The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-10-15 00:00:00

IN A CELLAR AT STRASBUR,.

A French paper gives the following account of the
experiences of one of the inhabitants at Strasburg
during the siege :
"I had been established In Strasburg for many years, and
in; sff sirs had never been so prosperous as they were when
the war broke out. On the approach of the enemy I sent
away my wife and family, but could not leave my warehouses
and slops, lest when the town was taken they should be
given up to pillage The first eight days all went well, the
quarter I lohabited seemed to be spared; but on the ninth
day a shell exploded In front of my house and broke all the
windows on the ground floor. I thought It prudent from
that time to take refuge in my cellar. I had some previsions
there, BO that I aelderu went out of it I spent my dsys and
evenings in reading, little thhlklt g what was about to befall
_

---7; On Saturday, the 10th, about mid-day, while I was taking
a meal. I heard a tremendous noise overhead. I ran to the
stairs to ascertain the amount of damage doubtless caused
by • shell falling into my house. I drew back terrified.
The entrance of the cellar was stopped up by portions of the
wall. The house had fallen in, and I was buried alive.
What passed through my mind in the first hour of my cap-
tivity I cannot adequatelyldescribe. I had lite of dumb anger,
to which general exhaustion succeeded. By degrees I came
to mysel, fort must coulees I completely lost my head ; I
collected my ideas, and thought I remembered having during
the day brought down a petroleum lamp. I felt my may to the
piece of furniture on which I believed I had placed it, and by
good fortune it Wt. I lighted it instantly. It was then that I
realized my true situation : all round mother. were ruins ; the
staircase no longer existed; I could lie longer deceive my-
self ; the house had fallen in and this cellar was to he my
Lomb. To clear the rubbish on that side was my only hope,
and! began It with the fury of despair. Every brick I took
away made others fall; the walls crumbled continually, and
I was from one momezt to another threatened with des-
truction by the ruins. Then my lamp went out for want of
oil, and foes time I gave up all hope; but the Instinct of
self-preservation prevailed, and I set to work again in a
sort of rage. I bad been working, as It seemed to me, more
than two days, whin the ceiling suddenly fell in; • brick
struck me on the head, and I fainted, How long I remained
insensible I cannot tell. When I reopened my eyes I per-
ceived an opening above my head ; the stars were shining ;
it was night. I Buffered horribly, and dared not move
for fear of producing a fresh fall of masonry. I waited
for day in mortal anxiety. As soon as I could reallie
my position hope returned. I made a heap of the
rubbish all round me, a: d, clinging to a beam of the
ceiling, I raised m)self out of this cellar which had
so nearly been my grave. Once Out of It, I span gave way.
When I came to myself once more, I crouched down among
the ruins of toy abode and wept for more than two hours. I
had spent four days in that cellar. I went into it without one
grey hair, and now it is quite white. I have aged more than
twenty years in four days. As for my shops, all are burnt. I
had worked for ten years to set up my fi Tully In tolerable
comfort. Sly wife and I looked for an old age exempt from
care; now all must begin over again, and I see no pro.
specs of anything but misery for our future days."