Little Falls transcript., 1879-08-07


ana @ to the dreamer ills given to share, s
The pleasures of volnptuous idleness,
~ montn O1 burning suns and mellow moons,
Which warm the heart as would some rare
old wine, ss s #sf 81
Among the generous. .earth's delightful boons
mere ls none dearer than these days of
ceTla haIp poet nd more fitting theme for rhyme
.--- ---~ -.~.------- --Elliot Ryder.
THE CONTRIBUTION. : ;
a "Reminiscences Of the Franco Prussian War.
The truce which North France had
concluded had not stipulated for the
South. "A wreck of the: French army
still held possession of small bit Of ter.
ritory on the Swiss border, and the de-
predations Of the Franconians terrified
the department. of Jura. Long stretches
OF forest and mountain gorges formed Sc
cret hiding places fer single assassins as
we'll as bands melted by national hatred,
and scarcelya day went by in which
news was not brought to the general in
command Of the murder on the march of
some poor sick fellow struggling in. the
rear, the overthrow of some rider. the
robbery of an. outpost or something of
the kind. The iron general who had in
command the German division in the de-
partment of Jura had ordered the sever
est reprisals to cheek the outrages in
order to awaken the interest of the prov
ince to suppress these bands. Among
others he issued the following order:
yesterday corporal of K regiment
was murdered on the road from Pontar-
lier to Lous lie Saunier. As punish.
ment for this assassination every city
must pay twenty-five francs per capita Of
her inhabitants contribution; every vii.
hgc, fifteen francs per capita. This con-
tnbuti0n must be raised on the east side
OF the province by the x brigade, Oh the
west side by the Y brigade"
A dEtrict was assigned by the brigades
to each regiment, the regiments divided
the districts among the battalions, and
IN our battalion4 the disagrecable com
mission fell upon Lieutenant Wendt
Wendt was very much out of humor al
the order. Himself raised among farmers
ne knew how hard it would bc to collect
such an insignificant sum in such times
especially in the villages, and how dread
1ully severe it would come upon the pco1
people to seize their cattle. He resolved
therefore, to present himself before the
commander Of his battalion. Having
done so he declared that he did not think
himself adapted to rightly enforce such {
command; that if the execution of il
were carried out to the letter he posi-
lively could not stand the weeping and
lanlentation among the poor women anC
children that it would cause. The maie]
laughed heartily and assured him thai
the order was intended to take stronges
hold on the French in order to CHECK
their sneaking outrages; the lieutenant
need not carry it out to the letter anG
could levy the amount of the contribu
ton according to what he judged the cir.
cumstances of the villages to De. Wend1
was rather better satisfied with this, and
IN the afternoon marched along the road
toward Ions le Saunier with seventy In.
tantry and ten dragons in order to turn
into one of those beautiful provincial
roads for which nearly all the depart.
ments have to thank their much abused
Napoleon III.
A few statistical hints from the lines
of the command regarding the villages
to be fined were given to the young offic.
er, and the first town he came to, which
made quite an appearance, had been
reckoned as containing about six hundred
inhabitants. The lieutenant placed
guards at tall the roads leading from the
the village, left the detachment under
arms in the large square before the court
and had the bailiff of the village called
out. He ordered the rather distinguished
man who appeared. looking suspicious
and gloomy, to call together the council
ors of the town. Directly several children
ran in different directions over the village,
and in few moments old and young be-
gan to assemble before the court house,
giving expression to their anxious antici-
patton by whispered questions among
themselves. At length the corpulent
curate appeared-which did not better
matters much in the lieutenant's eyes
and the assemblage waa completed.
Wendt stepped In the midst Of the
peasants and stated briefly that he had
received orders to raise from the village
a contribution Of nine thousand flanrs
that he would allow the bailif' half
hour to collect it; that in case of failure
to give the amount demanded he would
seize their cattle; that such fines were be-
ing levied all over the province as pur
ishment for the murder of Prussian
soldier the day before. Then he turned
quickly on his heel and commanded:
"Out with your cartridges! If this
battalion charges, it charges with loaded
muskets!'
Breech-plugs snapped back and cart
ridges dropped in all along the line.
"Ordcr arms !" and he coolly lit cigar.
There was one moment of breathIess
amazement on the part of the Frenchmcn,
then they broke into groups and held
whispered converse. Every here and
there party would grow very violent,
but the curate would step between them
imperativcly quell the excitement. At
length he turned to the officer. 1t was
found best for the comprehensibility OF
both parties that German should be spo-
ken, although the peasants understood
not word of our mother tongue.
''Sir" said the curate, Sin the very best
Of times this village could barely raise
the sum of your demand, now it is sim
ply impossible to get a tenth it. Every
centime we can possibly raise will only
amount to five hundred francs.''
"Ah!" aaid Wendt, very much pro-
voked, 'that is indeed difference. I de-
mand nine thousand and you, offer five
hundred francs? What do you mean,
sir?" the hot blood mounting to his fore
head.
: sergeant Bernhard. he turned to an
officer standing near, "take the section
on the left and drive all the cattle you
can find in the village to this place"
The sergeant marched of and the result
Of his work was very soon apparent. A
great number Of fine oxen, COWS and
sheep rushed hither and yon through the
streets. The curate, with a shrug of the
shoulders, turned<to the bailiff. The el-
ders Of the village spoke in low tones,
but their jesticulations were most violent.
The action of the soldiers out on duty
tried their endurance to the
utmost. As they comprehended the de-
sign in driving out their cattle their in
dignation reached its height, and the
bailif, with subdued rage, turned to the