Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-07-28
WHOLE NO. 1923.
." How John Bull Lost London"

A little procure, significantly bound
published in London. 1t is after the
manner of ''the Battle of Dorking," and
is called "IIow John Bull Lost London;
or, The Capture of the Channel Tun-
nel." After some introduction it says:
son the evening of bright day in
May there arrived by the Channel Tun-
mel at Dover large number of French
holiday-makers. The Allied Brothers
of the Amity Lodges of the Freemasons,'
so the newspapers of Paris stated, had
determined to hold fete in England,
and three special trains. bad brought the
holiday-makers through. They had en-
gagged beds everywhere, the Lord War
den and all the other hotels were crowd
ed to excess; but nobody thought any
thing of that, for there had been several
| such fetes, on a somewhat smaller scale
it is true, but still fetes of similar kind,
before. 1t was known, though not
specially noted at the time, however,
that just at that precise date couple of
French army corps were carrying out a
series of peace maneuverS in the neigh
, borhood of Amiens. Nobody troubled
about what the French did; they were
England's firm allies. It's true there
had been alttle misunderstanding about
tho right OF France to menace the
Egyptians with an armed force should
they not hasten to confer certain con-
cessions upon various great French f.
nancial companies, and true, moreover,
that TripOli, having some time since
been annexed to Tunis, had been q mat
ter Of some contention between the
Governments of London and Paris; but
these were small matters, which diplO-
macy would certainly smooth over; no
body gave them more than a passing
thought. When, then, on that fine May
evening the tourists arrived, nobody
thought anything of their visit, nor was
il considered at all suspicious; nor,
when Mter on by an hour or two, two
French steamers, which might have
been loaded with apples or arms, drew
up near the Admiralty pier, and sent
word ashore that they would be exam
ined by the customs officer in the morn
ing. 1t was all so natural. Dover that
night slept TRANQUILITY. 1t had not q
large garrison, for troubles in Ireland
and a reduced army system had not left.
many men in the lines above town. But
1t knew it was secure; none but the
good and friendly French were near,
and they were only tourists. Only
tonrists!
'sThe clock had only just struck mid
night, when all on sudden these tour
lists might have been seen hurrying
toIard the tunnel station, while coming
from the French steamers we're many
men bearing in their arms bundles of
rifles. There was sound as of scuffle
and shot or two fired. but it only drew
the attention of very few. The tour.
lists had all disappeared. But an alarm
had been given, and the police had been
sent down to the tunnel mouth: and
then, the alarm continuing, 8 party of
soldiers had been sent. What could it
all meana Only this, that the tourists
were rapidly enscOncing themselves
behind the railway material and the
mouth of the tunnel, were throwing up
earthworks and cutting trenches, and
quickly converting the position they had
taken up into a military intrcnchment.
Alarm came. What troops there were
in Dover were sent in good earnest now
to attack the stranger, for it was clear
that they had got the tunnel in their
hands and that if they could hold it for
six hours no one would be able afterward
to dislodge them. But the attack was
not by any means the easy job it had
looked. 1t was night time and the men,
hidden behind earth and railway tracks,
could not be seen. In vain the musket-
ry ratified in the direction of the tunnel,
the defenders of the frontier were safely
under shelter and in an impregnable
Arfil az ho .
and the tunnel destroyed, that was
clear; the order was given. But the
| artillery was ineffective, and it was now
found that the electric wire provided for
blowing up the tunnel and the appara-
tus for sluicing it had all been seized
and cut; the tunnel mouth must
be retaken by hand.to-hand fight
ing. kilograms were forthwith dis
patched to London and the Dover gar
rison led up to the fight. 1t numbered,
however, not many more than the in
vaders, and these had the immense ad-
vantage of being under cover. There
was many an English soldier who bit
the dust that night.
Let it not be supposed that in Lon
| don the Government on getting infor-
| nation of what was transpiring at
Dover was supine; on the contrary, it
acted with praiseworthy energy. The
Secretary for War was at a reception of
the wife of the Foreign Minister when
the startling news arrived, and his first
impulse was to rush up to his colleague
to demand what it all meant. Il am
wholly at loss to know was the reply,
except that this evening the French
Ambassador did certainly say to me that
his Government viewed our protest with
regard 10 Egypt more seriously than he
wished, and that he trusted the situation
might not become strained. But took
him to be Joking 'Joking?' roared,
the War Minister. DO you know that
the French have come through the tun-
mel and taken Dover since midnight.
three hours ago?' To say that both the
Ministers were thunderstruck hardly
describes their condition. But they
acted-the one leaving the company i'm
mediately, and driving round to seek for
explanation from the French Ambassa-
Dor, whom he, curiously enough, did
not find at home; the other to the War
Office, whittier he summoned everybody
attached to the staff. News
from Dover announced that the French
force there had increased to an army
corps and was being augmented every
| hour. While it was certain that il the
various detachments coming from diff
ferent parts of the country esssyed to
attack Dover they would be cut off In
detail, there must be an order given for
concentration upon various points,
| Dover had gone and could not be re-
taken for the present, and the whole
available army must be concentrated on
the Surrey Hills till it was ready to
march,"
The population of Rome has in
creased by 55,S08 souls since 1871, the
total figures being now 500, 0,292, and
| were then 244,484. The number of