El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-09-24
RECALLS FORMER
SIEGE Of PARIS
In 1901. Epidemics and
Hunger Claimed Thousands
While Germans Attacked.
ny GEORGE DUFRESNE.

Paris France. Sept. 24--IhOugn ap-
parently the German plan Of battle has
been changed and Paris now does not
/ appear to be in any danger Of siege
the time when the kaiser's troops men
aced the French capital ana We're MLtH
/ in a few miles of the Paris Iorls' seIFey
to remind the people very NlElu-y "a
the former siege of Paris by the Ger
mans in the Franco-FrusslaA "aI "a
There are today in Paris thousands
of peoDle who remember the FORMER
siege. and to them the feverish actlV-
inv OF few weeks ago Wnen tons u
provisions were massed IN lne Slty
and herds Of cattle grazed IN lhe DIS
! de BOlogne, were pregnant Win mem
on September .. 1870. NacNlahon sur
rendered at sedan and Napoleon III
and an army Of $1,000 oIllceIs anu l -
. became prisoners or war llot %. -
rrophe brought down the empire anu
I two davs later the provisional BoFeIH n
ment was set up in Paris a L1I ms i
afterwards the lnveslnlei l o. me 80 80
{ tai was complete. The YlcloIlous [ u
I sian army. which had captured Mac
Mahon. had made straight TOT I as ~
! the hone Of an immediate eltIS aL-N
the Prussian cavalry hurrlediy COM
Melted the circle Of investment oE
rapid sweeping movement al OUllu nv
! city TO the west
siege Lasts for -Four Months.
The siege began on september -
/ The final armistlce as signed on al am
airy 2S- Paris. therefore, stoOu 80
3 for four months. and there Is niue
: doubt that she would have kept lhe
flag flying for much longer II she uau
been better provlsloned ana II me
had been the slightest cnance o. ~
{ assistance reaching her from without
{ Ru+ by the end of January her Two
millions Of population were WllIlln d
week Of absolute starvation ana one
BY one the hopes Of outside aid with
] which they had been ouoyed up were
dashed TO the ground
everything was in favor Of the be-
I siegers. Politically Paris was IN
state Of confusion The tall OF the
er7nire necessarily meant that the gov
eminent was in the hands Of men who
were absolutely new TO the Work OF
administration. Jules F1Vre GambelIdr
RochefOrt and the rest were ardent
patriots, but they were quite mex
Armies Had Been Crushed
Their military position was, II pos
sfble even worse Only isolated rag
ments Of the regular armies OF the en-
pfre were at their disposal The main
I armies had suffered a Succession on
SCATTERING blows and were no longer
I in being One corps sailed from Me-
. ufares. another newly formed. a large
number Of marines and sailors, toseJn--
er. made up a dependable force OF burvvU
men The Gardes MOBILES from lne
provinces furnished another ll2.uuy ana
the Gardes NatiOnales. raised IN Farls'
comprised 100000 more The military
value. however. Of the last body was
very slight. They manned the ram
parts Of the city, but rarely came INTO
close contact with the besle=ers. ne
real defence fell on the men IN the
& forts and the mobile army under the
B direction OF DuceOt.
+ These forts formed a ring around
/ Paris. much closer TO the CITY man ~
Q q dow
the principal defence today, but stlu re-
I curing the Germans TO mold the coun-
try for 50 miles. At the outset lle
besiegers had only about 10000 men
available for the purpose ana their SIT
nation was one Of great dl1IlculIy, con-
sfdering the length Of their cOmTnulil-
cations their lack Of adequate NUM-
/ bers. and above all, the guerilla tac-
ties with hich they We're narasseu
an every side If there had been any
we'll trained French armes IN the
4 1rovinces capable Of taking a vigorous
offensive, matters might have gone III
with the Germans.
Forces Not Trained.
Their difficulties explain the leisure
/ " methods with which the siege was
: conducted during the first SIX weeks,
I when the population o! FdIls 9-s
{ sea rcelv nut TO serious discomfort But
/ there was no well trained field army on
I which IN reDly Frenchmen responded
] calamity enough 90 the merry appears
( of Gambetta and De FreyclncI, Dul the
Z raw Ievies had no time TO acquire dis
J ciplfne and their bravery was unaVell-
! ing Fiereclt in the west DAurelles de
! Paladines and Chanzy in the Loire
/ country, Faidherbo in the north near
. Arras and finally BOurbak1 on the
I Swiss frontier did their best. but each
I in turn was effectually disposed Of and
! the hopes TO which their activities gave
Z rise in Paris died away The garrison
] in Paris was continually elated Dy
. oh of victory OUTSIDE
] which never materialized, and by con-
] fident promises Of success IN the next
sortie. which, when it took place IN
l variably ended like its predecessors IN
Every direction was tried in turn
/ There was the sortie OF Chatlllon on
} the heights of which the Prusslans nao
| established their most formidable PAT
! teries There was the big sorue OF
/ Champigny on the eastern size, across
] the Marine on November %, but the only
result Of three days fighting was Una {
Gen. Ducrot lost some 5000 men anu
was thrown back TO his own lines
The sortie OF lie Bourget. on Decem-
her 81 met with no better fate and the
final sortie Of BUzonval month later
was the last flash in the pan BY thal
time even the most optimistic Parisians
had ceased to believe in the mysterious
plan BY which Gen TrOchn was 70
cleave a way for the garrison to the
outside world
Wait Three Months To BomnArus
The Prussians di not begin their sert-
Gus bombardment Of the forts Of Paris
until December p, three months after
the investment was complete and tnaL
they did not hrOw shells into faIls
herself until January D Bismarck had
spoken contemporary Of the Frencn
forts we can take two or three win
ease" he said, whenever We llke 70
try" But that was an idle boast Ihe
forts Of Paris, notably those Wnlch
faced the Prussian batteries at Men
don. Clamart and Chatillon, held out
manfully TO the very end and though
the most exposed forts at Dlssy van
yes and Montrouge were srealIy
knocked about, they remained In aclloh
down to the capitulauon-
The first shells TO ran WltA --I- IN. ~
walls among the civilian population
came on the 10th day Of the siege.
Thenceforth they rained in without It,9I
much intermission, the ann nelhs chlSL-
valides and the ambulance OF the Val
de Grace 800.