The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-10 00:00:00

THE LONDON TRAMWAYS.

Mr. Bazalgette has furnished the Metropolitan Board
of Works with a report upon the bills for the extension of
Metropolitan street tramway; which are to come be-
fore Parliament in the approaching session. Several
lines which last year received the sanction of
the Legislature are, he says, only now being
completed in many of the leading approaches to Lon-
don, and sufficient time, therefore, has not elapsed for
testing their merits by experience. A tramway mania,
he thinks, has seized the minds of promoters, which, if not
checked and carefully controlled by the result of experience
would, he fears, be attended with the most injurious
results. In the years 1869-70 the existing companies
obtained parliamentary powers to lay down about
82A miles of tramways, and to raise capital
to the amount of £1,051250. This year it is pro-
posed to add a further length of 266 miles of tramways
with powers to raise a further sum of about £2,830,000,
or, in round numbers, together involving an expenditure
of about £3,880,000. for the construction of about 350
miles of tramway; being at the rate of about £ll,OOO
per mile. The gauge in all cases appears to be 4ft. Biin.
Sixteen provisional orders of the Board of Trade are ap-
plied for, under the Act of 1870, to lay down tramways.
The driver and the conductor of a tramway car was sum-
moned at the Thames Police-court for having run down a
cab in the Mile-end-road. There was no doubt about the
fact, but the defence was that the injury to the com-
plainant's vehicle was caused by accident and not by
design. The magistrate was at first inclined to send the
tramway driver to prison, but' ultimately a fine was in-
flicted in each case, and th? company was ordered to
compensate the cabman.

GREAT FIRE IN LABIBETII.—About nine o'clock
last night a fire—the brilliancy of which attracted some
thousands of persons to the Surrey side of the Thames—
broke out lon the extensive premises of Mr. William
Younghusband, oil refiner, Old Barge-house WlArf,
Commercial-road, Lambeth. The flames having attacked
the cellars and warehouses, in which were stowed an un-
usual quantity of oil and several casks ofiltriol, the water
appeared to have no effect; and the flames ascended with
great force, illuminating the metropolis for some distance.
Before the fire could be extinguished, Mr. Youucrhus-
baud's premises were entirely delltroyed.
TATTER-TigxEs TN A.ATE4IPA,.-m•We hear. from New
York of a new arrangement by the Post Office. The
pillar-boxes are connected with a pneumatic tube that
runs round the city to the general receiving-house. As
the letters are dropped into the box they are blown along
the tube at the rate of sixty-five miles an hour7—Ruilckr.

- -
THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE PARIS

FORTS.

The special correspondent of the Daily News sends the
following, dated Versailles, Jan. 6 :—The second day's
bombardment of the forts south of Paris was favoured
by much finer weather than attended the opening of the
German fire yesterday. It is a bright sunny afternoon,
and there is no mist on the lower ground to
hinder the gunners in taking aim. Mont Valdrien
has not been attacked, so the rival artillery in
that direction remains almost silent ; but beyond the
hills of :Hendon and Clamart there is the same deadly
growl and rumble as was heard yesterday morning. If
we may ildge by the smoke puffs over the German
batteries, and by the steady booming of their cannonade,
a fiercer fire is being poured on the French on the second
than on the first day of attack. More batteries seem to be
engaged, and having got the range the besiegers have
warmed to their work. It is an artillery duel of intense
interest for both sides—a fair stand-up fight between forts
and batteries, with Paris shuddering behind. I see no
sign of damage produced by the stray shells which are
said to have fallen into the city. There are domes and towers
glittering in the sun, there is an expanse of white houses
and of tiled and slated roofs as of yore. The people in the
streets may be going quietly about their business, and the
families of hungry children high under the tiles may be
crying for food rather than for fear cf the Prussians.
But they must hear all this in Paris. They have
war brought home to them in the thunder of those
batteries against their outlying forts. They can get
a better view of what happens than can be obtained
from the besieging side. To them the crest of the
hill above Issy, Vanvres, and Montrouge must show a
threatening spectre of smoke clouds rising athwart the
sunlight, and they must have the sound of bursting shells
brought down to them by the wind. Without being as
yet in danger, the Parisians have danger at their very
door. An exciting artillery duel has not the element of
dash which makes a battle, nay, even a small skirmish,
so different to other sights. Great guns boom forth
in quick succession ; smoke rises on the wind, and the
noise is deafening. But no charge is made. There is no
gallop of cavalry to the front, or steady, crackling advance
of an infantry line. You see a number of dull
earthen mounds, with suggestions of an un-
finished railway embankment about them. There
are black objects peeping over the mounds, and
these flash out at intervals, with sudden shocks,
which make the ears tingle. Men are busy about them,
and words of command sometimes are heard. But the
principal part is played by the inanimate black objects.
The great injuries are borne by the dull earthen mounds.
The forts are not much more conspicuous than the
batteries ; they look like mere railway embankments
on a larger scale. Now it is from above, now
from below, that the flashes come fastest. Over
each party there is a continual smoke-cloud slowly dis-
persing on the wind, and then replaced by fresh bursts of
smoke as they fire again and again at each other. The forts
have the worst of it, in so far that more shells crash straight
into them than seem to strike the batteries ; but we can-
not tell which of the deadly visitors takes effect. Dust
flies up, and the report is heard. Perhaps some one has
fallen. If so, enough are left to continue the work.
Answering flashes come thick and fast. The two rival
lines of fire mingle in the road and die away, and rise and
mingle again. There was some loss yesterday in the Ger-
man batteries, but the exact figure is not known. I hear
that the effect of the fire from Montrouge was most
deadly, and that the Germaus consider their battery No,
9 to have done especial damage.

THE TERMS OF SURRENDER.
The special correspondent of the Telegraph sends the
following from Versailles, January B:—As far as I can
gather, the German modes operandi to be adopted after
the fall of Paris will be nearly as follows :—First, the King
will not enter the city at all, as was his Majesty's inten-
tion two months ago. He will instantly return to
Berlin,
.leaving the allied armies under the command
of the two Royal Field Marshals. Paris itself
will receive no garrison—the protection of the city will be
confided to the National Guard, which will not be dis-
armed. Of course, the regulars and Moblots will be sent
to Germany. The forts will be garrisoned by German
troops. The main body of the besiegers, as also of the
other German armies now in the field, will retire to
the province of Champagne, which they will hold
in pledge for the war expenses, &c. Alsace and Lorraine
Germany considers her own, now and for ever. Holding
the Paris forts and Champagne, the Germans will discuss
terms, and leave France at complete liberty to re-consti-
tute her Government, and to continue the war or not, as
she pleases. Upon the correctness of this programme, I
believe you may rely.