The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-13 00:00:00

FRENCH ACCOUNT.

The Journal des Debats treats the entry of shells into
the city more seriously than do the English writers :
People could not admit that the Prussian batteries esta-
blished at Chatillon, and recently unmasked by the
enemy, could send projectiles beyond the ramparts. The
fact, unfortunately, was but too certain. In fact,
we ourselves ascertained on the spot that a shell,
after having penetrated the roof of a rather lofty house,
No. 37. Rue Daguerre, had crossed to the other
side of the street to a house much lower, com-
posed only of a ground floor 'and first story,
the entrance being No. 6, Rue Lalonde. Here the
projectile had passed just above a casement on the first
story, had gone through a beam, and issued at the oppo-
site side, near the door of a small room on the ground
floor which serves as a turner's workshop. All this
had occurred in so few seconds that the poor turner, who
was working at the moment, had not time to save him-
self. He was struck, but his wounds, it is stated, do not
endanger his life. The shell rolled a metre beyond that
spot into an unpaved court. It rebounded to a height o
a few inches, then fell, and exploded ten metres further
on, at the foot of a small building occupied by a mason.
There everything was broken by splinters of the projectile.
Only a window eseaped being struck. Another shell fell
in the middle of the same street, Lalonde, which is un-
paved. Its splinters struck the houses numbered 7,9, and
U, all the windows of which, without exception, were
entirely smashed upon every floor. A painful emotion
was experienced by part of the inhabitants of the Maine
quarter.

FROM INSIDE A FORT.
A correspondent of the Times managed with great dif-
ficulty to obtain admission into Fort Rosny after it had
undergone several day's bombardment. " I have before
mentioned my surprise' at the very small damage which,
to one looking from the outside of the Fort, they appeared
to do. Inside one was still more struck by this fact. The
ground was strewed with fragments of shells, as it might
well be, considering how many hundreds or even thousands
had been thrown, with admirable aim, into the Fort
during the last few days. Here and there lay whole
shells that had fallen without bursting, but they
looked much too cold and frost-bitten to be longer mis-
chievous. I looked round in vain for the traces of
anything like the damage I should have expected. An
observer who knew nothing about the bombardment
would have been fairly justiffed in pronouncing the occu-
pants of the Fort most untidy people, and might have
wondered how it could have taken them to break so many
windows, or how they could have contrived to knock
holes in their roofs, but it would certainly have never
occurred to him thiot an iron shower of huge projectiles
had been poured upon the place for so many hours
without cessation. Why so few men are hurt we
began partly to understand when we found Ourselves under
the casemate to which our guide took us to lookup r the
commandant. The commandant was asleep, b
senior officer who represented him received us very gra-
ciously. Happily, Monseigneur Bauer was known at the
fort, and a popular guest there as everywhere. We were
offered chairs near the stove and cigarettes, and begged to
await his arrival. This was a decided improvement
upon being looked upon as spies. The casemate
was a low, long room, with a rounded roof, and
small beds down both sides of it, reminding one
rather of a ship's lower deck. It was necessarily
without any window or embrasure to admit light, as this
might also have admitted a shell. We were told that the
only occasion on which there had been loss of life at the
Fort during the bombardment was when a shell happened
to light precisely upon an opening of this kind not suffi-
ciently protected, and forcing its way through, fell into a
room occupied by a number of the Garde Nationale.
The usual cry of warning came too late. Before any-
body could move the shell burst, and in an instant
two men were lying on the floor dead, and three badly
wounded."

THE ATTACK UPON AVRON.
La Write of Paris gives an excellent account of the
attack by the Prussians upon the battery at Avron, which
they soon rendered untenable. " The plateau of Avion
was literally inundated with shells, many of them
of far larger size than had previously been fired.
The range of the guns was too great, and it was evident
that the Prussians had rectified their aim. Their pro-
jectiles no longer fell wide in the field ; they almost all
burst close to the trenches. Two guns in battery No. 2
were struck ; the same thing soon occurred in battery
No. 3 Every moment the wheels of some ammunition
waggon were struck or one of the horses killed. Several
men were wounded in the trenches, which were so
shallow as to afford little protection. Two shells
bursting at the same moment killed a naval officer
and three men at one of the guns. All who were
so imprudent as to venture to attempt to cross the
plateau were struck down. It was a sad and terrible
spectacle to see these sailors coolly endeavouring to point
their guns, undisturbed by the rain of fire, while their
officers, who were encouraging them, were falling every
moment, covering those around them with their blood.
The infantry and the Mobiles where too without shelter,
for the Krupp guns swept the portion of the plateau on
which they were drawn up within supporting distance.
Most of them made the best of it, and laughed when they
heard the shells whistling above their heads and bursting
near them. Many, however, were so terrified, that
they fell back, and spread abroad in they rear disquieting
reports which the terrified air of the narrators rendered
still more alarming. The National Guard were drawn up
on the heights in advance of the village of Rosny, a few
shells reached their ranks. An officer and a soldier of the
114th were slightly wounded ; but they remained firm.
Every hour the Prussian cannonade became heavier. On
our side our fire slackened ; then ceased entirely. An
estafette came with an order to evacuate the plateau, and
to save the artillery. No time was lost."