Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-08-06
Who Defended
the Works.?
BY F. A. Mitchell

When the Germans were beseiging
Paris In 1871 one part of the force
came to the very outskirts of the city
and encountered a portion of the de-
lenses, something like a revolutionary.
barricade blocking a street. There was
only room for a single company, and
its captain before making an attack
stood off and. raising a pair OF binocu-
lars. examined the works.
They were composed Of paving stones,
pieces of timber and such other articles
as had been brought together for an
improvised fertilization. But the cap
tain could not see a single man on the
parapet. This he did not like. There
was the look of q trap about 1t. II he
moved his troops forward he must do
so over q distance Of some 500 or 600
yards between two walls not thirty
feet apart and straight as an arrow.
He could not deploy his men By the
flank, and as for scattering along the
street they would be one behind an
other, and a shot would bring down
every man In line.
N1OACOfCLg II GoPtoAh bA~ - 00AN
spot in the works, which indicated that
a single stone had been removed in the
very center of the fertilization. He
assumed at once that the aperture was
for the muzzle Of a cannon, which
would sweep the street, doubtless, with
the scattering projectiles of the period.
That meant that before a force Of
eighty men-the number under the cap
tain's command-could reach the barrf-
cade a large proportion of them would
be killed or wounded.
The captain called his first lieuten-
ant, handed him his glass, directed hin
to take a look at the breastworks and
then asked him what he thought about
an attempt to carry them. The lieuten-
ant examined the works, then, lower
ing his glass, remarked:
What are the orders, captain?"
1.-The orders are to move forward"
"Then we must move forward, but
those who live will have moved back
ward"
The captains only response was an
order to advance.
Shoulder to shoulder, the men march
Gu OA-AOly as hao 2 oOA0f lhC9 SVAANA
not scatter-till about a third Of the
distance had been traversed. Then a
puff of smoke issued from the dark
spot in the center Of the works, and a
storm of missiles broke upon the adj
vancing line Of Germans. A third OF
the company fell, and another dozen
limped or staggered to the rear.
The rest pressed on, but a few min
utes were lost In reforming, or. rather,
closing, the D that had been made.
With steady step they marched till
J they had covered half the distance be-
tween their starting point and the fort.
There was light where the dark spot
had been, and they knew that the
piece had been retired to be reloaded.
This gave them courage. 1t was an
old fashioned muZzle loader, and time
must be spent after every discharge
in reloading. The captain gave the
order to double quick, but before they
had covered a dozen yards there came
another hailstorm, and another twenty
men were put out of the fight
This was terrible slaughter, and
the force recoiled. Some stood ready
to retrace their steps; others started
back. The second lieutenant stood in
rear and, striking some of the %fugitives
with his sword, drove them back to-
ward the enemy. The captain was
among the wounded and lay in a pool
of his W blood. The first lieutenant
cried at the top of his voice Forward,
menu and started at the head of some
thirty soldiers to make the rest of the
distance and storm the fort, though
the move was now a forlorn hope, for
he expected that on reaching it he
would find it defended by double the
number Of those who were making the
attack.
When within fifty yards of the bar
ricade there came another storm of
missiles. Half the Germans were laid
on the tones of the street, while the
other half broke and fed. The lieu
tenant called to them in vain. Prefer
ring death to following them In flight,
he turned and ran forward to the fort,
expecting every moment to be shot
down. He reached the barrieade and,
with a pistol in one hand, his sword
in the other, climbed to the summit.
There he stood, bewildered by the sight
that met his view.
Not a man was behind the stones.
The gun which the recoil from the last
shot had driven backward a few feet
was there, a thin film of smoke issuing
from its vent. Leaning against 1t was
a girl about twenty years old. She
looked up at the lieutenant as though
expecting instant death. I%nvoluntarily
he uncovered.
"Mademoiselle," he stammered in
broken French, where are the men
who have been defending this barrt-
cadeT'
81 have been defending this barrt-
cade, monsieur" was the reply.