The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-09-22

6, SEPTEMBER %, 1870.
blazed up; we saw four, five confagrations;
two united, and presented vast roaring fur
mace The wind blew from the west and fan
ned the flames; they dared up forked tongues
of fire. A spectator cried out, "See there how
the cathedral towers alofs above the clouds of
smoke, how venerable, as If mutely threaten
ng sad agsns ea s oheT @eR Taf e % ssess
does but remain unharmed," was the cry
that ran from mouth to mouth, and
meanwhile feelings OF deep compassion
were expressed for those within the city.
In spirit we are transported among those
now wailing in vaulted cellars, as they
heard the thunder of the guns, ignorant where
homes And in the streets the fires must be
left to rage unchecked. Who could strive to
ouench them while each minute further dis.
charges are falling? How many cry out to
their own dear ones, seek them, and are like
beings bewidered in their oWn homes. what
shrieking, what misery If one could but
compress together the heart-throbs OF the peo-
Stroke than the deep roar Of the guns, which,
necessarily discharged, lit up the gloom here
there till the eye could no longer follow. Mid
night had set In before we decided TO go home.
We could see each other as In full moonlight.
The fields the vineyards, were LII up; the church
OF Mundelsheim, with It's white gravest0nes;
suddenly tire light grows still brighter. Now
that we had not seen the flames for time,
they appeared broader, stronger, more more as vora
from the fearfully grand spectacle, and yet 1t
must be. The villagers we met professed to
know which part Of the city would be saved
from the flames. We strove to believe their
assurances that the precincts OF the cathedral,
above all, ITSELF would remain uninjured, And
yet for moment it had seemed TO as that the
cathedral terrace, which had been the observ-
ever, an Illusion. The flames Illuminated our
homeward way. The sky was oVerspread
with light clouds of blood red. The fire
must have been visible beyond the Rhine, far
back into the Black Forest
Balloons in the War.
A New York Times correspondent writes :.
The question Of balloon service has again
come up, and the eronauts who have been
trying to get servicein this war are preparing
their gas. The Germans, also, are not going
to be behind in the matter of balloons, and
Welles has received letter from Count Bis
marck, saying that his offer OF services will
be accepted On this side, We have two Of
the best balloonists in the worh-men of ex-
peHence In their line. and thoroughly scien-
tiHc. NJ. Nadar has offered to organize bal
loon service, with the help OF MN. Dartoss
and Durnof, and place 1t at the disposition OF
the commandant at Paris. 1t Will be remem-
:bered that 1t was these three experienced Gro-
:nauts who made the ascension In the "Geant," !"
when they visited Lyons. Brussels and Am
sterLam. n. Nadar has three powerful bal
looms on hand, which he will Immediately put
upon a war foetiug. Further, upon the left
bank of the Seine we have NJ. GODDARD, whose
name will alse be familiar to American maSa-
zine readers. the GrOnaut to the Emperor.
He. too, will organize service Of balloons,
but the two services, although having the
same end and aim, are to be separate and dis
tinct organizations. 1t Is because military all-
thority falls to heal the wounds of professional
jealousy and envy? f0f the value OF this ser
vice there ceR hardly be doubt, for, except
in the very centre of the city, there are no
high points tor observation, the towers OF
Notre Dame being only about Two hundred
and fifty feet In height. There are very few
buildings which could really be used as ebser-
vatories in case OF siege, and balloons would
seem to be most useful on this side"
Carrier Pigeons in the Spy Service.
One of our French correspondents writes:
The last discovery is that the means OF COM
munication between spies and their directing
was picked up In the town Of Gisors short
time ago. The poor thing had fallen from ex-
haustiol, and being very handsome, was cared
for by his captor, who on handling him found
beneath one wing an inscription in German
characters traced with indelllble ink on the
feathers which, when translated into French,
read: CHAL. lG0. EMP. RET. The pigeon
was retained, and the authorities have put
stop to those matches which were formerly so
common between Belgium and the southern
provinces Of France.
When we bear in mlnd that there are ten
thousand of these trained birds which could
convey intelligence In six hours from Paris to
any of the frontier towns Of Belgium, there
can be little surprise felt at the French pr0hi.
blton OF the sport. In America, few persons
have any idea Of the tervor with which these
pigeon races are kept up. Contests from the
extreme southern provinces to Brussels, in
which one thousand or fifteen hundren pigeons
are sent of, and Ia which the first prize is a
service of plate given by the Belgian King,
are Dot uncommon; and minor races Of three
hundred or four hundred miles are OF daily oc-
curreace during the season.
So, although partridge shooting ls forbidden
in the Department Of the Seine, 1t Is perfectly
admissible to extermlnate any OF the feathered
tribe, which bears the slightest resemblance to
pigeon, be it wild or tame. According to
French law, the shooting season Is regularly
opened by an edict signed by the p:efect, who
makes it coincide with the gathering in of the
crops; but although it was published as usual
this year, an afterthought told n. Cheveau
that it would be better to save all the powder
for the Prussians, and second decree sus
pended the execution OF the first until France
was fraed from her enemies, whereupOn was
wrote under the heading Of the original pro-
clamation, which was OuCurt,tre de ii Chdsse,
the words .4,lr PruSsiens.