The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-11 00:00:00

THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE PARIS
FORTS.

From the head-quarters of the Crown Prince of Prussia,
Versailles, the special correspondent of the Daily News
sends the following under date January .8 :—There has
been steady hammering at the French forts for three
days past. The fire of the forts has slackened under the
withering effect of the German shells. We have heard a
low, constant growl all the morning beyond the west of the
hill of Meudon, which shows that the cannonade still con-
tinues. I have not been out to-day far enough to learn
for certain what is going fof v,-ord ; but when I saw Issy
yesterdnv afternoon, the French fire was very little in
proportioil with earlier efforts. Report says they had a
good many guns dismounted by the German batteries, and
that their loss in men must have been enormous. Again
and again the. French sailors cleared away the wreck of
overturned pieces, and brought other guns to bear on the
smoky hillside above, and carried their wounded comrades
into the casements. Again and again the Germin shells
caused confusion in the forts. Now Issy was silent for
a while ; now Montrouge ceased to fire. It was hoped by.
the besiegers more than once that this or that fort would
not open again, but at present they have all resumed i
operations after a certain amount of delay, and I cannot
learn that up to this morning any fort has been com-
pletely silenced. It has been remarked in connection with
the French fire that 400 shells have been thrown into
open fields, where they fall harmless, whilst only
a few go anywhere near the batteries. This is partly ac-
counted for by the difficulty of firing upwards at a vague
line of smoke and spadework against the crest of hills,
and partly by the fact that trained gunners are scarce .in
Paris. The French forts, moreover, have been known to
and studied by the German engineers for months past,
whilst the German batteries burst upon the French
engineers with the disadvantage of novelty. When
'the trees which masked them were felled on the
night of the 4th and sth of January, and the
batteries stood revealed to the foe, they were in places
studiously chosen for the annoyance of the forts. From
whatever cause arising, it seems clear that the superiority
of the German fire has been soon established, and that
this fire not only is more accurate, but more murderous
than the fire of the French. The German shells being
moulded into deep grooves to hold the leaden coating
for the rifled barrel of the gun, burst into many
fragments, each of which will kill, whilst the French ,
shells having knobs or buttons upon them to fit the rifling
of tho gun, and not being grooved, burst into fewer pieces,
and thus waste power. Again, the French guns work
for the most part in embrasures or notches in the top of
the rampart; and if a shell enters one of these embrasures
it is pretty certain to silence the gun. The German guns,
on the contrary, are mounted in barbette—that is,
they peep over the top of the breastwork, and unless
actually struck are not damaged. They are breechload-
ing, and can be charged in this position with the minimum
of exposure to the artillerymen in the batteries. Unless
the French can actually strike the steel and
bronze muzzles which flash out at them so
steadily, they get little by their expenditure
of ammunition. We know nothing of the effect
of the German fire in frightening Paris. It is
said that the King will at length grant the request of the
soldiers and pour destruction into the city. I have even
heard that batteries have been appointed to shell the
inhabited parts between the Invalides and the southern
ramparts ; but I still doubt whether any such
course will be adopted. The most likely spot to
be heavily battered is the railway-bridge over
the Seine previously mentioned. It has already
suffered considerably, say those who have seen it this
morning, and no more trains run across it. Next to the
railway bridge in importance are the houses where the
Frence outposts take shelter. These are said to have
been all destroyed. Twelve - pounders, with
which many of the batteries were armed,
are being exchanged for heavier metal. Fa-
voured by the break up of the weather,
the besiegers will boldly push forward approaches to the
very glacis of more than one fort. German speculators
are busy with plans for feeding Paris when it submits.
The obstinate Parisian is to pay a handsome price for his
first roast beef, and thus put a little money in the honest
trader's pocket. It is noteworthy that when Paris falls
there will be a German Governor ready at hand, whose
head-quarters are for the moment in Versailles.

THE GERMAN PRISONERS AND THE
WAR.

About 100 German prisoners, who had been taken in
some of the late engagements, arrived at Le Mans on the
6th. They give a very sorry account of their own army
in the field, and say that in Germany as in France the
great mass of the people earnestly desire that peace
should be concluded upon any terms, and that
the present horrible carnage should cease. They
declared, unasked, to my informant and, as they
knew him to be an Englishman, what they said cannot
fall under the suspicion of being flattering tales
invented to conciliate their captors—that, day
after -clay, the German troops, when out of the hear-
ing of their officers, curse the King of Prussia, the
Crown Prince, Prince Frederick Charles, and every
leader who has helped to bring them into the pre-
sent campaign—a campaign which, at starting, they
were told would not last more than a few weeks, but
which seems now as far as ever from its termination.
They declared that, were it not for a popular idea in their
army—namely, that the French poison the food of their
prisoners—many hundreds would quietly allow themselves
to be taken in every engagement.—Correspondent of the
7'degraph.

THE RESOURCES OF THE FRENCH.
In a communication from the seat of Government at
Bordeaux, the special correspondent of the Daily News,
writing on January sth, says :—I have just heard that
the papers have been again warned to give no hints what-
ever as to the movements of Bourbaki and Chanzy, and
also that Gambetta will probably start to-morrow for Le
Mans. Taking these two circumstances together, I ima-
gine that the advance is at hand, and that ere another
week has elapsed we shall again have taken the offensive
in earnest. But in that case it is, unfortunately, also
evident that Government has no intention of putting
half their available forces in the field. There are no
signs whatever of movements in the camps ; and, indeed,
a decree of to-day announces that as the provincial artil-
lery cannot yet be delivered, the National Guard
Artillery are to go to depots, where they will practise for
at least twenty days with Government artillery. As
probably a fortnight will elapse before this order is
carried out, it is evident that Government do not reckon
upon having their artillery ready for service for six
weeks to come, as it is only after the com-
pletion of this preliminary instruction that the men
are to be sent to the camps. I am therefore bound
to believe that the Government have no idea of bringing
up their forces from the camps to aid in the attempt to
relieve Paris, but that that task will be committed to the
present forces of Chanzy, Bourbaki, and Faidherbe alone.
Faidherbe will probably be able to lend but little assist-
ance, and the operation will have to depend upon the
army of Chanzy, 150,000 strong, and that of Bourbaki,
perhaps 120,000. I question whether these forces
are sufficient for the end in view. It may be asked
what is the motive of the Government in thus assembling
and drilling enormous forces in the camps, if they do not
mean to use them? I believe that this enormous reserve
will be brought into the field if Paris falls. In two
months there will be 400,000 men, well drilled, and well
supplied with artillery, and these will more than balance
the German forces freed by the fall of Paris. At
the outside these forces may be estimated at
300,000, and probably 250,000 would be nearer the
truth. At least one hundred thousand men will be re-
quired to garrison Paris, and to guard the enormous army
of prisoners, so that only from one hundred and fifty to
two hundred thousand would be available for field opera-
tions, and the French reinforcements would be fully
double this strength. A desperate attempt will, no doubt
be made to save Paris ; but if it fails, and Paris falls,
France will have an enormous army with which to
continue the war. I do not imagine that it is
intended to use the troops at Cherbourg and the
West for the advance upon Paris. They are not yet
thoroughly drilled, and are short of their proper propor-
tion of artillery. I imagine that all that they will do at
present will be to clear Normandy and re-occupy Rouen.
As to the chances of success of Chanzy and Bourbaki,
you are able to judge of them in England more dispas-
sionately than I can do here ; but it is certainly in their
favour that in all the recent conflicts the French have
proved themselves to be, man for man, at least equal to the
Prussians.

The American papers record the sudden death
of the Rev. Albert Barnes, D. 1)., the well-known com-
mentator, at the age of 72 years.

On Saturday will be produced at the Lyceum a
Comic Opera in Four Acts, composed expressly for the
Italian Opera Buffa Company (Limited), by Signor Bot-
tesini, the eminent composer and orchestral conductor,
whose writings for the lyric stage place him in a high
rank for melody and dramatic expression. The Italian
Libretto, by Signor Taddei, is a graceful and amusing
adaptation of the world-famed story of the "Forty
Thieves," the English version of which has been entrusted
to the well known skill and experience of Mr. C. L.
Kenny.