The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-08-27
Letter from the Seat of War.

terestino at this time, that we have soncHeu lHe =
privilege of inserting it in the ADVERTISER i
BERLIN, PRUSSIA, July 18th, 1870. }
Nv DEAR NELLIE Il find that l get behind hand, :
r travel so fast and see so much, unless L keep a letter |
constantly going. So, to-day, while you { are
all peaceful and quiet at dear old "o"ee' .
l am writing in my room OF the hOtet 0e
Rome on the Inter den Linden IN this capltai OF
prnss,a. Long before this reaches you, you will
know that war is actually declared between France
.nd Prussia. and I have no doubt you viii have had
m,nu solicitations on my behalf. 1 am perfectly
.ofe however. and shall endeavor to keep out Of
danger. The fighting will be on the borders OF the
Rhine. 1 am sorry at this, for it may prevent my
visiting this celebrated region. But an American is
safe anywhere, and l always say 1 am an American
living at Honolulu! How this will connect with my
Hawaiian passport, I cannot tell: but thus far, no
one has asked for my passport. L nave lei1 te"p.Su
To give the Pacific COmmerctdI .ddcerttSeT u III,
and write from here to Mr.. Whitney, as ms opecIal
Wor Corresnondent.'' but to tel the truth, l want to
write home q connected story, and it would be too
much like york to write many OF the same innings
twice.
addressed to Allan. On the day of my writing,
:July 18th, after mailing the letter, L went 10 see IL L
conId find Mr.. Martin, the Hawaiian Consul. Inc
servants at his house said he was at the sea snore'
onandinp the summer. I then went on to the Champs
d.Elvsees. and for one franc visited the panorama
of Solferino, where the French beat the Austrlans.
tt j, a very large picture arranged around q room
tba visitor stands on a hill in the centre, which is OF
dirt and stones, and represents q part OF the battle
field. Shell, muskets and cannon are lying ABOUT
and the hill slants down and connects so perfectly
with the picture that the illusion Is complete. vi
course the present Napoleon has a prominent place
in this picture at the head of o body OF cavalry
several of whom are being shot down at his sue
Now, it is known that Napoleon was faint at tnis
battle.
In the present conflict my sympathies are entirely
with the Prussians. In the first place, the cause OF the
war is absurd. After Prince Leopold Hohenzollern
father had withdrawn his sons candldature to the
Spanish throne and the King of Prussia had, as the
head of the family, said he would not consent 10
Leopold's being King of Spaln,-even TINS Wouiu
not suit France, and she insisted on a preremptory
promise on the part of Prussia to be made within
fortv-eight hours, that Prussia would prevent forever
in the future this Prince Leopold from being hing
of Spain. This saucy demand was too much Tor
Prussia, and the King refused to see the frenGn
Ambassador whel he called for his answers. The
fact is France is s2oiling for a fight, and any excuse,
however poor, would be taken up eagerly. She Is
Jealous at Prussia's advance, and especially because
she whipped the Alstrians so easily at SadoWa-
The argument On the part of France is this If
Snain should have o Prussian King, then Prussia
would be too powerful, and in order to MAINTAIN the
balance of poucer there must be war that is, IN
plain language, whenever my nelghoor becomes
6 more powerful than I am, l must get into a quarrel
with him, and whip him if l can-the ethics OF
j which | cannot see And yet many persons justify
France IN this argument. 1t IL IlO v " SP0SuoeO
y upon which will be victorious--a good deal may be
said on both sides. Prussia has the needle-gun,
which has been proved a success; whereas the
t chassepots of the French have never been IN action,
and are known TO heat SO badly that they have to be
worked with the feet. France, however, has the
D mitraiiieurs, a deadly machine for throwing grape
shot. A few days ago, they were experimenting al
n Versailles on condemned horses. They killed ooO
horses in one and a half minutes and again, 5OO
{ horses in one discharge of the mttrdatIeurs: vi
course Prussia will endeavor to disable the lnlerna
: piachine or keep it out of range.
- But have digressed from my journal. AFTER
seeing Solferino, L saw the famous clock for the
Cathedral of Beauyais. 1t is about thirty feet high
e and as large as a house, keeps the time OF all tine
principal cities of the world, besides the Astronomical
movements. When it strikes, a cock crows, a trum,
pet sounds, an organ is played, &C., and many
g figures of angels, apostles, &C., move about. From
-. here 1 visited a large collection of photographs OF
: exbibition-after which 1 dined at the Cafe Belle
d Gabrielle and heard a Zouave Band play in the gar
o dens of the Tuileries. In the evening | went to thu
opera, heard Der Freichiutz. 1t was good but
enjoyed Faust much more.
t. Thursday. July IA, was an exceedingly hot day il
c. Paris. l spent it as follows First visited my bank
ers and got a circular letter of credit to use on IN.
travel, and then went to the 6 Jardin d dcclimd
z tion,'' which has taken the place of the 6 Jardtn
ne des Plants." 1t is an extensive affair, on the edg
-, of the Bots de Boulogne, and l wandered through 1t
shady walks until l was quite tired, looking at tn
m various and wonderful varieties of birds, animal
ne and flowers. No ferocious animals are here, but tn
al strangest looking Siamese, Chinese, &C., cattle
horses, alpacas and tapirs. are here. In enc place
Il. series of sea " Aquaria " with molusks, crabs, Sc
weed. &c., all alive and moving, was very interesting
b. When L got back to the hotel, | packed up my trun
~ and left it in charge of my bankers, travelling wit
" my valise, coat and umbrella only, and L lind tn
nd quite enough. In the evening, L took q drive an
NJ visited the I" Jardin Butler " and saw about 3,OU
persons, dancing and promenading together. On N
Is way back to the hotel, 1 saw u crowd OF persons nj
rs ing the street up and 1 soon heard the Marseilit
cd Hymn, and they tramped past me singing it, an
calling out g En- Berlin , and keeping time. as the
ey marched. The Marseilles is not tabu when it is use
to excite the people against Prussia. From all L ca
as gather it is not a popular war, but one got up by u
Government and its party-and L only wish II
ce words of the old French song could be put in practlc
eff &c Why not them that make the qudrrelS, be the onl
ior ones to fght?" The noise and excitement kept u
=, all night, and the papers the nextday spoke of 1t as
'ol scene that Paris had never before witnessed. As II
me, it did not begin to be as exciting as the occaslG
of the firing on Sumpter. In Paris, people woui
shake their heads and say nothing. In Boston eVei
n cheek was blanched and every eye eager.
> The next day, July 10Th, L started for Cologne,
d 7:9O A. NJ. 1 passed through the following towns
b. France: Criel, Compeigne, Tergnier, 81. QuentI
ere Maubierge and JeumOnt, and here, as we ran in
H. Belgium, all the passengers were ordered OUT OF U
ne cars into a room to have the baggage inspected by t
IS: Custom House officers of Belgium. A mere look
he nv valise and it was passed. Belgium is quite hill
and the ride interesting but very, very dirty, own
an to the iron and coal mining operations through whr
of we passed. Hanover, Liege, Spa, all Belgian town
IN and soon the double headed black eagle on the st
tions told me I was in Prussia. The Custom Hou
officer here merely asked me if 1 had anything
zes sc declare" 1 said no, and that ended 1t. AK
Chapelle is very prettily situated, and many OF the
ate towns are favorite watering places.
At $40 we reached Cologne. on the Rhine, and a
of came out of the depot there was the famous old u
az completed cathedral right near me. l put up at t
{" Hotel Disch , and had a good wash and dinner al
,rb walked out to the Rhine. 1t was lively here and b
re. quite a mercantile aspect, as Cologne is quite a IA
de- road centre. BENG q iortlneo .o"n IN Vi NY
,n+ take it. In Belgium they speak French and on t
m borders both French and German. In Colog
1t every one wants to show you where you can get t
So, genuine &c Eau de Cologne" bought a bottle j.
onnosite the cathedral of a girl who spoke good En-
zen lish, though a boy outside told me this was the wro
or, place and it was not genuine. The cathedral is fl
of the finest Gothic edlhce IN the world, begun
n I248 and they hope to finish it in 8 or 10 years,