El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-13

French army from its communications,
and forced it to seek shelter in Metz,
which the invaders surrounded. The
city might have been successfully de-
fthded for an indefinite period by 90
600 men. but the troops thus bottled
up were nearly ten times that many,
and their very numbers brought de-
structiOn. The supply Of provisions for
such a multitude of men, with their
horses, was inadequate: and, besides
they were so crowded as to be unable
actually to make an effective sortie
in force. So it came about that, after
a siege of two months, their comman-
der, BaZaine, found himself obliged to
sur-ender-the date being Oct. 27-with
so generals, 5000 officers, and 49,
men. Vast quantities Of military stores
incidentally fell into the hands of the
Germans.
Most Humane Siege In History.
It was doubtless the most humane
siege in all the history of warfare For
the Germans actually did not fire a
single shot or shell into the city. They
made no attempt to take it by force but
simply sat down and waited for starva-
tiOn to do work for them. The ceme-
terry of Metz today contains the graves
Of 1900 French soldiers who persisted
during the siege but most Of them died
Of sickness.
Metz today is one Of the strongest
fortresses in the world. A new outer
chain OF defences has been completed
since 1900 taking in the historic bat
tleground Of Gravelotte. The regular
garrison numbers $4,000 men.
The city is the capital Of the dis
trict Of Lorraine, and has a population
of about 10000. It stands at the con-
fluence Of the MOselle and SeiIle Rivers,
and is eighty miles northwest of Strass-
burg. The new part of the town is built
on islands formed by the arms Of the
Moselle- The old part is quantity
a fnro p y sltT, rarr
entrance through the ancient city wall
are still preserved. The so-called Ger
man gate, erected in 1445. has castel-
lated form, and even to this day bears
Capital Of AIsace-LOrraine.
Strassburg, the capital Of AIsace-
Lorraine, marks the locality where the
river III divided into five branches. It
has 125, 600 inhabitants, and the old
part of the town is most interesting to
the sightseer, some Of the houses in
narrow streets dating back to the mid
die ages) being embellished with Won
derful wood carving. The city is con-
nected with the Rhine 1.-TWO miles to
the eaSt) by canals. It is a center of
highrOads between Germany, France.
and Switzerland, and at the junction OF
other canals which connect the Rhine
with the Marine, and the RhOne with the
Rhine. The place is the seat of the i'm
perial governor Of Alsace-Lorraine,
anu the dQqudrlerS or the tlIteenth
Corps.
Strassburg like Metz. was an ancient
Roman military post. The Romans called
it ArgentOrum. It is today enorm-
Ously strong, being defended by four
teen forts and inner ramparts There
are also great works for flooding the
approaches as an additional discourage
ment to an enemy.
Is Famous For stOrks.
An interesting feature Of Strassburg
is the great number of stOrks which
build their huge nests on the chimney
pots. Oddly enough. these birds never
seem to esta blish themselves for 4
breeding purposes anywhere except on
human dwellings. Nobody would ever
think Of disturbing them in any way.
On the contrary, Il householder thinks
it a great sign of good luck if a stork
picks out his rOOf-tOp for a nest. It is
very curious to see them teach their
young ones to fly.