6 to each person in the kingdom.
The total number of postcards was 171,290,000. Adding to the letters and
postcards the book-packets, newspapers, and parcels which passed through
the Post Office during the twelve months, we have a grand total of
2,091,183,822, which shows an average to each person of 57.5.
VARIETIES.
THE "WOMAN OF STENAY."
"And so you have not heard the story of the 'Woman of Stenay'?" said a
Lorraine peasant. "It was in war-time, and she offered a barrel of wine
to a detachment of Austrians, saying--
"'You are thirsty, friends. Drink. You are welcome to all my store.' And
as she spoke she drank a cupful in their honour.
"The soldiers accepted with pleasure, and in a few minutes four hundred
men were writhing on the ground in agony.
"Then the 'Woman of Stenay' rose, and with her dying breath shrieked
out--
"'You are all poisoned! _Vive la France!_'
"She then fell back a corpse."
This is the legend of Lorraine, and the memory of its heroine is revered
by the peasantry as highly as that of Charlotte Corday.
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