Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1898-12-15
THE SIEGE OF PARIS.
HOW LONDON FIRST LEARNED THAT
" HAD ENDED.

Bismarck to Allow Him to Send Out
the News over His Private Wire.
During the Franco German war, from
Oct Is, 1870, to March /, 1871, was
attached to the headquarters Of the
crown prince, who occupied an unas-
Stunning little villa called Les Ombragos,
in an outskirt of Versailles, his august
father residing throughout the invest
ment and siege of Paris in the prefecture
of the whilom "royal buIgh,' and
Count Bismarck, with his staff of coun
oilors and secretaries, in u detached
house of the Rue de Provence, often
met the chancellor out of doors, walk
ing or riding, during that long and bit
ter winter, but sedulously refrained
from soliciting audiences, being we'll
aware that the visits of war CORE
spondent, who had everything to ask
and nothing to tell, could not possibly
be welcome to so desperately overwork-
ed statesman as Bismarck.
By what means need not explain in
this place, had been made acquainted
with the precise terms of the capitula-
tion of Paris at an early hour of the
morning after the conclusion of the
armistice, and had, moreover, good rea
sou to believe that the conditions of the
surrender had not been communicated
to any other correspondent of an Eng.
lish or even o German newspaper at
headquarters. Having obtained the SUI
premely important item of news, what
was ] to do with it? Unless it could be
forthwith transmitted to The Daily Tel
egraph office by telegraph, my chances
of forestalling my fellow correspondents
would be annihilated, and there was no
wire at my disposal-or, for that mat
ter, at that of any foreign journalist
within the vast radius of the lines Of
investment.
The situation appeared an utterly
hopeless one, until suddenly the hap
piest of "happy thoughts" flashed
through my mind. Perhaps the all pow.
erful chancellor, newly created prince
of the young German empire, would
authorize the transmission to London
of my dispatch over his own official
wire, by means of which he was zen
rapport" with every European capital
except beleaguered Paris. There was no
time to lose. Before s a. IN. had taken
down the articles of capitulation from
the lips of my informant, within half
an hour had copied them out, Large,
bold and handsome" on two pages Of
foolscap and had made myself presenta-
BILE.
At 9o'cIock presented myself at the
street door Of the house in the Rue dc
Provence and sent up my card to Coun-
cilor Lothar Bucher with penciled
request that he would allow mo to speak
to him in private. Almost Immediately
he came down to the waiting room on
the ground floor, into which / had been
shown, and asked me what he could do
for me- "Can you procure me a five
minutes audience Of the princei" I re-
piled. II don't know" was the rejoin-
der, "but I'll try. The chancellor is ex-
tremely busy, but perhaps he'll see you
il you can assure me that the matter is
really urgent" declared that for mo
it could not possibly be more so, where
upon Butcher left mel confess, in
fever Of anxiety-and was absent for
about quarter of an hour, at the ex-
piration of which he reappeared and
beckoned to me to follow him up stairs
In an ex-boudoir Oh the first floor
converted into sort of Office / found
the chancellor awaiting me. After the
briefest of greetings he said, ''Pray, tell
me what you want in the fewest posi-.
| BILE words, for have not q moment to
lose" l produced my dispatch, handed
it to him and asked him if it was sub
stantially correct.
After looking through it he answered.:
"Yes, it is. / don't know how you got
your information, and l don't intend to
ask, but these are the terms on which
Paris surrerders. What then?" When
l besought his permission to forward
the message over his wire, he laughed
rather grimly, saying, "You must be
| mad to ask such thing"
urged upon him that the tension of
public feeling in England with respect
to the fate of Paris was very painful
many peoples sympathy being tempo
rarily averted from Germany by harrow
ing accounts of the sufferings undergone
by the population of the French CAPT
tai. "That tension would BIO considera-
bly, relieved, sir, replied, "by the
knowledge that the siege Of Paris is
come to an end and that the victors
have accorded merciful terms to the
vanquished. Prince Bismarck held out
against my importantly for about
couple of minutes, but he yielded at
last, only STIMULATING that l should
efface my name at the end of the dis
patch.
"On no account can / allow you to
sign message sent over my wire. II
your people in London do not believe it
to be authentic when it reaches them,
that is their affair. But it must go I'M
signed or not at all" 1t did go unsign-
ed; it was accepted as authentic, and
its publication that very afternoon in IA
special edition of The Daily Telegraph
proved to be one of the greatest journal
istic coups effected by any London
newspaper during the Franco-German
war.-London Telegraph.