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

XING WILLIAM RITIEWING HIS NM.

" In the course of • ride through the park I met the King
returning from Trianon in an open carriage, with one out-
rider in front and an officer by his aide and in another
drive the Crown Prince and Count Sehleinitz passed me in
an open carriage, quite unattended. Early in the day Ills
Majesty came out in front of the Prefecture on foot, and
passed In review the 7th %big'. Regiment and 47th Regi-
ment, which were returning from outpolt duty. It was •
picturesque little bit in It. way. Looking down the Avenue
de Paris, there waa • cope. of spiked helmet, with • spray of
steel over It a. the regiments were awaiting the Royal
arrival. At each aide of the entrance to the Prefecture
the men en biome, market people, the Versailles.
generally, stood, to the number of • couple of hundred
only, with a few Gendarmerie on foot in front
of them, and the officen and aoldiers off duty, who acci-
dentally came to the spot The King wore Ma helmet, and
several paces behind him were General von Moltke, General
von Roon, General Podbialaki, Count Lucadon and other
officers of his Staff. When the King stood out in front the
word was given to march, and the two regiments went by at
a great pace, the band of the 7th wheeling to the left and
taking up ground opposite Ilia Majesty. Shall we hear any-
thing more in England of loose order and skirmishing for-
mations and all that sort of thing Of course we shall. The
Duke of Cambridge bag all along stuck to kis text most
rigidly, and has fought for solid formations and "deadbeat"
But slowness le not steadiness neceaaarily. New, that la
one very important matter to consider. The Prussians
went ata great pace to the drain, of the " Doppel March"
aa date al they could pack—at foam deep and all but lock
step Very muddy about boot, and legs, with great coat.-
knapsacks, squad ha" water bottles, cooking tine, and
perhaps extra "pickings,. ea tight aa they could
pack. As each company paned the King saluted
and said "Welcome,' and the meg gave one short
" Hurrah !" and so pawed on, very martial-looking
and workmanlike. And the officers—well, no one who
Ma not seen a Pruden officer march or a Preoharenaki
Guardman can fancy that It hi to the man what trotting into
the horse, and yet ill, in Its way an effective soldiery kind of
progreea Back plumb lined, olds sten elevated eagle, as 1140
throw a shot from the eye to • long rang.; region of
stomach, which in Prruelan officers is very lt and chcom-
ocribed, advanced; hip. down, one leg on the ground in gal-
vanised ;diffuse., the other leg as atraight a, the aide of •
triangle in Euclid, ending in • foot of which the toe la
pointed nut and down, ae into the net of kicking an Mush,
err obstacle. Not It cannot be described. Nut it look'
well when one gots need to It, just as we take the strut of •
drum-major or bandmaster a, his natural mode of walking.
The battalions, be it mid, were very " slim '' in number., but
the men were as hard aa nalis, and even small men in the
ranks looked soil they eould fight &Ma—Tome Correll-
pondent at Versatile..

A_ DREARY POSITION.

An English lady of rank, married to a French count, has
received the following letter from one of her eons who,
taken prisoner two or three days Motors the capitulatdon of
Sedan, and conveyed by his captors to Magdeburg. Her
other son was grievously wounded at Sedan, where he now
lien carefully attended by Pruden sisters of charity. The
prisoner of war writes to his mother In the following
word,—"! have at length arrived at Magdeburg, where I
am detained as • prisoner. My position Is a dreary one, for
I am compelled to work upon the fortifications, and I am
herally of • make and temperament to endure the life of an
Imprisoned private soldier, although I must add thanes re-
gards the treatment which I receive, I have no reason for
complaint. Pray let me have news of m,y brother without
delay, and also communicate to me how I may be able to
receive some money, which will perhaps contribute to make
my daily We lees insupportable But if, as I hear, Paris Is
cloesly invested, I scarcely dare to expect • letter from you.
If you get this, write to some of our neutral friends, to
stimulate them to extricate me, if they by any means can
horn my present unhappy position. (let them, if possible,
tossed me • telegrams, either through Belgium or Geneva.
11l have to pass the winter in this drrry fortress, I doubt
Ii I shall have strength to bear up againat the trials which
are in store for me. At any rate I count upon you, and am
ready to endure all that I can without fear or regret, con-
scious that I have done my duty to Pranoe. I am even
Willing that my misery should be prolonged rather than
that my country should be lowered by a humiliating peace."
GREGOROVIT WS VISIT TO TEL CAMP BETORZ lUTL
Ferdinand Grestorovins, the historian, haa contributed to
the A lige-renew Zeitung some further notes of his visit to the
camp before Mete At Los he saw a few peasants ploughtag.
and he wee told that the Inhabitants wore gradually returning'
having regained their confidence through the exemplary con-
duct of the troops, and the autumn sowing being urgent.
Between Metx and frariouls the people were at work in the
fields as In time of pear , getting In hay or Porethee or
ploughing. In one field • few German soldier@ quartered in
the vicinity were helping them. The farther ha went from
Meta on his way back to Germany the more peaceful appeared
the landscape. The position of the people seems again nor-
max; pedestrians and horsemen traverse the broad raids
on business. At Boulay thirteen miles north-rat of Mrs)
the earned over the shone as at Bldiaborg, are akar* all
German, and thrall every man he addrwred answered In
German. There is some life and bustle in the town, as officer@
and moldiers make purchases, and pay high price,, The
tradesmen, indeed, are becoming rick.

STRANGE

STORY.

The German journabi give the following account of
the discovery of the telegraphic communication be-
tween Paris and other parts of France
•• The search for she mysterious wire. had given much
trouble to the Pruesiane, without any result. Meantime it
happened that Count Bismarck, Gee Moltke, aed the Royal
Prince received each many letters in the handwritb g of a
female. In these they were implored to deliver the husband
of the lady (the writer of the letters), who was detained a
prisoner by the French in Montereau. In return for this
service she offered the communication of a most important
secret. As proposal. of this and a similar nature daily
reached the Prussian head-quarters by hundred., no attention
was paid to this any more than to the others. How-
ever, on the morning of the filth of September It
wu announced to M. Biemarck that a young lady
initiated on an interview with him. She was admitted,
and informed the count that the letters forwarded
to him were written lir her; that her husband
who was a Jew, a Hungarian by birth, named Joseph Lan-
cer, being a naturalised citizen of France, had been employed
In Parts as a railway engineer, and, before the blockade, had
been epecially entrusted with the task of laying a eubterra-
nean telegraph between Puts and Tours, and also between
Paris and Rouen. Having completed this work he was de-
spatched to Mouterean with Instructions to inspect the rail-
way lines there and make certain repairs, and received from
General Trochu what wail apparently a letter of reoom-
mendation to the authoritlee of that town. When, however,
he arrived, he was Informed that, In consequence of his
German origin (he was born near Presburi), he should be
placed for some time under survellience. A few days
afterwards the Mayor notified to him the. three mines
had been laid under the line of railway leading to
Montereau with the object of blowing up the Prussian
troops !Mould they come by train, and he was desired
to connect the mine, with an electric battery. This, the
lady continued, my husband ref wed to do, saying his duty
was to Inspect the wires not to lay new ones; whereupon be
was maltreated, cast into prison, and threatened with death.
After the lady had satisfactorily proved her Identity, hi.
Bismarck had an Interview with M. Moltke, and three hour.
later a little expedition, fitted out with the greatest pre-
caution, and accompanied by a ;squadron of husurs, net out
for Monterean The troops arrived before the bewildered
city In the evening; the Mayor, still more surprised, was
arrested, and the Hungarian engineer was delivered from
prison. The mine. Indicated were (Rind and destroyed, and
under the direction of Lamer, the Prumeians readily dis-
covered, in the bed of the Seine, the mysterious wires
communicating In four different directions with the capital."

TISSANDIER'S BALLOON JOURNEY

M. Albert Tholandter give. In the Maniteur an account of
his Journey from Paris to Nogent-surheine by the balloon
Jean Bart. Ile ascended from Paris at. quarter past one
o'clock on the 14th tort, accompanied by M. Banc, Mayor of
the 91h Arrondissement, and NI. Ferrand, intruated with •
special mission by the Government. The car contained be-
sides 400 kilogramme. of despatches, or, in other words,
about 100,000 The day was magnificent, and they rose
rapidly to 1,000 metres. The enemy fired at them, and their
bullets could be heard whissing through the air far below
tie car. They passed rapidly over the forest of Armand-
Oilers and Jouy, in the latter of which they saw how skil-
fully the PfUssilMl had contrived works to protect them.
solvm from mu m Mo.tHen tney saw an immense COMO)] of
munitions which occupied ell the roads. But they were
wafted quickly put, and night coming on they resolved to
descend. Peasants came running upon they approached the
ground, calling out "There are no Prussians here` You are
at Montpothier, near Nogentsur Seine ; come down " This
information ma. decisive, and they descended. They had
no sooner done so than they were told the Pruselans were not
ieee if, and bad seen them come down, M. Albert Tie-
eand ie r hurried on to Troyes, where he found his brother Gaston
who had preceded him by balloon. The brothers luckily
met M. de I“ratry and his companions, who had started by
balloon from Paris • few hour. before tne Jean Bart. They
took the brother. Into their conveyance, and told them of the
accidents that had befallen them in their balloon Journey.
11. de K eratry was wounded, and his friend much bruited,