The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-01-30


derly mob assailed the Mazss ptison, in
which Gustave Flourens, Felix Pyat, and other
revolutionary characters were inearcerated.
They succeeded in liberating the prisoners, and
on the following day demon
straton was made upon the HOt,l
de Vile, with the avowed object of deposing
the Government The crowd was not a large
one, but their momentary success would have
precpiated crisis, and decisive measures
were taken to avert serious catastrophe. Five
of the riotors aud spectators were killed. and
eighteen wounded, and this small expenditure
OF blood suficed to suppress the denomination
aud dsperse the crowd.
The UupituIatIOu of Paris.
The end was at hand The new year was
ushered in by the one hundred aud fifth day
OF the siege. Saturday, January 49, extended
the period Of investment aud isolation to one
hundr, and thirty-three days. For fully nine
teen weeks Paris had been shut in from the
great world of which it claimed to be the capi-
tai and centre. During the whole of this ex-
tended period population of two millions had
subsisted upon the stock of provisions accumu-
lated in expectation of siege. Not loaf of
bread or an ounce Of meat had found its way
into the city from without. Horse-fesh
in time took the place of the ordinary animal
food of civilized nations, and when this too
began to fail. dogs cats, aud rats we're brought
into requsition. Even these unsavory ailments
failed at last, and the people, long Injured TO
unsatished hunger, were at last on the very
verge of starvation. Terrible missiles of death
were falling In the heart of the city; Fourens
was again loose, and at the head of the mob
which respected neither life, nor property, nor
principle; the last supreme efforl" at a sortie
had been the most signal failure of all-the end
had come at last
On the evening of Monday, January SO, NJ.
| Jules Favre, whose belief in the impregnability
of Paris against the combined assaults of
famine fire, and fusade had undergone q
change, arrived at Bismarck's headquarters in
! Versailles, to propose capi!u'ation. With the
| course Of the negotiations we are not yet fami-
! liar, because of the conflicting and unauthenti-
Gated reports which have been borne across the
! ocean by the cable There was naturally hg-
Cling over the terms of the surrender land several
| consultations were necessary before they could
! be arranged satisfactorily to both sides. On
| Thursday, the Goth, Favre again met Bismarck,
being accompanied by NJ. Dorian who had Just
succeeded General Leto as Minister of War; and
| NJ. Picard, the Minister of Finance. On Friday,
| the 27th, another conference resulted in the
settlement of the terms and the fall of Paris
was coDsummated on the following day. when
the signatures of Bismarck and Favre were
| three weeks duration.
The War on the Oceun-A Greater Farce thau
| that oh, Lund
At the time of the declaration OF war by
| France against Prussia, the relative strength of
the two powers on the ocean was as follows
No., . o,,o.,o,u Fracse. North Gerrany
| guns. S,046 $40
| horsepower. ..y2,62I 1910
| OF the French fleet of 40l vessels, 62 were
;rn,D ol, dc ,LooI
steamers, and 113 sailing vessels. The German
total of 1O2 vessels consisted of iron-clad
screw steamers, frigates and corvettes, 81
| gunboats, and SO sailing vessels. The French
fleet was Manned when on peace footing, by
221S officers and SO, 346 sailors the total being
swelled by the men OF all grades and in all
capacities attached to the service TO "a 403;
while there was provision for increasing this
formidable force to about 40 600 in time of
war. The German feet, on the contrary, was
manned by only PIG officers and $500 seamen
and Toys.
This great disparity, as a matter OF course,
drove Germany from the ocean, and rendered a
naval contest of any importance impossible from
the outset. 1t likewise suficed almost to ami
hilate the foreign commerce of Germany with
out the firing of gun, while that OF France
remained practically secure from molestation.
But Germany apprehended o greater misfortune
even then tbis-a descent by formidable feet
upon her coast and the devastation of her sea
board if not an actual invasion of her territory.
Toguard against such disasters, extensive precau-
tionary measures were taken; the buoys and
lights were all removed, rendering the ap-
proaches to the coast exceedingly hazardous;
the mouths of the Weser Elbe, ahd Oder, and
the harbors of Kiel and Stralsund, were protected
by chains, sunken vessels and torpedoes; and
two formidable armies were held in reserve
one of l08 600 men, under the command of the
Grand Duke of Meeklenburg, on the Baltic
coast, near the mouth of the Oder, and an
other OF SO 900, under General Won Falkenstein,
near the mouth of the Elbe.
Previous to the outbreak of the war; the
Unit, States had become entirely dependent
upon the North German lines of steamers for
postal facilities with Europe and an effort was
made by our Government TO secure the ex-
emption OF their steamers from capture or in
reference, which favor the Imperial Govern
nent declined to grant; and in consequence of
the refusal, the North German steamers plying
between New York and Bremen and Hamburg
were obliged to seek safety in home or neutral
ports.
Immediately upon the decaretion of war
great activity was displayed by France in pre-
pairing her navy for service against the enemy,
Cherbourg being the natural point of departure
for the armor-plated fleet, from which the most
effective service was expected. The first divi-
sion of the fleet which rendezvoused at Cher
bourg took its departure for the Baltic on July
gath, under Vice Admiral Bouet- Willaumez, to