The deadly tiger incident at the San Francisco Zoo has been of interest the last few days. This interest comes naturally, because I occasionally visit the Como Zoo in the Saintly City, which has a few Siberian Tigers of the size of Tatiana, the tiger that killed the guy in San Francisco. Our Siberian Tigers are used to the cold and snow, which is their natural habitat and have a decent size pen in which to romp. Also it is pretty plain that the walls around the enclosure at Como are more than 12 feet 5 inches in height. You don't get the up close and personal view that must have had some appeal in California, but it seems highly unlikely that the St Paul tigers could scale their fences. I'm going to check it out again the next time I feel a need to view wildlife, but it seems safe enough. This is a photo of one of the Siberian tigers in repose, not agitated by taunting or hungry for revenge or (shudder) primate meat. In any case, I'm not as likely to feel completely comfortable in the presence of tigers for a few weeks.
George Miller came to America on the ship Parachute, which I find today, while roaming the internet, was a sailing ship built in 1826, two years before the journey of the old boy to these shores. The Marquis de Lafayette, for whom G.L. was named, was in the U.S. in 1824 for the dedication of George Washington University. Isn't there some story about one of our ancestors being Napoleon's tailor? Does anyone remember? Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo on June 18, 1815 and was exiled and died in St Helena on May 5, 1921. The story may be credible.
4 comments:
I don't remember having heard the Napoleon's tailer tale, but that could just be memory problems.
Nice photo of the tiger. It looks like the zoo was pretty negligent, though that fence was sufficient for a lot of years. Like the sea walls in New Orleans, I guess. SS
It is written in "Millers, Andersons, and Other Visitors," pg 28, that "There is a family story that Grossvater's father was Naploeon's tailor. Napoleon I (1769-1821) came to power in 1799 and was finally defeated by the British at Waterloo in 1815. He was exiled to Saint Helena at that time. In 1815 Jean Miller was about 22."
A few years ago, I emailed Les Archives Nationales de France to see if they had any information that could prove or disprove this legend, as they have all of Naploeon's financial records. I summized that that would also mean 18th century payroll. To date, I've heard nothing. But, I recall that the message was sent during the summer months, just before the country takes vacation. Also, French government employees are notoriously surly. I'd be happy to try again. Would Emily be willing and able to visit the Archives, do you think? NM
NM, I guess I should have gone back and read my own stuff more carefully. Thanks for the reminder. I'll check with Emily, although she is a reader of this blog and may answer before I see her. I assume the archives are in Paris.
TT
My memory from my mother Betty is that he was a tailor in Napoleon's army, which sounds more likely. She had also heard the story from her cousin George Jones that his (her) ancestor Porter Jones had crossed the Potomac with George Washington and commented that "Porter" was probably his occupation.
David Riehle
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