The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-12-03 00:00:00

THE LITTLE TOWN THAT LODGED THREE ILLZSTRIOUS

MEN 1

" Plow little did the inhabitants of Rancourt, who six
months ago were given up to the peacnfdi occupstion of sup-
plying France with buckles, antic ipate that their little town
was destined to acquire the celebrity of having lodged the
Emperor Napoleon one night, and the Prince of Yrutsia
and Bismarck the night after. The modest little nom
In which I on. writing is pointed out by my landlady
as that in which the great Bismarck slept, so I feel
bound to chronicle the event. As long as Bis-
marck was In the house no pilLigleg took place,
although the landlord only kept aggresaorr off by
threatening them with Bismarck npstal re But, alas an soon
as B smooch's hack war' turned upon R.mcourt, to rushed the
soldiers, and male tee with everything they fancied, errie•
daffy the wine cellar. As soon as I had given him, Bis-
marck, his coffee,' to let the landlady speak for herself, ' off
ho neat with his three generals and fourteen subordinate&
Then, as I wise dressing my little boy, came a soldier with a
Used bayonet, which he pointed at me—me, 'elitism so afraid
of guns. I made sure he meant to kid us both, and lied away
to the mins over the way. "—Newspaper Correspondent.

THE PRUSSIANS UNDER COVER !

The ProgrOa of Lon s is very indignant at what it deems
an unworthy ruse de guerre practised by the Pruseluu troops
which oc&upy Mulhouse. A tow day. since I long train a
some gOiVarts aud waggons, all covered with tarpaulin and
fastened down with ropes, net out from the town and pro.
corded along the road close to the frontier. the Intention
was to represent these carts as laden with provlllous, and
guarded only by a few cavalry ; but under each waggon
were placed Limits, upon which were seated rows of soldiers
with kaded rifles, ready at a given signal to spring out upon
any band of partisans (f which there are many in that part
of the country) who might be induced Lo attack what they
took to be huts valuable prize and., *say booty.

HAD ENOUGH OF HIS PRIZE!

On Saturday the German schooner Elf 1.% Cfptaln Fescher,
wee brought into Grinnby Roads by a brench prlsemaster,
M. Donso, and a pet, crew of five men belougleg to the
French despatch bat Ifermitte. The Elcic was captured on
the 7th, when off the reset, by the Ilerliv.tte. If er crew
were made prisoners of war and sent to Dunkirk. She le one
of 16 ships that left Bremen together on the sth or 6;b Inst.,
and six of these have been taken by the French fleet. Price-
muter B,tao put into the Vile, but the Dutch authorities
ordered him to leave. Strange to say, he hut been beating
about with the Elide In b ,d weather, heavy seas, and con-
trary winds for nearly three week.. Not being able to make
the port of Dunkirk, and b:ing short of provisions, he was
compelled to pot facto the Grimsby Roads for a supply, and
has had quite enough of his prize.

A " BALLOON CANNON* FOB THE "BALLOON POT!'
The ballooa post la threatened with X XXX infamy. The
Cologne Gazette mentions the passage through the town on
Saturday of a balloon cannon. constructed by Krupp at
Essen. It consists of a platform meeting on four wheels,
movable in all directions, 'rum the centre of which an irmi
cylinder tft. high rises oblquely. In the upper part of this
Bred cylinder a to`eralfy short gun is inserted, movable In
all directions. The arrangement is something like that of
la-ge atiCionary telescopes. The rang of the gun is 1300 or
1,500 feet.

THE TAM EXPENSE OF THE WAR TO GERMANY.

The expsnee of the war to North Germany, according to
the Colopae Gazette, is more than a million thalers a thaler
is about 3k per day. It hes alreviy cost 119,000,000, or,
including the marine, 1,1,000; 00 thalirs. A new loan
having become necessary, the proposal of the Government is
that they should have general authority to borrew 100; 00,000
thalcre, it being contended that it le neither politically nor
ecocoinically advantageous to depend on foreigners, and
that Germane are rich enough to advance the necessary
fonds. Austria, Russia, Italy, and Turkey are cited in proof
of the weleairabillty of raising a loan abroad.

THE " PIGEON " POST I

The Ggisinia of the 25th of November annotinces the
arrival in Poets, ou the evening of the 23rd, of a pigeon
which left Orleans the same morning. The intelligence con.
veyed by that medium was regarded as highly satisfactory,
proving, unit did, the French retention of Orleans and the
improbability of Its reconquest y the Germans. The pigeon
expresses hitherto have worked tolerably well, but occa-
sional failures are unavoidable. A lofty tower of an hotel
In the Nov de Grenelle has been converted into a pigeon-
M use where the birds are trained for future employment,
and there are similar establishments at La Villette, the MM.
hours St Dulls, Boulevard Mont Arouse, aud Boulevard
deg Batlguolleg.

THE APPEARANCE OF THE GARIDALDIAN CAMP.
Achille B non!, writing from Bourg on the 10th, thus give'
his first impression of the Garibaldi. camp :—.• We seem
here in the midst of a bat moque,. Thousands of different
costumes are to be seen. Children, at most 16 yearn old, are
campit g in the mud of the fifthly, scarcely covered with a
thin blue blouse, like those worn by our carters. The
Bretons and French Garibaldi.. wear low broad-brimmed
h As, like those in the opera Dinnralt. The Franc.Tireurs
all dress mike each other. The ,Mobiles intermixed with
the last remnants of the Line, • few Hussars between the
dragoons and Chasseurs d'A,rinue who escaped from the
Prussians at Sedan MA Mete; h Anita' attendants, with the
red cross ens white field, and amid this mass of soldiery, who
walla serious but careless, a number of women and children
who wander through the field, In order to avoid the terrible
ememy,e—euch is the picture which presents itself to me."

AN INFERENCE TO BE DRAWN.

Two lam sg I( (writes the Daily News Correspandent at
TOUrs), I wa. quite accidentally witness to a fact, the
political Importance of which, if my, I have no means of ep-
predating, but which, possibly, oily be very precious 10 the
many spies of various parties now to Tours. 1 freely make
them a present of it At t ractsely ten minutes to foot! saw
31. Tyler,' hawk like face peeping out of the window of a
brougham which turned into the court-yard of the Hotel do
Houle:tux. 1 hal tile curiosity to halt for a moment to see
the great old Minister, the author of the Paris fortifications,
of which he has now good reason to be proud, m he came
out of the carriage. Another person, whom I at first sup.
posed to be a secretary, stepped out first, politely held the
door, and very cordially—as any gentleman enjoying IL
niers' society would be likely to do—squeemil his hand.
The personage who, after giving him a ride in his carriage,
thus took have of Si. Toler, was Lord Lyons, the British
Amber ador. Now let the powen of the wend draw their
Inference,.

d " SPECIAL "ON THE now'. IC "ITEMS."

It was a dull night, starless, and heavy, with the clouds of
Impending storm arid rain. Silence reigned over the streets;
the lights, of the lamps fell on the shadowlese boulevards In
unbroken streams; the homes in long rows lined the
thoroughfares noiseless and lifeless. A clock in • church
spire struck One !" From the quiet of • side street a soli-
tary Same emerged and passed the lineof leafless trees of the
Bail des Reservoirs ft halted at the door of an hostelry close
to the ;packet, where two men snored In unison. By the
feeble ray an observer could perceive on the head ot one •
leathern helmet with a brass eagle in front MA a brass spike
on the top—on the head of the other a cap with a peak, like
the casquette of l'Ore lirigeand, and If he were a man of
military discrimination he would arrive at the conclusion that
a Prussian and a Yrenchman wereiledlcating the hour to sleep
In sweet Identity of purpose, the solitary does not seem to
discriminate. Oa the contrary, he pulls at the bell of the
huuble hustelry, he katcks attire dcor with Oa hand, he