The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-17 00:00:00

TH if, SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1870_

(CENTRAL PRESS TELEG RAMS.

THE ACCIDENT ON THE TYNE,

Fwo more deaths have taken place, the result of the
accident to a vessel in the process of completion at Low
Walker on the Tyne, making six up to the present time.
The injuries to several more of the men are assuming a
very serious aspect. The inquest on the bodies was opened
on Saturday afternoon at Walker. The bodies were
viewed and identified ; the position of the ship was also
examined. The only evidence taken was that of identifica-
tion, and the inquest was adjourned to Monday the 24th
inst. Had the ship lurched to the side the consequences
would have been much more disastrous, as it would have
caused several more ships that were near to have fallen
above their workmen.

SUFFOCATED IN A BREWERY.
On Saturday night a man fell into a beer vat, in n
brewery in South Shields, and was suffocated.

GAMBETTA'S PROCLA.M4TION.

The special correspondent of the Telegraph, writing
from Tours October 14, gives the following account of the
reception of Gambetta's proclamation :
" Whatever might have been the news to-night from
other parts of France—however stirring or impor-
tant—the astounding despatch from Paris, pla-
carded about by the care of M. Gambetta,
would have utterly smothered it. You will have
received the tidings by this time, and will have weighed
and commented upon them with the help of light from
the other side, long before my word reach you. I have
no opinion at all to give as to the probability of the
news, but I can tell you how it was received here.
I was walking down the Rue Royale, when the dis-
patch was first posted at the office of the Indre et Loire
journal, Instantly there was a shout, a crush, a running
from every direction. A dozen .people read the writing
aloud, and then all the motley concourse broke into short,
loud, interrupted bursts of patriotic song. Your neigh-
bour on the right struck up a bar of the Mar-
seillaise,' then abruptly ceased, to join the chorus
of the Girondins ' on your other hand. Mean-
time the Girondin minstrel, contesting in politeness, had
taken up the refrain of the Marseillaise. Then both
stopped to harangue a breathless Mobile, who was kick-
ing at your shins from behind. In another
moment a fraction of the crowd swept away, and
went, linked in broken chorus, up the street ;
whilst a panting swarm of new corners darted into its
place. I find that intelligent and experienced
persons receive the blessed message with deep distrust.
The ignorant and thoughtless people will not hear a single
expression of doubt, and cannot comprehend it if they
hear. Is it not printed there, before your eyes,
that a ' balloonist ' who left Paris on the 12th in.
scant brought word of a general victory over the Prus-
sians, in which those unholy kites were driven back to
Versailles? It is printed, beyond doubt; and that is
enough. Should the unwary point out, whilst cautiously
abstaining from malevolent interference, that no date is
given for the engagement, that an airy lightness pervades
the whole despatch, he will instantly be snapped up
by persons of the French persuasion—and, if a man
averse to screaming tones and reckless unreason, he will
retire from the wordy storm. But not the less are the
prudent surfeited and sick with false reports. It will
need almost the very proof of sight and feeling to con-
vince them. Troops are still pouring in on the one side
and out on the other. A long column of at least
two thousand youths, clad in blouses and un-
armed, filed down from the station this morning.
To-night a body almost as numerous, not one-half of
whom were in uniform, though all were armed, left by a
special train about six o'clock. With them were two
squadrons of Dragoons. Tours is more empty now than
I have ever seen it. There are a good many Francs-
tireurs from Marseilles and Bordeaux lounging about,
who, so far as I have seen, behave quite properly.
Both public prints and private stories complain of bad
discipline and downright violence on the part of troops
quartered in this city. I feel sure that such conduct is
vastly exceptional. I have seen scarcely any drunken
soldiers ; and while men keep sober they are
not likely to commit very gross offences. In the
lower class of cafés beyond the station, which are
much haunted, I observe, by France-tireurs, some
disorder may not be unfrequent ; and the road 4
about the camp may be not as safe as Piccadilly
at noontide. But, on the whole, these soldiers
must be admitted to behave exceptionally well.
Some robberies, and even violence, may have
taken place here or there, but I have not seen any cause
to believe that a sufficient ground exists for the somewhat
strong language of some French journals. With regard to
the conduct of the soldiers—the regulars I mean—before
the enemy, there is probably much more justification for
the bitterest strictures.