The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-06-08

sian war was fired by French soldier
who was on guard at Strasburg
Bridge, and blazed away across the
bridge at a party of Germans. The
incident occurred early in August, 1870.
day or two before the Emperor Ma
poleon III, formerly took the field.
TurcO-Russian War.
The bombardment of Poti, in Trans
Caucasia, on April %, 1877, was the
occasion of the first shots fired in this
war. At the same time Hobart Pasha,
in his yacht the Rethymo, ran the CANT
let from Rustchuk on the Danube, past
the Russian guns at Galatz, under the
cover of night. The Russian gunners
detected the yacht, but the Pasha kept
well in under the shore so that the
gunners were unable to depress the gun
muzzles sufficiently to take accurate
aim, and, after the Rethymo had passed
the Pasha sent shell into the Russian
camp.
At the same time there were affairs
of outposts" in one or two spots where
the Russians and Turks faced each
other on the Roumanian frontier.
Thus was war beginning in several
localities at the same time, and moth
ing is recorded which would help TO
identify the first shot.
Austro-Prussian War.
Most biographies of Bismarck made
the attempt on his life, one May =,
1866 the starting of this war. Bis
marck knew if he forced on the strug-
gle his whole career depended on the
issue, and it was while he was still
undecided, and was walking down the
Inter den Linden. that Karl Blind 5
son fired a revolver at him. Bismarck
used the attempt and the wave of
public enthusiasm for him at Berlin
to break down such Governmental OPP
position as was being offered to his
policy, and, from a dramatic point of
view, that revolver shot in the I'm
ter den Linden might be called the
first shot in the seven days cam
paign which ended in Sadowa.
Spanish-American War.
Capt. sigbee, United States Navy,
of the Maine, in his history of the
blowing up of that vessel, on. Feb. Is,
1898, at $40 p. M, says Although
the war which followed was not
founded on the destruction of the
Maine as political cause, that disaster
was the pivotal event of the conflict
which led to it, and ended Spanish
possessions in the New World" The
explosion of the torpedo, or whatever
the destructive agent was, could
scarcely be called a first shot but
probably most Americans consider
the incident the first blow struck
in the war.
GrecO-Furkish War.
Stevens in with the Conquering
Turk" describes the first shot" at
the battle of Meluna of the big Tur-
kish gun when "Mehemet Ali Effendi.
the tall, black-browed officer in com
mand of the battery" sights and fires
the first shell on 70 the Greek block
house two and half miles away, while
"Edhem Pasha sat squatting cross
legged on the ground watching the
practice" But two days before this
there had been almost continual Skin
mishing in the woods of Karya, even
before the official notification of de-
claration OF war had reached the
Turkish Generalissimo.
In Our own Days.
The last story on my list is of our
own time. Everybody knows that the
gallant old Joubert, who was the Com
mander IN Chief of the Boer forces.
was always an opponent of Mr..
Kruger and OF the war. Nevertheless
he went in with his countrymen when
the hour Of danger came: but he went
with no doubt as 20 the disastrous
hral results. He and his troops were
before Dundee. and then it was that
what was practically the first shot I'M
this war was fred. The scouts
brought the information that the Eng
hsh troops were Ia possession Of the