This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

Black Republic of Letters

Note - Gustave Zédé

Gustave Zédé (1825-1891) was a French naval engineer. He helped develop submarine technology. In this article, the author seems to confuse him with his brother, Admiral Émile Zédé. Learn more about Gustave Zédé.

This page is referenced by:

"Miscellany" Translation:
A Parricide - A peasant's greed
Beauvais, 30 August

A horrible murder has just been committed in Monceaux, a canton of Liancourt. A son killed his mother with a billhook. His name is Gustave Droupy, married and the father of two children, who was to pay his widowed mother an annual rent of 75 francs. He did not pay it regularly. Having been given notice to comply, he brought 20 francs to the court bailiff at Liancourt; but at the same time he also gave himself up to a number of alcoholic drinks.

Returning to Monceaux, Droupy made his way, armed with a billhook, to his mother's home. Forcing the door opened, he threw himself in a rage on the unfortunate woman, who was asleep with the murderer's young sister, aged 17. The latter ran in fear out of the house in her night gown.

Droupy then set to blindly thrashing, aiming for his victim's head.

The widow fought back, and although she was covered with blood, she managed to get up and make it to the door; but her son followed her, and she fell down dead from the final blows, ten metres from the door.

As soon as his crime was accomplished, the murderer went to give himself up as a prisoner at the town hall. The police were summoned and took him to the prison at Clermont.

Droupy did not express the slightest remorse.

(From the newspaper Le Matin)

===
Universal Scientific Alliance
The universal scientific alliance has just opened in the four corners of the world, its quinquennial search for a new president and its first vice-president.

It is known that this association which has delegations—essentially scientific consulates—in more than 400 localities, aspires to furnish, for intellectuals, men of letters and artists who are travelling, on their arrival in each town, all information that they might need and to immediately put them in contact with the most important people in the place who are involved with the same studies. In the case of sickness abroad, its members are cared for, free of charge, by special doctors.

Among the people presented for the presidency by the Central Committee, we note: Mr. Léon de Rosny, the outgoing president who succeeded Messrs. Carnot, the senator, and de Sarliges, the former ambassador; Mr. Baron Al. Kraus, delegate general of Italy in Florence; Mr. Auguste Lesouef, commissioner general in Romania, and Mr. Célestin Lagache, the former senator. For the vice-presidency: Mr. le Chevalier de Saint-Georges d'Armstrong, well known for his important work on international law, and Mr. G. Eloffe, officer of the academy, president of the Oceanic Society of France.

===
Redskins and Civilization
It is known how much tenacity the Redskins are exerting to resist the Anglo-Saxon efforts to make them completely disappear. Lately, to show their vitality, they have dislodged the inhabitants of an island and taken it over. This recent undertaking will assure them the sympathy of all our philanthropists. Those of us who have arrived at civilization will work to civilize others. They will open schools, create learning workshops, farm schools, etc.

Furthermore, instead of mixing with other races, they group together further among themselves, an essential condition for their decimated race not to disappear. All of these ideas were discussed in a series of conferences in New York and Boston by two Redskins, and will be happening in Europe and even in Paris.

We will have more for our readers later.

===
American Fantasia
The Justice says that a cyclist from Cincinnati has recently proposed to the administrators of the Eiffel Tower to ascend up to the third story by covering the stairs that connect the second and third story with a helical plank.

This fantastical proposition was not accepted.

===
The Navy of the Future
The Gymnote, the submarine boat constructed by the care of Admiral Zédé, has just carried out the most conclusive experiment.
We wanted to determine if we could depart from the Toulon harbour and enter it again, despite a blockade and attentive torpedo boats.

Many of the latter were thus spread out between Cap Cépet and Sainte-Marguerite, with the order to survey the Gymnote and to follow it if it was perceived.

At the indicated time, the submarine, posted at the shelter of the seawall, weighed anchor and came out from the small passageway, directing itself in a straight line toward the open sea by a dive that lasted 40 minutes; it thus crossed the line of torpedo boats without being seen, and, more than two and a half miles away, it returned to the surface, only letting its periscope up above the water in order to establish its position.

It found that it was exactly where it had intended to be at the moment when it dove; there, it turned while diving once again, and headed back, this time toward the large passageway. Crossing the blockade line, it passed just under a torpedo boat, which caught sight of it for an instant, but not clearly enough to track and follow it.
(From the newspaper La France)

La France thinks that submarine torpedo boats are set to overturn, in the foreseeable future, the rules of naval tactics. This newspaper hopes that the French navy will be reformed in this way.

===
Statue of the Inventor of Photography
The American Society of Photographers, gathered in Washington for their annual convention, have just inaugurated, in the rotunda in the National Museum, a magnificent monument, raised by subscription, to the memory of Daguerre, the inventor of photography.

This monument, entirely of bronze, is the work of a New York sculptor, Mr. J. S. Hartley; he represents the Renowned subject, respectfully placing a crown on the head of this great French inventor, who comes off on a medallion.
"The Next War: Sub-Marine Boats" Translate: The rapid progress of modern science prevents the powers from keeping their secrets or their monopolies on discoveries for a long time. As soon as one of them has found a new invention, the others strive to penetrate it and have soon appropriated it for themselves.

In 1886, Messrs. Zédé and Goubet only had the Swede Nordenfeld as competition in the realm of "submarine" boats; today France is falling behind.

From the first attempts of the Gymnote, all the maritime powers began studying the question, and most of them arrived at satisfactory solutions.

---
Related articles:

This page references:

Gustave Zédé image