Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-06-13

streets, the insurgents had strong barbados;
in fact, the key of their position was there, for
II the versailles troops could once pass that
point they could easily take the great batteries
in Rue Royale, the Rue de Riyoli and the Place
VendOme in the reverse; here the most desper-
ate fighting took place for period of nearly
thirty-six hours. The neighborhood presented
the most dreadful appearance this morning.
The sidewalks of that splendid Boulevard Males
herbe were filled with horses, baggage wagons
and artillery carriages. The horses had been
more or less torn by shot and shell. The trees
were all cut to pieces by the fire of the artillery
and musketry, and their branches filled the
streets. A dead national guard was lying in an
excavation for cellar near by. In small
open space, in the next street, were the bodies
of two soldiers of the line, who had been sum
marily shot as deserters. Proceeding further,
reached the front of the church of La Made.
laine, at the head of Rue Royale, and many of
the buildings of that thoroughtare were in
flames, and others seemed literally to have been
torn in pieces by the fire of cannon and musk
etry. Going further up the Boulevard Capu-
cines, found many of the buildings completely
riddled, and upon the sidewalk was dead
national guard, and in a side street, a short
distance from there, was another dead body of
the insurgent guard, people passing by and
looking on with apparent satisfaction. went
to the Place Vendome, which had been evacu'
ated during the night, and there, for the first
time, saw the great column lying in the position
in which it had fallen The insurgents had not
time to remove the bronze, which is now to he
made use of in the speedy restoration of the
column, the national assembly having decreed
that it shall at once be restored. The Place de
la Concorde was evacuated at the same time,
the insurgents retreating in the direction OF the
hotel de Vile and up the Rue Lafayette. From
Place Vendome, went to the Rue de Rivoii and
proceeded cautiously toward the Tuileries under
the arcade The Tuileries building was still
bur nd
every part of the building where they had not
before reached. 1t seemed that it would be im-
possible TO save the Louvre, but | hear as |
write that its preservation is secured, with all
its treasures of art and historic interest. Dur
ing the entire afternoon, the fires have been
raging in many directions, and from the lega-
ton the sound of battle can be distinctly heard,
but 1t is impossible to procure any reliable in
telligence in regard TO what is taking place.
Most certainly something more definite can be
ascertained in the morning.
THURSDAY, May %.
When closed my dispatch last night it was
fire and battle. 1t is the same this morning.
There were frightiul burnings all night. The
great Hotel de Vile, with all its traditions and
souvenirs of history, exists no longer. The Cour
des Complies the Court of Cessation, the Prefec-
ture of Police, and the celebrated old prison of
the Conciergerie have shared the same fate. All
has been the work of organized incendiarism,
anu luC nave uOnO GfClJ thlllS
in their power to destroy Paris. Ii the entry of
the troops had been delayed much longer they
would certainly have succeeded The COM
mune had already made "perqusitions" for all
the petroleum in the city, and prepared Pc
troleum boxes and other means of firing the
place. Bands of men, women and children
were organized to do this diabolical work.
During the past two days immense numbers of
these persons have been detected in distributing
these boxes, and in every case the most sum-
mary vengeance has been inflicted upon them,
without regard to age, sex or condition. An
employe of this legation counted this afternoon
on the Avenue d'Antin the dead bodies of eight
the eldest not more than fourteen
years Of age, who had been seized while distrib-
uting their incendiaTy boxes and shot on the
spot The state of feeling now existing in Paris
is fearful beyond description. Passing events
have filled the Whole population opposed to the
with horror and rage. Arrests are
made by wholesale of the innocent as well as
the guilty. Last night four Americans-two
ladies and two gentlemen-innocent as yourself
Of all completely with the instruction, were
seized while dining at restaurant and marched
through the streets to one of the military posts
Ihey sent word TO me as soon as possible of
their arrest, and lost no time in going to their
relief. | addressed myself TO Gen. Douai, who,
upon my statement, Immediately ordered their
release. He expressed much regret at what had
happened, but said that in the existing excited
state of feeling it was impossible to prevent the
arrest of innocent persons; that if unfortunately
she arrest ofany other Americans occurred they
would be Immediately released upon my appli-
cation, unless charged with crime for which
they could be justly and legally held
went down in the city this afternoon to see
for myself what was the progress of events.
Very little has been done toward putting mat
ters into shape in the parts already captured from
the insurgents. The barricades everywhere re-
main. The fire was still raging in Rue Royale
The ministry of finance is completely consumed
with every record and paper, a loss that is ut
terly incalculable. The insurgents having been
driven beyond the Place BaStile, | was able to
go much farther than l went yesterday.
passed up the Rue de Rivoli by the smoking ru-
ms of the Tuileries, and had the ineXpressibe |
pleasure of seeing for myself that the Louvre,
with all its noble and incalculable treasures, |
mad been preserved. As | continued up the |
street it seemed as if were following in the |
track of an army. Reaching the Hotel de Vile, |
found the neighborhood had all the appear
2nce of an intrenched camp. Immense barri- |
cades were on every street leading into the |
square, but am told the insurgents abandoned |
it without fight, finding themselves upon the |
point of being hemmed in. But before leaving |
they applied the torch to that pile so interwoyen
with the history of Paris and Of France, and the
pride of Frenchmen for centuries gone by. Now |
there was nothing but mass of smouldering |
ruins. Two squares of magnificent buildings |
on the lower side Of the "Place de PHotel de |
Vile" had also been DESTROYED. It was indeed
a sad sight to behold. There was regiment of |
the troops of the line on the quay, but scarcely
another soul was to be seen in the entire neigh
borhood. Eight dead bodies of the insurgents,
partially consumed by fire, lay on the ground
right in front of what was the main entrance
into the building, and presenting the most hor-
rible appearance and sad sights everywhere
AT the Place de pOpera | saw some five hun
dred prisoners, men, women and children, who
were being driven to Versailles. There were a
squad of cavalry marching in front and in rear
of them and foot soldiers marching on either
side. must say they were the most hideous
and sinister-looking persons | ever saw in the
whole course of my life The sight of the pris-
oners excited the people to the highest pitch of
indignation, and every opprobrious epithet was
heaped upon them, and the escort alone pre-
vented violence from being inflicted upon the
spot. An officer told me this afternoon that the
order was to shoot every man taken in arms
against the government. do not YOuch for the
truth of what he told me, but | do know that
large numbers OF the national guard and many
Others caught in some criminal act have been
summary executed.
have had great fears that the Prussian EN-.
bassy might be burned, | learned today that
suspicious persons were lurking about the prem
ises, and | Immediately addressed note to
Marshal Mcmahon advising him of my appre-
tensions and asking him to detail guard to
plOeOSb tiiS DAiiolhEt tlHoWtIeu hit
that my request had been complied with,
1t is with no small degree of satisfaction that
am able to inform you that during all these
horrible excuses in Paris for the past ten weeks
no material damage has been done to the prop
erty of Americans, neither to the properly of
the Germans, with whose interest / still con-
tinue 10 be charged. Some few Americans
have been arrested, but all were Immediately re-
leased on my application. As have written
you before, the number of Germans and Alsa-
clans whose release from prison have obtained
is quite large. Among the last prisoners to he
released were eleven German nuns who had
been seized at the convent of Picpus, After he
ing set at liberty they came to the legation In n
body to thank me for my efforts in their behalf.
What feared most was the robbery of orr
countrymen under the pretext of taxes. MANY
demands for payment of taxes to the commune
had been made upon Americans, but as | have
before advised you, | told all who consulted me
on the subject not to pay but take the chances.
However, the machinery for collecting these
taxes had just been got ready, and the day of
the 25th instant was the time it was to be mt
into operation. Armed.with mandates from the
committee of public safety, the national guards
would have gone everywhere and demanded the
payment of a certain sum as tax upon all
apartments, houses, business establishments.
sc. If the amount were not paid by the pro.
l.