The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-08-13 00:00:00

THE THUNDERBOLT.

" The morale tithe French must have suffered. One little
phrase in the Imperial bulletin makes the betrayal the
Pruasians had mitrailleuses, which I /id us considerable
damage.' The supposed monopoly of this terrible coulee of
destruction lent an immense confidence to the French
soldiery. I recollect having remarked to a French officer at
Stets, 'Dan% you know the enemy, too, have mitrallle uses I'
Ile put his band to his mouth significantly, and whispered,
It would not he wise to let our fellow. know It, for the
ffect upon their mora'r would be most ii.jurious ' :Sow
they have learned the grim lesson on the bane Held. Ihe
l'f llYhi3ll tactic appears to have been identical with tl.at pur-
sued iu Bohemia. Fresh maws of troops were lama lied
again arid again on the wearied arid outnumbered French.
A thunderbolt falling from a dear sky, to use a familiar
figure of speech, could nit more have astounded and appalled
all sympathlsere with the French cruse than this rapid suc-
cession of dleaetort."—Correspondent of the Standard.

THE FIGHT AT SAARBRUCK.

Our men (German)) were driven back whenever they at-
tempted to make any eland on the Saarbruck.proper elde of
the river, and were gradually collected in the main street of
St. Johann, that part of Saarbruck which le north of the Star.
I believe that by thle time companies from each of our two
blvouacing battalion, liad come up Into the tow. ; the re-
manna g companies took up a position near the field where
they had blvouaced, and opened fire on the French with
fourteen or sixteen guns. This gradually diverted the French
fire from the town, hut not till they bad set several
building, on fire. It had lasted an hour and a half.
tiering the whole of this terrible time the French
concentrated their lire on the two spots where they
supposed that the lank of the troops would be
gathered for the defence of the bridge.. But our men left
this open space after some very cool shooting at the French,
and covered themselves by the strongest home. The appal-
ling crash and din of the shells would have made any one
believe, who did not see where the troops were, that not a
lout could be left alive; but so far from thin being the case,
the numtier of men hurt by thts firing into the town is ex-
tremely small—riokulouely out of proportion to the fearful-
ness of the means employed. I had Just come across the
new bridge into St. Johann when the shelling began.
I clad not make my way to the hotel where my things
were, but had to take refuge in the house that I happened
to be paeeing at the time, a tobacconist's within a few
yards of the new bridge, on the other aide of the street.
Immediately in front of the house part of the troops who had
hoped to defend the bridge were collected in comparative
safety the opposite house to us, that covered the troops
from the fire, was very high and strongly built. But I had
not been In the tobacconist's hothe five minutes when a man
was brought in raving mad from the lire, lie was a soldier,
and we supposed at first that he had been wounded, but it
was cot so—he had gone raving mad. Presently another
soldier was brought in, a splendid contrast with tile poor
creature whose mind had given way under the terror of the
This man had received two wouuds in the side; he
rood perfectly unmoved smoking his cigar, wlrla us took of/
his coat and shirt, and staunched his wounds. I should tell
you that all the troops in the OW.) continued to smoke,
whatever happened to them, even when they wyre on the
clear specs by the bridge, exposed to the opening fire of the
shell."—Vorrespoudent of the Daily News.