Omaha daily bee., 1898-06-12

the Prussian flag crept up the shattered
staff on the ramparts of Chatillon. D..
So was lost the southern key to Paris, the
great unfinished redoubt of Chatillon. Let
those high officers of engineers remember
let others in high places of the land remem-
ber-and be remembered.
Scarcely had the investment of Paris been
completed when the humiliating interview
at Ferrieres between Jules Favre and Bis
marck became known to the public. Had
Jules Favre carefully considered the mat
ter, had he offered terms, for example, as
follows:
Tristan indemnity.
Second-The dismantling of one or two of
the eastern forts.
Third-Tte cession of Cochin China
Fourth-The cession of a few ironclads.
doubtless Germany-coerce by Europe
would have accepted.
But it was not to be. The poor repre-
sentative of the republic left the Prussian
headquarters with Bismarck's harsh voice
ringing in his ears, and the next day all
Paris knew that it was to be a struggle to
the death.
Stung again into action, Vinoy, supported
by the forts, hurled a division of the Thir-
teenth corps on Villetuif and carried it.
ou SBIJeHiDeT 'oU SheNllly dHu SlolSy ~
were attacked. Again the fatal lack of sufi-
cient artillery nullified the advantage gained
at Villejuif. The sphere of action had
scarcely been enlarged at all.
From the ramparts of Paris these first en-
gagements under the walls were scarcely
visible to the people-scarcely audible, save
for the thunder from the supporting forts.
A high rampant of dun-coiored mist
stretched from the Montrouge fort to Ar
cueil: beyond it, denser volumes of smoke
poured up into the sky from Inlay. At
moments the wind brought the crackle of
the fusillade through lulls in the cannon din
scarcely louder than the crackle of q bon
fire. This was all that the Parisians could
see or hear from the southern bastions.
Great crowds of women and children
watched the infantry passing through the
Porte Rouge; the cavalry sang as they rode
between dense masses of excited people;
the cannoDeers swung their thongs and
Chanted gayly:
Gal! Gal! serrons nos rangs,
Esperance
De la France
Gal! Gail serronS nos rangs,
En- ayant, Gaulois ct Francs!
TO the air of "Gai. Cal! Marions Nous!'
and the franc ireurs took up the song say.
agely:
Quot! ces monuments cheris,
Historic
De notre glorie,
S'ecrouieraient en- debris,
Quot. les PrussienS a Paris! r
and the people roared back the chorus:
Gal! Gal! serrons nos rangs!
Hide, starding at the door, heard then
singing at sunrise, caught the distant Gin
of bayonets, saw the sun, white and fierce
crinking the polished surface of helmet ant
breastplate.
At night, too, lingering on the steps, sht
heard the movement and murmur of march
ing masses; she saw the rockets drifting
through the sky, the jeweled string of sig
nal lamps swinging like a necklace from
the Port Rouge battlements. All day Ions
the Rue d'Ypres rang with the clang o
bugles and the vibrating crash of drums
all day long the cannoneers of the Prophe
> drilled and Unanswered and played at fir
ing, but the night came and found th'
> Prophets lips still sealed and the long
. bronze fetish motionless. reaching towar'
heaven in its awful attitude of prayer.
Since those early practice shots that ha'
shattered the window glass the Prophet ha,
not spoken; yet all day long its giganti
mass, thrust out over the ramparts, swunI
, east and west at the monotonous commands
sweeping the points of the compass with tn
smooth movement of a weather yane turn
ing in a June breeze.
Hardwood, locking the dusty woodel
S shutters for the last time, turned to watcl
t the Prophet as 1t swept to the west, stopped
t sank at the breech as a horse sinks on hi
launches. For the hundredtb time h
thought they were going TO IRE. but tn
Q gun captain took up his mechanical call
Elevation at 1900. at 1000. at $780," an