The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-02-25 00:00:00

THE JOVRNEY TO swim

Should any of youriresders be a little Nem, of town life,
and degrees of a thorough change, 1 should recommend
their truing the receipt I followed the day before yesterday.
i e , taklog the ten hours' jJurney from L union to Brussels,
and proceeding thence by traits to Libramont—a
station whi..ll should by rights have remained namel-m to
all eternity, but widish Mu had fame thrust up n it by the
fact that, after the battle of Sedan. the Emperor Napoleon
therce took train to Gernmny. At Libramont, nlthin 16
hours of London, you are as remote from any vestige of
exceptiug the railway, aa you would be at
Timbuctoo or In the backwoods any where. Con-
trasted with Tall mall or Fleetstreet, so lately
left behind, the desolation is most appalling.
At sunret I foul d myself landed—high and dry, I ems
going to ray, hut that sentry] be income% as theeplase is a tea
of slnah—al a roadside station on a barren plateau, in the
wildest region lithe Ardennes The surrousitiing !antiwar.,
was wintry to the extreme. aid the road in a horrid state of
Impassirility from tbeemolten snow, Atilt h wets crispiug Into
solidity under the tribunes of the impending frost. At the
station a solitary omnibus WAS ill waiting to engulph lucklms
passengers bound for Bouillou and Sedan, riletant respectively
,3a and 47 kilometres from 'Abram. L Gomm, driver,
, vehicle, and passengers seemed to be made to match each
! other, and all of the most repulsive aspect. Where an omnibus
to ply between Hades and any other place, I should lumina
! it would be just such another, arid would carry just such a
crew. In spite if the remonstrances of an unfortunate lady
ice the corner, the unmannerly fellows, half Jews, half
Flemish or Walloon traders, would persist In smoking the
most villanont tooacco during the whole journey. They
were speculators in bacon, beans, coffee, sugar, herrings,
ito, for the SitiAti market ; and my neighbour, who gave ma
his name and address, was very anxious to do business with
me. An itinerant vendor of tobscco, chose I came across
recently, informed at, that I mate en him the impression of
the representative of a Large !mese of Mishit so; so I am
winning my spurs in the tradirg line. When we hal accent.
plished about a third of the jourrey, one of the horses fell,
sod getting its leg entangled in the wheel, seemed likely so
smash the rickety vehicle to ph ces in itself irts to relesse
itself. However, things righted themselves In some
inexplicable manner, after we had stood for sonic time
gazing on Um mow ureter the starlight ; audio due course
we reached V.tyales-Veneure, the hallm ay house. There,
In a miserably dirty roadside hostelry, we got some slipper
In a small chamber, into which were crowded sir een
persons, while a sick old man lay in bed in the corner.
Abort a mile beyond Vays-les-Venenrs, on my Brat journey
giver that rood, I encountered a wont, but since then
"have c. me across no second specimen. After pasting
the night at Banillon, we resumed our journey to Sedan this
morning, soon after seven. Crossing the bridge over the
Se moy—one of the loveliest rivers t ever beheld—another
accident occurred; our third horse falling and wounding
Itself considerably. As the poor beast was good for nothing,
having recently cost his owner the modest KM of 10 fracas,
we " conciuded" to leave him behind, and proceed with
only two horses. In consequence, the remainder cf our
journey was so painful, that the passengers not only were
obliged to wait a great portion of the way, but to push the
vehicle from behind up the hills. What horses have suffered
directly and Indirectly, from this war is dreadful to think of.
—Erred from Mr. Bullock's letter to the Daily Sews.