The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-10-29 00:00:00

ITEMS IW THE WAR.

Eleven-twelfths of the municipal taxes have been remitted
at Versailles to allevtatethe burdens of the war.
The King of the Belgians gave 60,000 L for the Gorman
wounded.
The office which hod been opened in Parte for the enrol-
ment of Amazons haa been seized by the police, and all
documents relative to Ike enrolmente have been confiscated.
Ten lodges of ireeMILIODI In Paris have Issued a
sentence of excommunication against the King of Prussia
and Crown Prince.
French desertere from Meta are said, in an official des-
patch from Versailles, to le arriving at the German outpoets,
in great numben, every day.
The soldiers condemned to death by the conceit de guerre
for desertion before the enemy in the combat of Chatillon
have obtained a revision of the sentence.
The Navas Agency gives the death of General TreskOw
the director of the King of Pllllllia'S military cabinet) who
was killed, iii. stated, lay a shell end from Mont-Voltrien.
The Independence Beige advertises, under the heading of
" Battle of sedan," that private carriage' are to be had daily
at Sutlers, Sl, Montague de la Cour, Bruseela
A notice of the French Minister of Jusitice announces that
the judicial wises will be opened on the 3rd of November
unsaid.
The magistrates compoeing the Court of First Instance at
Lille have decided not to avail themaelvee of their official
exemption from serving in tbe Sedentary National Guards.
This determination they ratified to thy mayor of Line.
Dweller. from Metz hays become anumerous that there
was some idea of sending them back again ; they prayed,
however, on their knees to be received. Starvation in the
town is said to have reached its highest point.
On Wednesday, General von Moltke celebrated the
seventieth anniversary of his birth. Addressee of congratu-
lation to the famous etrategist had been prepared in many
parts of Germany.
The Russian Exchange gazette, referring to the exertiOns
of the British Government In favour of peace, says that the
new, of ill having entered into • diplomatic action for this
object haa been received with great satisfaction at St. Paten-
bug.
•

_
hi.Tblel hu been attending all the Government
Councils at Tours. He complains very eloquently of • cold
reception in England, but did not for soy practical purposes
set more satisfaction either in Si. Petersburg, Vienna, or
Florence.

- The Journal Otliciel of the 17th of October contains an
arlich, on the measures adopted for the defence of Faris.
There are, it seems, over 2,000 guns in position, while the
supply of powder exceeds 0,000,000 lb., and is being increased
daily. The projectiles already manufactured will suffice for
MO rounds for each gun.
The Sweeten Mercury state, that on the 10th inst., the
whole of the German allied troop. before Faris consecrated
one day's pay, amounting to 600,000 theism,. to the Widows
and Orphans' Fund.

At Bolssone were taken M officers, 4,03 men, 128 gum,
70,„ 3,000 0.4. OS glinp.n.rad.r. ui mot of SITnI
money.. three months provisions for one Division, and plenty
of clothing.
_ .

Horses seem to be going cheap in Paris. A letter says
that the two magnificent Russian trotters presented to the
Emperor by the Czar, and which the public admired during
the Exhibition of 1867, have been sold for 4001. a piece. Each
of them was considered to be worth .Cl,OOO sterling.

it Is statud In a telegram from Luxemburg, that the whole
population of the Duchy Ii Indignant et the scheme by which
it Is proposed that Lorraine should be saved to France at the
expense of Luxemburg, and Is opposed to annexation to
Germany. A permanent Patriotic Committee has been
formed.

A progtable traffic le done by the Inhabitants of (Hymn° and
Bouillon. Large consignments of worthless old arms are
sent to them which are dbposed of to tourists as trophies of
the battle of Sedan. The story Is told of an Englishman who
bought a glut-lock pistol to take It, home, as lie said, so a
proof of the carelessness of the French A d inlnietratiou,
Which In 1870 still used the arms of the First Empire.

At • village near Orleans some shots were fired, and 60
muskets were found concealed under the altar of the church.
Thereupon 50 of the Inhabitants were ordered to be shot,
as were also an old man and a boy of 10, accused of having
fired at Prussians. Bishop Dupanloup wu so fortunate as
to obtain their pardon from the General commanding, but
they had a narrow escape.

'We Ilthglandj must make up our mind, to one of two
things. We may stand by and let the war go on till the
Oghting power of one or the other belligerent is exhausted
If we cannot reconcile ourselves to this coarse, and think it
a duty to make an effort for peace, we must be prepared to
venture something to attain the end, if It be nothing more
than the risk of being treated with contemptuoua indiffer-
ence.”—Leader In The Timea.

The Iltmiteur notices the death of Madame Lefebvre, the
Sac-looking vivandWre of the Francs-tireure of nu la She
war • golden.haireci beauty, and never failed to excite the
admiration diatom who saw her marching with her Corp.
Madame Lefebvre wee mortally wounded by • musket ball,
which struck her in the chest as she was administering some
brandy to • wounded comrade behind a barricade.

"We cannot but think that even the stern General who
has planned the victories of Germany, sod the Chancellor of
the Cuniederation who has shown himself superior to most
men In energy of will and fixedness of purpose must have
their misgivings, as from the heights around Paris they look
down upon the unhappy city. Count Bismarck must surely
feel, that, by destroying the splendid capital he Is actually
arresting the progress of European civilisation."—Daily
Telegraph.
Of the 20,000 horses captnred at Sedan and elsewhere the
best have been picked out and supplied to the German artil-
lery and cavalry. Those Include many capital Norman hones
for the cavalry, and heavy animal, for the artillery. The
Barbary horses of the African troops, excellent as they are,
are deemed too small for the Prussian cavalry.

It is announced in the Libero that the French Govern-
ment is on the point of quitting Tours, being unwilling to
incur the charge of embarrassing the movements of the Army
of the Loire from motives of .elf .p ion. Bordeaux
has been definitely fixed upon as the city to which the seat
of Government will be removed.
General Blumenthal has expressed to Colonel Lindsay his
decidyd dislike to tinge of truce and to the "red cross." "We
must put an end to it," he said "we cannot tell who wear
it, and there are aplee every where. The new device Is to
dress as clergymen (prioets). The Polish soldiers will not
fire on clergymen."
The Grand Opera of Perla Is turned into an observatory
and a military store; the Theatre Francais lea hospital, and
so also are the Italian Opera-house and the Varietee ; the
(800 is devoted to the manufacture of clothes; the Circus
named after the Empreire is buy with the preparation of
cartridge.; the Palaces—the Luxembourg, the Rupees, the
Tuileries, the Paints Royal, the Palais de Plodustrie, the
Palen. de Justice—are all hospitals. with the red.cross Hag
ilylng over them side by aide with the tricolor, and the vast
workshops of the railways are turned Into foundries for
cannon.

" A letter from Havre, dated Oct. 4, has been received, in
which It la stated that the ex-Emperor has Wined an address
to the nation. Ido not know what his chances of restora-
tion are in the provinces, hut here they are absolutely hope
lees. The Napoleonic legend was founded upon victories
Since the name of Napoleon has been coupled with the
capitulation of Sedan, It Is loathed as much as It once
was adulated. Apart frem hie personal following, Napoleon
111. has not 100 adherents In Paria."—Correepondent of the
Daily News.

At SerbsUck, on the 16th, the plain where the soldiers who
fell in the battle on the 6th of August were interred, as
also those who have died of their wounds in the hoepitsi to
that town, was consecrated, and named Ehrenthal (" the
Vale of Honour "), as the public had already dealguated it
Three Evangelical clergymen oniclated, end after • chtralo
and the liturgy Superintendent ibbironer delivered an ad
dress, which much impressed his 5,000 auditors. Prayer and
singing concluded the ceremony. The graves were decorated
with Prussian and North German banners, a well a, with
immortellee.

The Metre of Tours, who ties earned general reepect and
admiration for the devotion with which he applies himself
to the innumerable duties devolving upon him, has issued an
order that no singing shall be allowed in cafes or cabarets;
that no liquor that' be taken out of the shops; and that all
these places shall be Closed at eleven o'clock at night. It is,
ae he says, no time for amusements when France is in • posi-
tion like the present.

The Mayor of Paris, by advertisement in the Journal
Opeiri, Invites the consumers of gaa to practise the most
rigid economy, and warns them that if they do not he will be
compelled to Issue orders tar reducing the con, umption,
which, as he very justly observes, "may prove Inconvenient
to a great number of persons" An .foretaste of whit may
be expected if his Invitation is not complied with, he requedst.
them for the present to extinguish their lights at half-past
tee.

The.official paper published under the direction of the
German Governor of Alsace announce, that a Commission
had been appointed for the purpose of completely restoring
Strasburg Cathedral, " that jewel of the German nation."
The scaffolding will be Immediately erected, and in • few
weeks, it Is hoped, every trace of the recent lamentable
period will have disappeared from the magnificent edifice.
The German people, adds the Governor, will joyfully con-
tribute the neemeary means.

"The Paris papers contain 'instructions for inhabitants In
cue of bombardment.' There are none sale to follow except
one—. Get out of the place to be bombarded.' It Ls not the
mere effect of the shell it I. the it,, which follows—the
widespread conflagrations and the horrible deaths lx agonised
panic amid smoke and flames—the crash of houses and the
scream, of women and children. Can any one imagine •
scene !Ike that which Banoilie. preunted multiplied all over
Parisi- Correepoudeist.

"A singular »monstrance hal been received at the British
Embassy. In the Rue de Challlot resides a celebrated
English courtesan, and above her house floats the English
flag. The inhabitants of the street request the 'Ambassador
of England, a country the purity and the decency of who»
manners is well known,' to cause this hit of bunting, w Web
is a scandal ill their eyes, to be hauled down. I left Mr.
Wodehouse consulting the text write» upon Internstienal
Issr, In order to discover a precedent for the case."—Corres-
pondent of Daily News.

The Petrie of the 2lsl gives the following Farts Items
A new article of diet haa appeared in the markets—wee
Snub, which Is selling at SO contimes per kilogramme. Fresh
water fish and vegetables are abundant, but prices are
rising daily. On Saturday last, at hi. Jules Fevre's, there
were three cutlets for seven persons. Nobody would touch
them, and they remained for the servants, while everybody
made MI onslaught on a ham, winch disappeared Orders
have benn given by the authoritire for posts, which are
to he fixed In the ground and are to support poes-aleu.
When the gas Is extinguished these will serve to light the
encampments of the troops within Paris and the principal
streets."

" What extraordinary peopte they omit be who keep on
advancing after they have been defeated. But they are ex-
celled in eccentricity by those who go on retreating alter
they have gained great victories. Can nothing be done to
stop this brain disease? In the Figaro of the Bth of Oetober
there is a story of an artilleryman who, in throe-quarters
of an hour, disinounted from Port Vanvres all Prnselan siege
gone. '1 have merited" my Mil' quoth he, and next day
General Trochu gave it to him. And well he deeerved It,
and so did his gun, for he mutt have bud. range of some
fif teen mike at the least as I swear the siege gnus were on
that day net within that distance, and none were mounted."
—Timed Correspondent
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

i" How is to end I" is probably the first question
which million of portions In France daily ask themselves on
puling from the happy uneonsciousness of sledligo the
agonising waking reality. How, Indeed t There are bat
three way. In which it can end. By victorious eortiee from
Parte, French victoria. In the provinces, or terrible losses
endured by the Proasiane In bsttk and from disease, the ruin
of their communications by swarms of light troops, and,
finally, by their disastrous retreat, with greatly diminished
number., from the invaded territory. This oeneummation,
which many Frenchmen may have dreamt of, and which
some few may etth think not impossible, would be set down
by dhpasidonste lookers-on as almost nairaculons."—Tonrs
Correspondent of The Times.
"A..'. Roth, which from what I have seen of it (I never
tented either) must be better than horse, is new In the
Parts market, and dills at the very 111.1• Tate rate of 44. a
pound. The supply mud be very soon exhausted, for the
number of donkeys within the walls of the city cannot he
enough to till a moderately stud barn. The costermonger's
cart is unknown in Par* and I rider saw any donkey,
there except about hall • dozen at the Porte Maillot for
children to ride upon, and here and there a few she asses
kept for milking purposee""Correspondent of Daily sew

- - -
The positions of the German immy round Paris are now as
follows :-6th Corp. and Laiadwekr of the Guard about Ver-
satiles and opposite Fort Valerie° ; half the 12th Corp.,
opposite Fort hey ; 2nd Bavarian Corps, opposite Forts
Veneta and Montrouge ; 6th Corps opposite Fort.
81551,5 sod FM: than°. up to the Canal de PO uret at the
north-east of Park the Wurtemberg division and half the
13t1i Corp*, both under the command of the Greed Duke of
capital, the Guards, the Saxons (the 12th Corps), Mecklenburg; opposite the north and north-writ of the
and the
dth Corp., which last communicines on its right with the
1515 55 the sth Culm. This total force is equal to sight
corps, or about 200,000 men, behm I deduction of about 20
per cent, made from the full war strength. The Investing
force Is drawn up In three main lines, the first being sub-
divided into mutes., picket., and grand guard.. There utelegraph tines run frons the most advanced line of lead.
to the rear, so that • force sufficient eventually to mutest
the ground with any force the French have yet sent out of
Paris Is collected within a seri short time attar the AM
alma

THE BALLOON POST IN PARIS.
From the Special Correspondent of The Times.)
rmus, Monday. Oct. 17.
There is a celebrated madhouse here in which there has
been confined for tome three menthe pasta man who lad lila
reason after a severe attack of fever. Ills health began to
improve and his reason to return, until he was .0 far re-
covered last week that he asked Dr. Blanche for permlision
to write to his family. The doctor thought • moment and
agreed, but he added, "You had better write without
delay, for there bi a balloon going to-morrow, and 11
your letter Ii written at once it can go by that" "By
the balloon !" wld the eolivaleecent madman opening
his eyes. "You mean the railway." "No" said the
doctor, "I mean by the balloon. I forget to tell you
that Paris is besieged, and that all our letters go by
balloon." The invalid gave a shriek of despair, and holding
his head on his baud., cried, with agonized looks, "I have
been mad; I have had a fearful dream. I thought! was
cured Ishoughti wu cured I I am mad! mad! mad!
Oh, my God—mad No, my Mend, be tranquil; you are
not mad." "Then It's you ; you hays become mad. What
is the matter What has troubled you? Wheeze this In-
sanity 7" And surely no one can look upon Paris end see all
the wonders of this tronblous time, with Its manifold trans-
formations, In which we all Seem lobe standing on our heads
and the houses and theatres and valance diverted to uses
the very opposite of that to which they are accustomed,
I without sharing somewhat of the recovered medman's
feeling, and admitting that he has perfectly described the
condition of Paris se a lunatic's dream? If the madman
was astonished at the manner In which it was proposed to
carry his letters out of Paris, what would he have said to
the method by which iii, proposed to get answers bank? It
is, perhaps, well that the doctor did not mention thin, or
his patient might have gone clean mad again. We have
tried all methods, and have failed; one remains—namely,
to get • pigeon to carry back 30,000 answers How is a
pigeon which will carry but the lightest feather weight of a
letter on Retail to convey to us 30,000 replies? By means
of photography, which has the power to reproduce an In-
anity of details in an inflnitezimal space. A. whole letter
may be printed by the photographer In the epsce of a
pin-point, and many thousands of letters might in this way
no printed on a thin sheet of paper, which, on It. arrival In
Paris, would be submitted to the reloroscope and enlarged.
Do not smile at this scheme, or if you do remember that It
I. wrung from hearts which are pining to have news of their
families, and which seize with sensitive eagerness, on any
and every scheme which may be suggested to bring them
tidings of their beet-beloved.
-----• • • - • •-

Yee'tesday the final blow was given to a scheme for bring.
log back answers which was much vaunted, but which
Inspired no faith whetever in the mind of any sensible men,
not to say • 'dentine one. M. Wilfrid de Fonvielle under-
took to pilot a balloon back to ?aria There 1. 00 reason to
doubt that one of those days we may be able to steer a
balloon through the air—far more wonderful things have
happened—but as yet, at lout, we are not near a solution of
the problem. however, Id. de Fonvielle undertook the
task, and soros people put faith in him. They constructed
for his vise the largest balloon which has yet been produced;
they have been three weeks preparing it—we have been told
every day forth. luit three weeks that it would start, liked
;l'e7t.w'iZahlytarog'..e.."n!awric"hPrcnogirc.i.ersandy ILghiv:rtilteobe
the ordinary coal gas used for the balloons of Nader, and
which, therefore, might be impeded to carry a greater load
11 I had known for certain that the balloon was going to
start yesterday I would have sent • despatch by It ; but I
had given up all hope of it, and ahortly after midday, ac-
companied bye friend who had agreed to pay £BO to get •
deepatch out in De Fouvielle's balloon, Ls Liberia, I went
up to Montmartyre to see what M. Nader was doing with
his ....estate as they are called here. Conceive our
horror no we turned on the hill and saw the great balloon
—so great that it could be no other than La Liberte, rolling
in the sky and pitching about like. drunkard. There was •
strong wind, and now it heeled over, recovered itself,
now again heeled over, then steadied for • minute, and
at length got lost in the driving clouds. What of the
tea pamengers I And what of all the luggage and sacks
of letters that were to accompany them ! We stood
aghast. full of horrible conjecture., which were all the more
painful Ls this particular balloon had been promoted by a
company of whom about half were Englishmen ; and the
balloon might even be described as half English. the simple
fact was this, as we afterwards learnt, that the captain of
the balloon, M. de ?omelette, had not taken sufficient care
that the balloon should be held down or anchored with the
proper weight. Ihe weight, were taken out in order that
the passengers might get in, and while the balloon was held
down by • number of men it gave& lurch. home of the men
let go—they had no notion of being carried rip into the air;
the meet who held on were too light to keep the balloon down
—they, too, were corupelled to let go, and 01l it went without
cargo of any kind Vou and all the good people who are outside
Paris will laugh, and no doubt it was comical enough to see
the passengers with their portmanteaus all ready to embark,
and their friends all collected around with field glasses to
to take the lut view of them, and behold, at the appointed
hour, off goes the balloon without a soul, hut it is a sad
butinem for no who are shut in, and who have many longing
thoughts of the world outside.

However, there for the present is an end to M. de Fon-
viellies balloon, and to his hope of steering it back. ill, the
second serious misfortune that has happened to our balloons,
the first having happened to a balloon which started on the
7th, the same day as Gambetta's. I observe that in • tele-
gram from Berlin, which appeared In The l'imes of October
10, It Is stated that two balloons, with • complete cargo of
official correspondence, have been taken. The telegram,
however, does not state whether or not these were what are
called here banana monies or batons lamer. A few free hal-
loons were sent out about a fortnight ago, but they only con-
tained unimportant lettere, no paasengen, no aeronaut, and
It le two of these, as I take it, that are recorded St having
been captured in the Berlin telegram. At the same time,
It is right to add that two mounted balloons 101 l here,
from which pigeons returned, but without any mes-
sage. It is only an inference that these balloon' are
safe; still, it Is an inference which approaches to cer.
talnty. Of the four pigeons despatched from the two
balloons which left here on October 7, with M. Gambetta,
only one had a menage on Its wings; all the others meant
safe arrival, although they had no menage. M. Gambetta,
by the way, had • Darrow escape. The Prussians fired on
him at • distance of 200 metre., and he was saved only by
the basket, which is hard to penetrate. I have already
mentioned that on the day on tahlch U. Gambetta left here
a third balloon, started in the afternoon by M. Godard, got
Into trouble through lack of wind, dropped to earth, got
rid of its cargo, and under fire of the Prussian. mounted
again. If this be one of the balloons to which the Berlin
telegram refers there is to be said of it that if any sack of
papers wan left In it which the telegraph might have fairly
exaggerated into " • full load of official correspondence,"
It contained little or nothing to help the enemy. The bulk
of the correspondence and all the important documents bad
gone c ff earlier in the day In the two balloons started by
Nader.
To finish with the balloon, for the present, Hadar Is to
start one every day this week alter to-day, so that there
negkt to boa, lack of PariZierl2 eel. in the outer world.
But, whereas all hb previous balloons started from an out-
of.theway spot, near the Buttes Montmartre, called the
Place It. Pierre, he is now to start them from the Place de
is Concorde. Every one knows where Nader lives. His
autograph enlarged flourishes on the lop of a house
Is the Boulevard des Carmelites, where he carries
on with great soccer the business of • photographer.
It wax very Inconvenient to him, especially when the
cold daye sells. to have to lodge in • tent on the slope.
of Montmartre to keep watch upon his herd of bal-
loon.. tie can now rest in him own home and 'walk down
to the Place de la Concorde when it suits him. Besides
which the new starttng place is more convenient for the
whole world of Part., and asiU afford them some entertain-
ment in the time of siege. Those who remember what St.
Martin'ele.Grand was lathe old days, when the mall coaches
used to start of an evening, will be able to comprehend the
excitement which will reign every morning now In the Place
de la Concorde when, by the side of the Obeli& and in view
of Our Lady of Strubtirg, the balloons mount upward, bear-
ing their precious freight.