The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-01-07 00:00:00

ALAS! FOR TIIE POOR PRISONERS I

A letter from ',mane in the Cologne Gazelle says
The fortresses in Germany are already crowded with
French prisoners. and their conveyance in open coal trucks
day and night durh g eight to twelve degrees of frost, as has
unfortunately been the cane, Is a severity inescasside in the
eves of humanity, and a stringent order has been Ist ued for-
bidding such barbarity for the future. It has, therefore,
been determined to devote the large forts at Metz to the
reception of the rrlsoneri; 12,000 or 14,000 Can he accom•
modated in there awl the other public buildings of Metz, and
the supervision of them will not in general be mote difficult
than in a German fortresa The number of prisoners taken
sites the 27th of November In the various engagements at
Orleans, Reeugency, Fads, Alhiellt, and Rouen iv estimated
is 2v 00 hinny of these unfortunates pass through here
lii, half milieu:hid with cold and hunger, slightly clothed,
0f„,•,, without shoes and stockings. Even In tile campaign in
Roosts he 1012 the wretchminme could not have been much
' than our Is dolly forced to attics, here. Among the
great. '-non of France, moreover, distress and famine
poor IMPile- -'ending; whole troops of beigzars already
are COUStautly
the severe weather continues long
go about, and lf lateens
things will be In a terrible state."

M. de °Cement, son of the One de Gremont, Mu been a.
pointed to the stet! of General Faidherbe.
A lleutement of Mobiles was shot at Le Mans the other day
for deserting him post in the presence of the enemy.
From some cause Musket limeine has maned to be a fre-
qaent visitor to the captive Emperor.
The Emperor Napoleon h-is mmle the most 'Mennen,
(Mations to arelt the distressed prisoners In Germany, and
has mermen el all the Walla at its dispoml for the purchase of
clothing Lobe distributed ailment the sufferers.
Yeutter von Brockdorif, Count Mnake's rembeer, Is much
better. He was shot through the left lung, but with& Cremate
pot bullet. Lot a epiteter, and the wound is theretore much
cleaner and more romtsing.
The Inglit of interned French efficers continues to he daily
recorded by the German papers. It seems to he especially
ref. at EMert, whence no less than 31 deserted *thin tour
days. Two of them were recaptured.
We leant that the rememtrances of the Secretary of State
for Foreign Alan's with relied to the seizure of the English
center steps in the Seine hayo been received in a very fair
spirit by tier Mirth Genesis liovernm-ut, and that there is
every prospect that the question will IN amtcetey arranged.
A soldier before Paris was ieen the other day try his aster..
tilde ennthees going ever to the emente's riles, when, after
hell an hour's quiet convere stem, he interu ed unmolested'
lie was brenght before a court-martial, and sentenced to
emcee immediately.
A enterminatien 19 'nevem' to exist at Versailles to born-
hoed Parts until peace is cencluded. The news that threadf
the entere kerne have bee., silenced has produced in Berlin
a conviction that the capitulation of the city is only a quer
(son of a few deys.
A newspaper C•nreeemndent With the Heselmnarters of the
Crown Pre no of eaxony says then a- certifier to the calculas
Cons of an experience,' German • nicer. 3,0e0 shells were
recently thence on (MO day into Le Bourget in tie French
and that on that cley only two men were wounded by the ere
We (London Standard; understand that when their last
order snail have been meepleted, which wet he some time in
April. the Resedasrs will be in poseeeel. n el 4-10 Gatlings,
whereas up ne the present moment the British Government
hem only ordered twelve.
General Chancy, at a breakfast he gave to hie friends a
few days ego, mei, Gentlemen, yen have heaters the enemy
nine y al times, and you can heat him again. tinter d
to reach Park, and perseverance is all that Is u.ded to gain
our end."
lieneres bee been ensl.ls to resist the powerful siege
artillery of the Germane. the piece, one of Veuhan's strong
fortresses. red racket by the Manch see a place de go, rre of
the tint clue, surrendered on enmity. Its pi sseesen greatly
strengthens the heed of the Germane upon the le partment
cf the Ardeuces.
Photocrapby continues to ploy an important part in the
war. Pram ie SAM to C./11We 1 aid [mend Mee it,, so th et
there 13 a prospect of obtaining news by this Means As Lug
as the eteee taste 01 tee Mtn ult, aet non arrived from
Teurs with a etnell sheet ef raper, on which a G menet:tent
el:span-1i and 110 privets, enters wear photegraphed in
mtcroscepic characters.
We have it ou the auihr rity of the Pietsal an eerrespondent A PRINTER,' [Millen
of Tke Times thet Count Blemarck has sent a new note to An English Compositor employed on a Paris tense:men
Count Berestortf, in which he eeelaree that if Luxerubarg who it,. been already mentioned in the papers, as halos;
believes es badly during the siege of Lone wy us during the been obliged to eke out his many rations by some olive oil
siege of Memento, a Portion of the Grand Duchy will be oce whirls be happened to possess, writing to his wife on the
Copied by German troops. OM ult., says :es. I noticed in my last letter that there
It seems the French are relining on the 'legitimate were no movement/I 13 tewn to indicate the great battle
horrors of war. I have seen a Chaseepot beret—lt has never generally expected to-day, eeren by Military men. My remark
been tired of conne—which looks all rieht outside, but which was right. There has been no tali., rem it 'a believed by a
when d:ssected is found to be its 17 pieces, coriously jutted few well-informed persons that no great Item* wei he citric
and angular. I suppose it will presently come to Meng before one, two, or even three months, seas to tel the erre-
handfuls of rusty nulls and the clippings of zinc reofs."-- siens, I suppose, exhaurt their strength. The fact is that
Correspondent of Daily N• rm one month's wattle g —teat Is, until the real winter hse conie
—may turn to our advautage ; hne two or three months
The reseetadiehment of the railway between Amiens and mieht, in um opluion, tee too long fir the French. There
F' non by the Prussians will ba a great misfortune for the
is still a great nemeer of foreigners, among whom are
Fr
fir Ey that line the former will be aele, In case of need, many English people. coma 4 the Englith, quite unenla
to get reinforcements In a very short time They h.lve Jaen
to
reset. more y m Eir gland, weer Leann chnitenstairces
br.neht by that means neoo men to Button,beisame some in a very difficult position. They were it Ina beeteniem
oftee workmen of that town hail thrown Into ties Seine are I, -
a certain number of etente-eff nof tee siege—some of them, aid, perhepe, the rich oele—
e soldiers while wathine iu
renewed a wee trifle migin not die from
the evening at 193 Me distance from the ft ill -ated parts of
the city. Of the spies in Paris display a startling aueaclte. An t n & kly
he eni• the mirth embaethatsythe, ify m tut
my meory is right ; o
111 now, th it Vie ee allowed them has lint at least been tripled,
d 2. or the persons t allude to meet be dying or dead, unless
ay or two ago one of them coolly tried m get a se one
smell cart, helped by some semi:detail -e. I emetic. this not to criticise
half-tilled with newspapers. out of the eat., although to had
any boey, but nely to let el:related know that there must be
no poss of any kind When he was mopped lee gtherou ly in Paris many of their country groupie In iriebtfnl Mecum.
enteral beer all round to the National Guards on duty if they
stances, in order that semeththe so be done Mr them in
wonld let him through. This. of course. excited their sur-
one way or enether„et lint tee &DOM did not leave
pincers, sod, OD the cart being searched, the papers were through illness, er beceese they could not suppose the !ergo
tonne bidden waster heaps ot rubbish. wenti last so lone, and when teem halt through the Prussian
rho Maternent pnhlished en Saturday that the Government Hues Mary remained behltre, I have ne &mid, because they
of Free cc t.ad r if-red a premium of 7501. to each of the were Ignerthe of that departure, or did eere kpow whl h
Frach iii mrs who should escane from German captielef English friends to go to. If you could believe it, e coati
tweeen of per le,'' was, it evened seem, tairue. The assure youth. 1 lime seen about five outside dirty leaves of
Freneh Government hes, Indeed, ordered a premium of 7501. a caeleme, that a London poor man would throw away, being
to he peel ter those officers wen mgy erempe from Germane; asked Int ter at the Halles.... It what I have Leen told is
but it has not added the corettlon that their liieht shall have right, we shall net sae each other before at least two
been a " breach of their parole" On the contrary, it months.'
explicitly provides that nothing shall be paid to those who
may have entered into engagements with Prussia.
A correspondent at Rennes, In deserleing the brook up of
tee camp at Conte, and tee diseemel of the men all over
Britt, y, sme that met of these ainewy ant robnet you. g
fellows, the inert soldters in tee world meeht have been
termed, hut that official neglect and IMEM ill +gement have
thoroughly debased them. The nystern of herding ucarned
men together in nehealthe e. ma, under the command of
intrignine generals, han ruined elte crerstittitten e f many
tholmands, and rendered them totally Unfit for notelets.
The Reaper. Nepelenn went out to skate twice during the
past week at Wilhelmshohe, and it is reported that his skill
and unity in thte hozarulous exercise are admirable. tie is
a far Satter skater than any of his theenutons at the Castle
About noon on ehristmas-day Queen Augm te forwarded to
Napoleon a number of handsome sleighs or his own eeeeetal
use. He has eeen mecb rend by this kinely act of
courtesy, and has sent to the Cieetil of Isressia acknowledg-
ments of his gratitude.
A Correspondent at Havre writes :—" This morning has
aff r ed a melancholy example of the terror wreseht among
tee peasantry by the Invaders A Fern -h cavalry officer,
with ten MOO, rode Into an helpmeet village ad asked for the
Mare. That functionary mister* his cnnerryman for a
German, and, In reply toe polite question thont the enemy."
gasped cost ell he knew ore-old tell about the positions and
throes of the French He will be tried im court-martial to-
morrow, and will probably be shot within four-and-twenty
hours."
A native n• Geneva, who nerved as subaltern in the French
Fro Mem Legion, took part in the campaign on the Loin, woe
forne days a prisoner, and then eacimed to Orleans, writ.
then Emerges to a Swiss paper:—" I remained tour day. in
the hassle ef the Prussians, and was treated throughout with
the greatest civility, provided with brandy, toe mee, am. the
best meat, end in spite of all that 10 alleged ikraillei them I
can enure you that they treat or wounded sod prisoners
better than our French officers treat us."
The railway between Chaumont and Treyes was on
Chnstmeueeve, for the third time, tampered with, the rails
being torn up and then put back so as to conceal the injury.
A military train of 500 men thneemently west rif the line,
and at the some time a band of Francs-Tirenrs sallied out
front a wood expecting to capture the party The Landman
men hot, however, escaped Injury, and rapidly collecting
teem semen gen the Francs Timurs a few volleys, at %Mien
they hasttly Bed, leavlng some kllled and wounded behind
them.
A Newspaper Correspondent with the Head quarters of the
Cr JWil Prior, of Prussia at Verreillei, ra)11 that te Strasburg,
Neney, and Ce einem, signs r f the active reinforcement of the
Germen armies ore plentiful The Lend webr is "pouring
Mtn the meernerel cennery likes whiter terrent." Every
stasimi Is full of German uniferms : every train is crowded
with inva nrs Tee present alert, the writer adds, is the
etre best at complete coequest Germany Mal be expected to
rnake
A secret eecru'ting Melee for the French army hu been din
rovermlrtiesroT. A cep, of the int et melees men c erle eme GEneleNS ASSUMING CIVIL FUNCTIONS IF FRANCE.
r 'ening ere 5, ma, nen by tee Germ .n G memo, for
the nurpo e preen Arne 'heir if ~do •tie dem, sutro to j lit The Ci nmsne ere ant mine, In an Increasieg degree, the
the Francs Miners, had been °Melted I y the office welch (nation el Oovernmeet In ehe occupied French territory
thertueen sent them a thrumons to Meek to • lenticular Lieilteilallt-0re03..1 Fabrics has just heen appointed Gone
sport, and there to meet mmey to vey them to the arrey nor. (Memel of Vemeillek Lie be the Semen Minister of
at Lynne Several pets me thus summoned, however, die. State and War. At Della a Newnan mayor has been ap-
Mclined to muter into a loneness contest, gave is Nemeth-in pointed, mei the mtha. ement bath of the Post-office and
in she Pneesian suntoritees. H elf ad. zs inhabitants of the tell-honse has tees assumed by the German t Mane.
the miner class have mem q fleetly been arrested. The German garrinn In Alsace are also intrusted with the
enforeemeut of precautions azainet the cattle- plague, which
A, erected ennespondent in Paris says that owing to the has brethe en'. In the neteebourheod of Mouthellard. At
pone, ...nay et the es ether no fewer than fifty sentinels Rheims an ender has been issued imensleg a tined excise
have been tn dente et the met posts, mat that there duty on champ :goo, and excisemen from Berlin have been
(me more then 1,200 cars of severe frost-Mee in the military sent for. In the Ardennes the invaders are cuttieg down the
hospitals, merry of which eareee are likely to prove fatal the timber and disposing of it at a large price. It is sake that a
uffernirs '.l the people ere also very are at Typhoid fever
great tart of the magniticene forests have alreeety die-
. sot she inceneee, apeciaily em reg len families from the
appesrel. According to a Belgian paper the principel run
amen. who one his ielee e' Me," e*.i.e Teems amid chrser was an inhebitant of L Per, and the buyers had
offing atmosphere that leseees pestilence. aimed, pale over en O. Of , expectieg Le be Ode to convey it
altGener imezy vomits his cempitments to the Miner int, pnleium, wenn the Belgian Government prohibited Its
of the Mendard, reemeste eim to eckenwls dee in his imporiation. The VranceTireers, moreover, are keeping
thinners the receipt, tree num nnknown Mend. e,f extracts . up & guerrilla wer tie the forests, and ere determined that
from alithe leading Mielish nesespepern at • tone when the work of deetructien that' not go Oil.
it la %Menet Impessinle tone- am n good information on matters I
which occur beyond the immediate vicinity of the operations
of an army, I er,9 rich es that contained In !Manny newn
paper, possess an especial intermit Genera Chaney bege to
thank his itr,lsu own lancelet"r for his than sy. he Mane,
Dee. Mt "—nom Wednesday'. 1. 'mien Standard.
Inc Frence Republlcen r Pins's nnt upear at allents
mewl to let Lye, es e ygeees," and accept the car rearm
Mee of Memi's adherents of the Empire. lef de Pay.
Intmeulln, Cennelffor f the Cruet of Am, and Pre•tileet of
fine Amises of the 14 etches du Rhone, hamlet offered the
bell of his country Meuse to be melted down for a cannon, re-
marking that tbongh small it intrbt, added to others, be
nseetil. lot Peens. Cree teem, prefect of the Greene, replied hy
Temente.' trim of hie signature to a list of 2 500 pmaritred
Reels' heats. "Tee Monza of the small bell Of your country
hone," conthined the pretest, "is not pure eneteth to serve
for metal for • neon°, If 'our accomplices of Intl like to
eenstrat an expiatory char-el your hell may be useful. I
rune to fine In your letter, below your Memnon titles, the
cur It et you sets of 10th. which you ought to have ro-
se mei bee's making an • fleeing to the Repahlle Health
a, d fraternity."
" A few doers from where I Indre, at len. 1. line ne Cliehy.
the Aop of templet, a Mee het MO watchmaker, has been
ennvested try Its ewiter into a provision store Where an
elaborate time-piece formerly raised its chased front In the
middle of his window, a dead rabbit Is stretched at full
lerigth, flanked by a plate of minnows and three small
sparrows, while higher up, half &dozen hen eggs are arranged
in a circle, like a necklet of monster pearls. If he had had
the luck en wive a turkey. erg err his collection he must
bave surely cur beeped In In eiderdown, and hidden it nneer
a ells, dome, like the K elnimonr. Ihe establishment of the
eijoutewn tdrued marchand it, comestible% is constantly eme
emended by a ming crowd, like that ot the dog butcher at
No. 5 in the Roe Blanche, hard.hy • hot his ware Is too dear
when the possibility of this siege ;ming protracted for two
rameths more Is thneidered."—Paris Correspondent.

PRoPOSAL TO MAKE PARIS AN INDEPENDENT STATE
To erect Ports into an independent State, leaving it to
go Its own way and the provinces to go theirs, is a proposal
which no Frenchmen would bully hove broached, except
at a time when everything In the °notary la out of joint.
NI [beret, who pots forward the plan in a letter in the
Ec, caret.. of Pt. Vienne Loire), admits that it will appear
very tingular, premature, mid 111.6,1ton:dile to many pcople,
hut he insists that it is ties hOt practicable solution I
for a aituation which has become impossioie. free-thinking I
Paris and the I" itholte provinces have come to a potot
which all locoed Latween them is 'titulary ; when the capital ,
wants to go forward slot departments draw back, and com-
plete stagnation is not far MI. f.et the provinces, then,
hi I I to their gods, In whom Paris ooes 4st. believe; let une
respect what the other condemns. beyond the Woo dis
Omnipotent ; within it Ile la only a myth, which is a laugh-
ing stock to everyhroy. Paris should, therefore, become a
city ap,rt, governing itself he to, fashion, and leaving to
the provinces coast liberty. kiverybody ...old thus go where
Lie aUiiittics litd. him; the Parisian believers to .a nod cold
go into the country so adore Ulm at their ease ; the provincial
scenic to Paris to swell tine ranks of Freethinkers. Paris
would be a Ire,. Republic, while tnii provinces would choose
a linnapa.rtlit. Orleianlet, Legltimiat G tverionont, salt might
think best. At present Parts hat to drag the cannon hall a
French military puotalinrnt) of the Catholic provinces, while
the letter are boncISIISAiI t1.,;b1 toned by an ultra-
v,..34,tou city.

A BOLD ADVENTCREd !

The National of the 17th Mt mentions the arrival In
Paris of a osturter named Pilchard, who, after many adder,
tures, had succeeded in passing through the German lines.
He left Tours on the OR of Novemtair with dispatches
printed in microscopic characters, and reached Versailles
by he Mans and Abu con by railway, but was than chliged
to turn off to Rouen OD foot, loquently meeting strong dc.
tat:imolai; of the enemy. After many futile attempts he
succeeilot, an the 16th of Dacember, in reaching the Seine,
and alter swimming for an hdur reached the French out-
post at Raull I hdy sere surprised at seeing a human
term issue from the river, end advanced to examine it, when
Diebard exclaimed "Vine to kranom p fey assisted him
ashore. and atter he had satistitil them of his Lientity he
took if one of his boots, asked for a pair of minors, and
produced from the lining a small packet. Ills cap, the
(lily Wog he wore beetles his boots, underwent the some
operation al h the same result. One of the documents was
a request from 11, Stec actors, the manaaer of the pigeon.
poet, that be might he emit back with instructions bona the
Government toy hall-ton. it e had an interview with General
Troche, and gave him an acemant df rill that he had wit
nested during the two previoua months,

THE Pe.BTTANS STILL FULL OF HOPE AND COIDIA0E!
A correspondent mends us • balloon letter from Paris,
dated the list bast , and written by the daughter of Pasteur
Armand Heinle, a Proteatant minister, well known to Eng.
lien reside, ts. It lass follows:—" cannot let Christmas-
day pass without sending you a line containing a thousand
wishes for your happiness during the coming year, and good
news of your poor besieged cousins. We are all very well,
and not one bit discouraged at the lenoth of the siege. All
no want is to make it last as long as poesible—at least till
our armies outside are ready, and our enemies tired out. Of
course, we are Ce prised a many comforts, but we do not
stiller; and as we are quite ready to suffer for our France,
you can imagine that we have nothing to complain of so fir.
We ore far from dying of hunger but of course have little
variety hi the way of food. How would you order your
dinner if you had no mutton, no veal, no fresh beef, no
, potatoes, no butter, no eggs, no fowls, no fish, and
as many ot, or things? Coickens are dreadfully scarce,
and a small one costs 255. or 30s. ; eggs are scarcer
still, and cost r.t least 15,1. a piece. Fortunately, we
have pinnty of horses left, and now we are so Sc ma:omed
to horse that I can scarcely toll the difference I e-ween
It ard beef. We have rice, maearoiti, chocolate, preserves,
a little salad, and now and then a little salt Leed. We are
getting 1411 used to all this that we feel perfectly sati.fled.
I can assure you we Porto lens are bravo folks, fail of
hope end nourago ; and to see how united all Paris is, it is
a grand aid noverot,-beoforgotten sight. The Prussians are
flehtmg alien a monstrous war, their ambition is so base,
and, n the other hani, tut° cause is now snail a just and
holy ..nts, that sooner or later, they will have to suffer for
all that t'ley ere doing now."

ENJOYING NEW YEAR'S DAY IN PARTS!

A Paris psper of the 30th ult. states that for some little
time, and particularly s'nce the cold has set in so severely,
a lively crusade Inn being carried on against sparrows In
en me parts rf the cif y. Not only were boys, equipped with
nets or pea-shooters, engaged In the foray, hut grown up
citizens and tethers of fatullit a were taking part in It with
the mist tequila air imeginable. The authorities w mid
willingly have shut their eyes to it had not the public
safety been menaced, but the pea.shooters, superset ed at
first by the Catbllle de melon, was now quite displacad
by the National Guards' musket, and prosecutions
were daily being instituted againa defender. if the
country chin exyernnied their powder on opal rye
Several persons, in -mover, hart teen struck by stray shots,
and the delinquents were in Wine to be treated with
severity. The three elephants In the Jardin den Plants tied
been sold to a butcher for £5lO. The most valuable a, lambi
lathe collection bad hitherto be -3 spared, but their turn
has now, it seems, come. As a setroff to these indications
of a scarcity of yrovidons, In may be mentioned that the
inis7er of AgricuPure and Commerce addressed a letter on
the 29. h to the S,,ecle,in which he said The Information
you give about the distithutions on New Year's Day Is
perfecly correct. The Government, determined to inaugu-
rate the year 1171 by a meaaure by which each citizen
might profit, has charged me with the very agreeable
mission of giving to the 20 aromlissements Pails, firstly,
104.00 kilogrammes of preserved beef, instead of horse flash ;
secondly, 52,000 kilogrammes of dried beans: thir.ily, 52,000
kilogrammes of olive on; fourthly, 52,000 kilogrammes of
unrossted ; flAhly, 52,000 kilogrammes of chocolate.
You will see that our stores are not yet exhausted, although
we have subsisted on them since the 17th of September. Our
enemies will not prevent our enjoAng New Year's Day,
and having the most unalterable belief In our deliverance
and the regeneration of our country.