* the Gv—nment had no altcrna ve but co reChe m,ccs*ty for e-eg* ratio* «*et out Urmicdiat .y fo vtrhos. ami arrange, on any ttrins, for a:' armistice allowing the rer*ctu*Lm{ of Pans.

It is not nececaary here to enter into the d-tails of tr.e agreement come to t' wo«.n I'.jvre and Licmnrv.lt, which led finally to the establishment of peace. Suffice it to say that Ericain cam? nobiy to tbe help of the stricken town, and u largo : number of transports left Gngland immodla+tly with the necessary stores. A French relief fund was established in London, and in a few days sent forth agents can s, ing with them larg-j quantities. The German entry into Paris tooS place on the Ist of March. Practically the city had been taken a month previously, hut it would have ln.cn a solace to the. already severely -tried Parisians if the degradation of witnessing a military parade tfceir conquerors had been spared them. This, however, was not to be. To the German?, as boastful then o» now, it was a “historiesl day,’’ brought about by “colossal work/’ Thirty thousand troops paraded w.th great pomp and blare of trumpet*: before thc-ir AilHighcst and hie staff. On the 11th of May the treaty of peace was B : gr,eu between Germany £t>J France.