The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-01-28 00:00:00

TIIE SIEGE OF BELFORT.

The Times Das the following telegram, dated Bouregne,
Jan 21:—

-
" Last night the woods of Faiths and Bailly, strongly
occupied and entrenched by the enemy, were taken, as also
the Tillage of Form Five 0-Meer. and SO men. unwounded,
were taken. Our loss Is not altogether :.ou • erable. Four
new batteries at 14mioutin have since th's roornhig been
bombarding Belfort, especially the castle ir.mt.'

ECCh 'GNP, Jan 22.
Last night trenches were opened. without loss, at Les
Torches, in the line of DM jowl,' and rerouse.

The bombardment of St Denis I sahl In a 1, amines tele-
gram to have produced good results, the French fire befog
almost silenced.

Ily a decree of the Prefect 1,200 Germane have been ex-
pelled from Marseilles.
Correavr dent at Lille says that M. amhetta,
In his speeches end In his private conversation. seen ed utterly
Imbued with the Idea that Prussia Is well nigh :ithausted
and must soon break down under the superherorn efforts
she Is making Ile has evidently persuaded himself that
France must win, no matter what odds are against her. M
Gambetta moreover amens that General Chaeay's army Is in
a most satisfactory position, and vaguely hints. our corre-
spondent says, "at movements that will soon surprise the
world "

The Emperor of Germany bws published an order of the
day annnunclng to the army his acceptance of the Imperial
title. Ills Majesty says that the bravery and endurance of
his aoldlets have battened the onion of Germany and he
urgec the men to maintain the feelings of mutual friend-
ship, courage, and obedience, which have accused them
victory.

The nephew el Conn* Moltke la a prisoner at llermont-
Verrand.

• --•
Cherry rose from a sick bed to conduct the batt 3 which
finished so disastrously for his army.

The report. of the Brussels paper" agree in describing the
retreat to Cambrai of the French army as a general sem,
rei pe,
Conformably wish the wlehes expreseed by Mr I:l,hard
Walla, e eub,crlption has been opened for the t 0111
the familir s who have been the victims Itt e tydribl.rdment.
Mr. Richard Wallare has headed the list with a donation of
£4,000, and M. Jules Fevre has given £lO.
A letter from the neighbourhood of Sedan lays that the
number of corpses interred at a slight depth In the geld• In
beginning, notwithstanding the frost, to spread fetid and
high* dangerous odours In the air, and that P. will be nee.-
eery to bury there bodies deeper.
At the termination of the ceremony of the acceptance of
the title of Emperor of Germany, the Crown Prince attempted
to kneel before the Emperor and to kiss his hand, but his
Imperial Majeety prevented the genuflexion by throwing his
arms round his son's neck and embracing him tenderly.
A Republican journal In Jersey publishes a letter horn
Garibaldi, in which he maintains that the state of France is
not so had as certain interested Pessimists would pretend.
The future of the Republic le in a state of consolidation be-
yond doubt. He expresses I conviction that any man in
Frarce proposing humiliating peace would be torn to pieces
In 24 hours. Ile ear, unlike the Prussian army, the French
armies receive angmentAlons of numbers and increase In
confidence.

A medal has been struck In commemoration of the siege
of Paris. Itts designed rxcluelvely for those ph NAM who
have not deserted the capital during the time m danger.
The medal is of bronze, and bean on one side a grt up repre-
senting Paris driving back the enemy, and on the other the
word* " French Republic." A space has been left In which
each citizen can have his name inscribed.

'The Luxembrurg Palace, in which the nhaecinioue and
servile Senate of Louts Napoleon used to bold its sittings—
the Pantb6m, that magnificent structure which Madame de
Pompadour Incited the indolent and fan/ant Louis XV. to
build, and upon the frieze of which she caused to lie traced
the proud words Aux grands &motes In Paine 'mon-
Imi,Ranfe—the remarkable and conspicuous drum which
surmounts the church annexed to the Military Hospital of
Val de °rice, the gilded dome of the Invalids*, the rotatory
copper cupola of t be Observatory, the tall Valois roofs of the
Foote Militaire and the Ecole Polytechnique, the elevated
glees roof of the Gant Mont-Parname, the lofty chimneys
which stud the quarters of Grenells and augtrard—all
seemed to be serving as points tie mire at whim, with unit,
termitted persistency, the Prussian projectiles were aimed."
—Parts Correspondent of Doily Telegraph.
Whatever, says The Tones' Correspondent In Parts, may be
General Trochn's fitness for the post of Governor of Paris,
there can be but one opinion as to his litter Incapacity as
Comninuder-in-Chlef. The Parisian eyes are open to this
fat at last. N" one knows exactly with whom Iles the
Shame of Thursday's defeat, nor do th, depressed, despairing
people here dwell to inquire; the evil t clog Irreparable, it
is tint lost labour to seek who was the cause of It. Generals
Ducrot,Vinoy, or Le Fill might, perhaps, do •little better, hut
something more than that is wanted to extricate Pais from
Its embarrassing positiiini. That something more Rill WA, I
fear, be forthcoming, so we must wait the
.end resignedly.

Two companies of French were marched out from 111;ancy
on the morning of the 26th to retake, Oroslay. They pro.
eee,ivel until they arrived cln-a to It. Then they tuddenly
halted. The ellh,ors were men addremlog them, and, sword
In hand, geaticulating for them to come on. There was a
pause for • rillnute or two after width the two companten
tumid tail and ran backward. tawarde Drancy. The
officer, stool', shou'ed after them, and vlohntly brandi hod
their swords In alternate enceuragement and m..noce, hut all
to no purpose. Their men would not fellow them, and the
gallant gontlenme vt.re nhliqed to give up the undertakleg.
this hAleved that the tretpe were armlet'.

Ms 1' wAn the Prcl•a7att,,, 4 Line Axv jAn,,
{Go yat.traAha ULOI
.j&o._ _

There are • set of English In Paris who never s - 3 .3 of the
National Guards but as grocers, and who say, " hat CAD
you expect of grocers? they caul fight. they must be
Iced ''

A (I overnmer t decree Issued In Parts on the 13th of January
requires all private stores of 11 cur exceeding live kilogrammes
for each household to he delivered over for official dlstribm
than In proportional rations. All de clarat:ons of flour in
the possesston of private Individuals were to be made on or
before the afternoon of the 17th, under penalty of collate.
thin.
" it Is somewhat cartons to watch the transmutations of
Ito rams of English statesmen after they have parsed
through a German and a French tranalelon. Thus the
latest news from London is that Mr. 11 ackingt, is is made
Irish Secretary, and that Btr. Floresko Is B 1 Litter of
Commerce."— Para Correßporident.

6.embetta to,cheti at Boulogne nn Retard! y, ard a cor-
respondent who saw h'm says he locked very thin end care-
worn, and walked with a night arcop ; there were some
present who had seen the detceetd from the balloon at
Amiens last autumn, and their verdict was that In the in-
tervening period he had aged considerably.

. -
The eon of M Jules Simon, who's a eurgeon practising in
was engaged recently In dressing the left arm of a
wounded man. While he was thus engaged a shell came
through the roof of the room in the llopttal des infants
naiades, in which he was ',tending, carr!ed the woun led
arm, and wont through the (door, taking the arm alorg
with it.

The Brendan* have " requisitioned" 40,0 f Of at I'vet it, In
order to punish the ibhatittante Co. a manifesistion et tym-
patby in favour of the Ma 3 or of B dhee, who had been
carried dl as a hostage by the enemy. Gee (Department
Otto) tao been requisitioned to the Inman% of 45 OW 1. ;
10,00uf. were paid.

. - .
The Bordeaux correspondent of the Inakendance Beige,
g out that M. G.trnbetta hos the fault of allowing
himself so be carried away by passion, sm. also " Some-
tlnu s this hlgh and limpid inteldgence Stek met darkened.
Seeing only It . own idea, he sacrifices those of othtra with •
dangerous faculty."
Yesterday we were made comparatively happy by a
reprut that the Prussian toads had fallen 3 per cent. at
Berlin. To-day we are told that Bourbaki has ga•ned • g reat
victory, raised the siege of Bello., and Is about to enter
Germany. German newspapers up to the 7th have been
seized at the advanced poste, but whatever In them tells
against us se put down to a gel eral conspiracy on the part
of Europe to &cave us."—Dory News Correspondent.
A balloon which left Parts on Sunday morning at five
o'clock, fell some hours afterwards near alarchlennes, in
Belgium. At th• moment of deecent a collialon was very
near taking place between the boat of the balloon and a
railway paseeng, r trdn. 'rho balloon, howev.r, fortunately
caught in conic poplars, and the aeronauts were able, catch-
ing hold of the top f the trees, to let themselves fall gra-
dually to the ground. The balloon carried a uumbtr of
despatches and 34Igeons. AU were laved.

"I pushed myself into a carriage of a los g trate comprised
of third chase carriages. It was filled wish people of all
torts, and completely crammed. 11.. ch comport sent held
40 people. Wounded soldiers ; soldiers who had n. dining the
matter with them, ant were shamming: soldiers Ata were
ill; entrees trying to get ahead of their corp.; ladies flying
the tribulation to conic ; children ; small p patients—to
fact, a medley such as It is impossible to describe—filled this
immeme pile of thirst-clam carriages."—A correipcodent
IthChanzy'6 retreating army.
M. Gambette, in a circular to the Prefects dated the 14 h
says The Minister of the Interior and War has deter-
mined that after te-day no more companies of Frame-limas
shall be formed. You will therefore immediately inform mo
of the condition of the corps which are being formed in your
department, and the consMtutton of which is so advanced
that thny may within a very short time be submitted to
Ministerial approval. The formation of all other cempaules
mutt be suspended, and the volunteers who belong to them
must be dismissed or incorporated its the active army."
Where a detachment is geartered for some time, remark.
a German letter from Dom Veer°, in the north of Frsuce, a
peaceful military idyll divenitles the war eyes. So lie In
Dompierre a waggon stops before the village tavern; en;
steps a bearded resserve artilleryman, by his side a smart
French peasant woman ; a nnrse earth s in her arms a tiny
Fro. china, After the A:wises, Pi IIA9IIII comrades mid
peace-desiring villagers drink together awhile at the tavern,
and then the Rt enish artillerysnan takes h me htt baptized
little Republican godson to its mother in the neighbouring
village. In districts where the tine clvilian virtue of hos-
pitality overcomes the national hatred, the exploits of
Francs-Firearm have long becomes fable.

Von will not he surprised (says The Times' correspondent at
Bordeaux), to tenni that the despondency here is very great.
A week ago we had three things to lean upon—three hopes,
of which two seem now prostrated. These hopes were, in a
victory by Chatty and his consequent advance towards Farts,
in a sortie from that capital, and in Bourbaktes success in re-
lieving Belfort aid throwing himself ammo the ereint's lire
of communication wilt, Germany. rue French get frantic
whoa they talk of the bombardment of Paris. litit it ace
busily occurred they refused to believe in toe possibility of
so gratilltoris and unproetable a crime. No as onder if tt,e
papers Indulge hi strong lat guigs, and denounce the Ger.
mans as a nation of sanguinary Mutes, for they soy, the
German people, by not exclaiming against the crimes Its
generals are perpetrating, bemmes their accomplice.
The Carlartehe Gazette of Saturday says —"it: hal recently
been stated in the German press that French soldiers have
been taken with Gilts bearing the Knfleti mark, and that
consequently the French Government had procured weapons
from the Government gun factory In England According to
the explanations of the British Government which have reached
us this nut position Is entirely unfounded. It has been timer.
titned that during the American war teveral thousand. of
Enfield rifleis were Rohl to the United S-airs Government
which had been manufactured by ptivate industry, and
pitiably out of trate. lal sold by the Government. It is
probable that these clii s, or • portion of them, have brad
their way into the market, and have been purohased by the
French Government."

" M Clambetta's appearance at Lille will form str,king
episode in the life clan extraordinary man. Ills .n -sloe, It
would seem, is to preserve France from the counsels of de-
spair, and no sooner is any town smitten by dire c 'amity
than straigEtway he Apr ears on the balcony a' the I I:•:tc-
tare to send &thrill through the Crowd by the thUm ler af his
eloquence. Thus it has been at We. F.allherlic mid been
defeated. The busy town wag filled With fugitives from the
field of battle, and ite citizeni were smitten withta. rcr; wbe
the D'etatur, who was supposed to be with Celan ey 3 art y,
walked into the town, and addreeseel the people is words o
no'de eloquence..
The Spezia, Correspondent of the Daily Yens at Rennes
sacs that for along time it han beeti thought that France
ought to make peace, and diecoutlnne • hopeless struggle.
orate the defeat of Chat z .'s army [hie opinion, which It was
unsafe before to ewess ipenly, is now fearlemly uttered.
In the ra.livay train on the way to Rennes an old soldier de-
clared that M. Gunbetta ought to have his neck twisted, as
he was the ctute of more useless bloodshed than anybody
else t anti these views were heartily supported by all the
other soldiers in the carriage. At Realms the captain of a
, company of Mobilised National Guards gave an account of
the terrible state of the Camp at Conlie, .d said that while
the authorities represented that everything had been pro-
vided there, the whole place was in utter cunfutlon and
disorder. It was of no use to say that the nation would
never give in and make peace, fur the uatton had no means of
making tts voice heard.

Most of the shops were shut, and pools of blood were In
the glitters the Place gin Italics Itself was full of German
troops and French commistarrat carts, which, together cub
the horses (souse of which were waneering at will or 00h11ng
with each other), had been abandoned by the French in
their hurried evacuation of the town. Mere several of the
boners bore marks of shell and title bullets. In the principal
cafe which !entered to ask for a meal the lady of the estate
lishment poldely declined, on the ground that the shells
which the •Ted the honour to receive from Messieurs lee
Prussian. yeeterday ' rendered her dining-room uninhabit-
We. The front of tbe hntel In which lam writing bear,
the marks of thirty-seven bullets, es! am informed by those
who have taken the trouble to count them, and my hostess
carries about in her pocket a bullet which was flattened
against her bedroom wall."—Tames' C3rreepoodeut at Le
Mans.