Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/179

 way over the drawbridge of St. Ouen, which happened to be down at the time.

Numerous omnibuses were requisitioned during the day for the conveyance of the wounded, who appeared to be very numerous. The ambulance service was almost completely disorganized, and the wounded would often lie in the streets and die without receiving any surgical attendance. Many insurgents could be seen lying dead in the gardens at Levallois, or were buried near the spot where they fell. Others were carried into the city, and an eye-*witness counted seventeen omnibuses, on the 21st, filled with dead bodies being brought into Paris by the gate of Asnières. Funeral processions, following cars surmounted with the red flag of the Commune, were also passing every moment along the Boulevard de Clichy, on their way to the cemetery of Montmartre. The insurgents began to be somewhat affected at the death of so many of their comrades, and complained that they were not sufficiently supported.

An immense shell entered, on this day, the window of the house of Rev. Dr. Lamson, Pastor of the Episcopal Chapel, and passing through a thick stone wall, dropped on the stairway unexploded; had it burst, the house would have been shattered to atoms. Ten minutes later, a man, woman and two children were killed while passing across the Avenue Josephine. Several other persons in the vicinity threw themselves on their faces at the same time, and were saved. The shells came from the bridge of Neuilly.

On the 23rd of April, the following proclamation appeared in the official journal of the Commune:

"After having conferred with the Executive Commission, and in the strict end of humanity, I authorize a suspension of arms at Neuilly, for the purpose of permitting the old men, women and children to enter Paris—*