Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-12-07

his appeal was cut short by the up
heaval Of the basket, and in an in
slant we were descending in the
midst of the rank vapors."
"And | suppose you wrote rat
ting account to the News when you
came up again?" asked another.
"On the contrary" he said, II
went to bed at once, and stayed
there for q week."
"At any rate" said /, "your ex-
ertions in the French war were not
wholly strategic"
Forgive me-" he rejoined, al
think they were. AS l crossed the
channel to join the crown prince
Of Saxony's army, / determined to
throw over all literary pretsnsions,
and henceforth adopt the telegram
style of writing-two words and
full stop. All that l did l did
through sheer audacity. l was the
first man that entered Paris after
the siege. | got wind of the sur
render, slipped through the Porte
de Ohappelle on a stout butchers
nag, and rode straight down the
Boulevard Magenta, though it was
crowded with National Guards.
/ never did a riskier thing. | wan
dered all night about the streets of
the famine-stricken city, ate for
breakfast the last leg of chicken in
Paris, got my passport yised at the
American embassy, slipped along
the boulevards, was stopped at the
gates by one of our own German
troops, was rescued by a friendly
officer, caught the only train run
ming to the frontier, wrote my dis
patch in the car, and arrived at
Strasbourg too late, for the tele-
graph Office was closed for the
night. That was a blow. found
out where the clerk lived, rang a
peal at his door, brought him down
IN his night-cap, produced the belt
of Sovereigns which / carried round
my waist, and offered to pay twenty
francs a word for the message. He
dressed himself, went to consult
the authorities, and returned after
an hour, to say that he would take
the message at the usual night
rates. 1t contained fourteen hun
dred words. 1t appeared in the
Daily News next morning, and |
got back to our lines in time to
enter Paris with the first battalion
that passed the Arc de Triomphe-
the first man that entered Paris,
and the second"
A SPECIFIC OPERATION.
81 thought" said a skeptic Of
the party, "that telegraph offices in
France were open all night"
During the war, sir" said Mr.
Forbes, with asperity, they were
scarcely ever open in the day. That
was my main difficulty. When We
lay before Metz the German com.
manders said, Let nothing pass
out of camp Nevertheless, al
their movements, all their plans, all
the officers conversations, all oul
festivities, even the programme Of
music which the band played al
mess, appeared next morning in the
News. They were dumbfounded
The truth was, l had suborned a
country telegraph master, and lived
outside the camp, so as to send him
my messages. At last l was detect.
ed and new precautions were taken.
One night joke went ripping
around the mess-table, and an old
colonel shouted out my name
Thunder and lightning, SIR said
he, you won't put that in your
paper tomorrow | said nothing,
but escaped at an early hour from
the table. Ny servant met me with
the news that the usual lines oI
communication were blockaded.
had my two horses saddled. and
rode off at full gallop on one oI
them, leading the other by the bri-
die. After going twelve miles at
high pressure, | changed mounts,
left the first at a roadside inn, and
reached the town of Thionyille,
twenty-five miles from our camp.
in time to transmit my daily dis
patch, the colonel's joke and all
You can conceive his surprise when
he saw it,"
"And what do you consider your
masterpiece Of generalShip?" asked
Rattle.
HIS GREATEST EXPLOIT.
"My last exploit before leaving
England 2" he replied; "I went
down to Falmouth to meet the War.
rior (iron-clad), having on board
the single survivor of that wrecked
vessel, whose crew were adrift in a
boat for eight days, and ate two Of
their comrades. Falmouth was full
of correspondents, 50 | put up in a
pot-house outside the town and en-,
gagged the only steam tug in the
place. l waited three days, and on
the night of the third was playing
a quiet game of billiards, when in
walks one of the correspondents.
"Hullo, Forbes says he, in as
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