The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-09-18
J. Ths .gsanee-Pra.ss sysr..

al !ute1cstluB I6bter appears In the iSQlUf
Public of Lyons relative to the. instruc-
tlon which Pruesian and French officers
are respectively obliged to possess. The
writer says:l Z = - a.- "
McMahon is supposed to have adopted
tactics which ore not new. namely. to
act above all with his artilIery-said to
be- beformidable-and to spare his men as
much as possible. Napoleon I, of whom
General de Moltke is only the pupil,
never proceeded otherwise He it was
who first imagined the great concentra-
tions of troops by;rapid marches. J. M. de
Moltke, his fervent adnairer, has always
manifested the greatest contempt for our
strategy; remember having heard
quoted some of his very words addressed
to French officer on mission to Ber-
lin. ''Do not talk to me of your militia
ry education in Africa. If you have
never been there, so much the better;
when you become general you will be
glad of it. The war You have been car
rying on for forty years against tho Arabs
is q guerillerie of MI inferior order.
Never any skillful marches, no feints, no
counter-marches, rarely any surprises.
With that school you will do nothing
more than form other schools like it.
The first great war will demonstrate your
ineficiency, and were not in presence
OF man of your merit, sir, should not
hesitate to laugh at your ignorance of the
trade to which you devote yourselves.
Amongst you-do not deny it-a pioneer
is almost ridiculous person, and in
general the working-man is one of mean
intelligence. Here, on the contrary, the
most conscientious studies are in
the order of the day, and the low
est captain knows as much as your staff
officers, who are 80 brilliant in the ball
room. Have you even superficial
smattering OF, the elements of tho mill
tary art Id leaving your special schools?
am tempted to doubt it. Come, now,"
continued General de Moltke, taking the
other by the hand. ri wager That you
do not know what is the most valuable
piece of furniture for the chamber of an
officer in garrison. Come with me-" So
saying the old Prussian led his interlo-
cutor into small bed-chamber suited to
sub-lientenaEt; small bed without
curtains, three straw chairs, shelves of
books from the floor to the roof, and in
the middle of the room n black wooden
board on an easel; the ground strewed
with morsels of chalk. 'sIt is with this
that we beat our adversaries every morn
ing," murmured the old tactitian, who
was destined to give afterwards so severe
lesson to General Frossard, the pro-
fessor OF the Prince Imperial. ''And for
drawings, here is all we want" and Mr.
de AIoltke exhibited some geographical
maps. What o singular conversation,
when one thinks that it took place in
March, 1870, for copy it literally from
letter dated the 21st of that month
What may we not have to say about the
lessons to be derived from it? We shall
profit by them ut later period.
WAsHBURNE IN STATE OF SIEGE-THE
WOES OF A DIPLOMAT-HAvINa HARD
T1A1E.- What can you expect when we
are in the shadow of siege? The Ame-
rican Minister is likewise having hard
time of it. Mr.. Washburne has not
been troubled, it is true. to any great
extent with the care of plate and valua-
bles tor his countrymen, for the
Americans in Paris seem to have made
up their minds to take things as they
come, and with philosophic GOODNESS. I
have not yet heard of any American who
has been arrested rs "Prussian spy''-
fate which, in the city or the provinces,
has befallen about ten out of every
dozen Englishmen have met here.
Moreover, our American cousins, when
travelling in Europe, do not habitually
cucumber themselves with heavy SER
vices of plate; and as for their diamonds
with which they are as rule plenti-
fully supplied-the gentlemen put them
into their waistcoat pockets and the
ladies pop them into thoir chignons
when times look ugly, and SO everything
is very nice and comfortable. The trou-
bile with tho American Legation is, that
the Prussians domiciled in Paris are
under United States protection; md
whenever al unhappy German gets
mobbed by a gang Of drunken rowdies,
or collared by jealous sergent de vile,
or denounced by patriotic mill1-woman
or public spirited ceok-maid, for such
high and mighty crimes as wearing
spectacles with tortoise-shell rims, carry
ing pocket-handkerchief in the crown
OF his hat, or asking his way to the Rue
Neuve des Petits Champs, the supposed
"Prussian spy" naturally asks to be
conducted to the American Legation,
there to prove by tho exhibition of his
papers that he is perfectly inoffensive
and law-abiding Teuton. On Saturday
morning, no fewer than eighteen per-
sons who had been arrested by the po-
lice, or by excited amateurs. were