Sings as Surgeons Operate.
Zouave Besson, a French trooper, while undergoing an operation at the Grand Palais, in Paris, a hospital for the last three months, lustily sang the “Marseillaise” from the beginning to the end, weakening slightly toward the close of the last stanza.
This patriotic demonstration is a contradiction of the proverb that a good man will swear while he is under the influence of chloroform. After the operation Besson’s nurse told him of his patriotism in singing the national anthem.
He replied: “When I was just going on I realized that I was singing the ‘Marseillaise,’ and brought all my will power to bear to sing it to the end.” He recovered nicely.