Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-10-22
From paris 10 Tours I'm a balloon.

From Paris TO Tours I'm balloon
| NJ. Jules Duruof gives the following
narrative of his journey from Paris tc
Tours in a balloon;
He ascended at o'clock on the morn
ing of the 23d, in the Place st. Pierre
Montmartre. The wind was then blow
ing with some violence from the east
and carried the balloon in the direction
of the Arc de Triomphe. When over
this point, being then 5000 metres above
the earth, he was seen by the enemy.
M. Duruof soon discovered that active
preparations were being made for his de-
struction. The Prussians appeared to
him like swarm of aunts busily en-
gagged about an anthill. Their motions,
he of course interpreted, as preparations
to FIRE upon him. Nor was he left long
in doubt. He had scarcely got beyond
the fortified enceinte when the enemy
began to fire projectiles at him from
some of their cannon, which had been
placed in perpendicular position. The
balls came toward the boat of the balloon,
but at some distance, and then fell to the
earth. Some ascended so high as to cause
slight vibrations in the balloon The
cannon having failed, the Prussians then
tried their rifles, but these were just as
unsuccessful. The enemy, however, had
considerable patience, and did not give
up firing at the eronaut until he reached
Nantes. During this part of his journey
he remarked clouds of smoke and heard
the noise of guns. This led him to be-
lieve that fighting was going on around
Mount Valerian and in that part of the
valley of. the Seine. He could see dis
tinctly that the Prussian army on this
spot was formed of seven lines, flanked
by large bodies of cavalry As the wind
still blew from the east, the balloon fol-
lowed the course of the river. AT eleven
o'clock M. Duruof considered that he
was far enough from Paris to venture
on descending. The balloon fell in
park, and the aronaut, having got out
of his boat, was received at the Cha
teau Cracowille, which is a short
distance from Evreux. This chateau
belongs to the Admiral lie Ronciere
de Noury, who is at present in command
of the forts of Paris. Information of the
arrival of the balloon was forwarded to
the Prefect of the Eure. He came and
received the gronaut, who was supplied
with regular commission from the Di-
rector General Of the Postoffice.
NJ. Duruof had carried with him three
sacks, weighing l25 killogrammes, and
containing number of dispatches.
Some of these were from the Minister of
War, or other members of the govern
ment. NJ. Duruof had been ordered not
to give up the dispatches to anyone bnt
a general or prefect. He was directed
to destroy them rather than allow them
to fall into the hands of any other per-
son. Having rested himself for few
hours at Evreux, the @ronaut took the
on Saturday morning. NJ Duruofstates
that the conditions offered by Count
Bismarck had been posted ON the
walls of Paris for three days, and
had given the strongest impetus to the
spirit of patriotism in the breasts of the
defenders Of the capital. From him
also information has been received that
the Prussians, after having taken pos
session of the redoubt above Saint Cloud,
had been dislodged from this position by
the cannon of Mont Valerien. All the
houses in the pretty park of Montretout,
as well as those in its vicinity, are now
a heap of ruin. The affair at Bourget
had been of character at once very
successful and very dramatic Sheltered
behind house which the French had
neglected to demolish, the Prussians
had raised a redoubt Of bricks. An
attack was made at night on the point.
Aided by the electric light given by
Bazaine's machine, some of the Breton
Gardes Mobile had thrown themselves
upon the enemy, The cannon of the
fort meanwhile thundered
against the redoubt and the house which
protected it. Dazzled by the light,
which at the same time left their aggres-
sors in the darkness, and surprised by
this rude attack, the Prussians had been |
routed, and left behind in the hands of
the Gardes Mobile 500 prisoners.