The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-09-17
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, plinc and their bravery was uuavailinp.
Ficr"ck. iu the west D'hurellcs dc
i'aladincs aud Chunay. ia tho Loire
country; Faidherhc, IN the north. near
Arras, and finally. Bourbaki, On the
SWISS frontier. die their best. hut each
IT, turn was cfcctualiy disposed If,
auo tho hopes 10 which their activities
gavc rise In Paris. died away The
garrison in Paris was continually clat-
ed by cheering rumors Of victory out
side which never matcriaiizcd. and by
confident promises OF success in the
ncN; sortic. which. WHEN il took place.
invariably ended like its predecessors.
in Icpuis,.
Every direction was tried in turn.
There WAS the sortic Of chatiilon on
the heights OF which the Prussians had
established their most formidable bat
t"ries. There Was the blk sortic Of
thampi=uy on the eastern side across
tho Marine on November -. hut Tho
only result OF three haNs' lighting was
that General Durrot lost some 1000
men and was thrown back To his own
lines.
The sortic Of re i:ourgct on De
"cniber ~ met with no better fate. and
the final sortic of IfuzcuNal u month
later WAS the last flash in The pan by
that time even the most optimistic
i'arisians had ccascd To believe in the
mysterious plan by which Genera,
Trochn was TO clcavc a way for the
Garrison TO tho outside world.
IL is often forgotten that the Prus-
slams did not begin their serious bonn
bardment OF the forts OF Paris until
December -, three months after the
investment WAS complete. and that they
did not throw shells into Paris her
self until January ). Bismarck had
spoken contemporary o. the French
forts. I'VE can take two or tire" with
ease" he said whenever we like IL
Try l;ut that WAS an idle boast The
forts Of Iaris. notably those which
faced the prussi:n batteries at Men
don. clamart and Chatillon. held out
manfully TO the very end and though
thc most exposed forts at D'Iscy
NHTvcs and Montague we're greatly
Knocked about they remained in action
down 10 tho capitulation.
Tic INST shells to fall within the
walls among the civilian population
came Oh the lloth day Of The siege.
'rhcnccforth they iniucd in without
much iutvrmiSsion the aim being chief
" directed ut the Luxembourg. the In
validos and The ambulance Of the Val
dc Grace. y number Of women and
children and inoircnsivc citizens were
killed. bur the I'arsiaus soon got used
to the shells ana the cry Of Care
rohuS. II is computed that COCO shells
were thrown into Paris in the twelve
DAYS, and that tho deaths due To them
were 2eG
The chief suffering, however. in
i';,ris MAS caused 10y famine and pcsti-
lcmcc. Every ono has heard Of the
privatious Of hunger which were en-
durnd by the popuiacc with great coir-
age as lon@ as any hope Of Succor re-
manned. The mortality was fearful. IN
the last week Of the siege $500 infants
died. Smallpox during those terrible
months claimed $4,000 victims. More
over IL was wiutcr fuel was scarce and
the scuson Indictment.
such was the siege Of lSTo-1l. ana
the condition of Parts WAS agSra-
waited by the political disscnsions.
which u lit;lc later eliminated III the
horrors uf the Commune. If Paris
should have 10 endure u siege now She
would not have To fear the worst Of the
evils which have Just been enumerated.
There Viii bc unbrokcu armies in ihc
hcld Ia alive her succor when thc fav-
orablc moment strikes; there will be
no grave internal discussions: there
Will bc no scarcity of food Above all,
time viii he on her sido and her sal
liant defenders will figh; hopefully,
and not dcspairinsly. as they did for
ty-four years ago.