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

A VERY SAD STORY!

I was riding along with my military friend, who was
telling me that war (like strong medicine, I suppose) did
people a power of good, and taught them to think there was
soinethirg better than money. Ile dtd not tell me
what it was, or whether it was the victors or the
vanquished who got It, when I et mped to ask • decent-look-
ing woman, who was carrying a MIS-01 brown bread under
hr arm, a short cut through the woody, the main road
before us from Bougival to La Celle being rendered lin-
pasceile by the recent collanoe of a quarry. It was
the very thing she could do. We bad only to pass Into the
little lawn in front of her master's house, and round by his
garden and up through the grove, and we would come
on a bridle-mth to Garches. So we dbl. The lawn
had Leon planted now only the stumps remained arid seine
stems on the sodden grata The fountain before the portico
was choked, Its statue broken. The house itself had the
shspe of a villa, but it was void. Not a door or window or
volant left—rooms deep In broken glass—au Indescribable
chaos. The woman looked into my lace and then she gave
w,iy, and cried bitterly. It WAN not ber`house It was her
master's loss she deplored. lie was Si. N rude', she said, of
the Institute. Tile holm was the pride of his heart It was
frill of pretty things, books, pictures statues—' Cl tarn
j„.l ies chtses.” lie had gone off and left her and
her husband to !aim ears of it. The reIIEBNIIS came, and
ten were quartered in the house, mid Mitered quite
well. One eveuirg, however, they nail she and her hus-
band and children must go, and in an hour they wore out on
the road en their way to Chartres, where she had friends,
leashig !everything in the world behind them. They had
just come back ; her husband was out with a horse and cart
he had been carrying things for • man to St. Germain, arid she
had been to Bonaire' to buy her loaf of bread. She did not
know where they were to sleep ; not • mattrers to lie on,
not a window to shut; nor a door. "Ah ! ray pour dear
master ! When he comes from Faris what a sight fi r lam !"
Awl then, gardener's wife as she was, she pointed to the
frolt trees all cut, and more floods welled out.
THINGS OF NECEsSARY OCCURRENCE IN WAR!
Sly military friend rode up from an inspection of the
fallen quarry. tie listened to and tried to look stern as he
gave her a II cc-franc piece in addition to my small deodand.
" There things are of oectreary occurrence to war,' he said
peremptorily ; " the trees were probably needed for &battle"
" But what k,t the panes of glass and the books and pictures,"
quoth I My military friend could not make abetlis out of
tbr an. Be Indeed once got angry because he raw a soldier
taking a metal spoon, but he made the best he could out of
them, sail so we rode away and saw many more of the
" things Which are of necessary occurrence in war." And
to-lay have been.seelng still more of them But i have
seen,, too, I am glad to say, more men ploughhg in the fields
arid at work gathering wood arid stacking timber cut tor
&battle and for obstructing the way through the woods. They
answer sulkily enough ally ti.mstion as to them: every man
who is not a Frenchman must be a Prussian, but still they
answer, and they do not pretend to Mae their feelings when
they say " Les so:dato serif tous partie ii ici."