The Military Posts.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 48, 12 October 1870, Page 6

The Military Posts.

o - [The following description of the situation and resources of Strasbourg and Metz is taken from a first-class authority :—] Strasbourg. —A strongly fortified city in France, at the influx of the Brusche into the 111, and only half-a-mile from the Rhine, over which is a wooden bridge, 72 miles from Basle. Its form approaches to the semicircular, and, being built in a plain, it is divided in several parts by canals, over which there are a number of bridges. The houses are lofty, but often heavy and inelegant. The fortifications are extensive. The citadel is a regular pentagon, composed of five bastions, and as many half moons, and with outworks extending almost to the Rhine. It has many public buildings. Its tower of 466 ft in height is a masterpiece of architecture, being built of hewn stone, cut with such nicety as to give it at a distance some resemblance to lace, and combining the most elegant sympathy of parts with the most perfect solidity. The clock is a master of mechanism, being uf an astronomical character. It is a bishop's see, and the seat of a chamber of commerce. Its manufactures are. extensive and varied, and the populat'd! of the city is about 76.000. It is a place of great antiquity, having existed prior to the Christain era. Its vicinity has fern mere than once the scene of military operations in the present age. It is the birthplace of General Richer, Marshal Keliernian. and Pierre Schaeffer, who is said to have been the inventor of printing. By means of railways and canals, it is connected with the great rivers of France and the Danube, and lias thereby its commerce greatly extended. Metz. —A fortified town of France, in Lorraine, the capital of the department of the Moselle. It is situate at the confluence of the Seille and Moselle, and is surrounded by ramparts, and is defended by a number of bastions and other works. It is 170 miles from Paris. The breadth of Metz is nearly equal to its length, so j that its form is compact, though by no means a regular square. Two quarters, namely, the east and west, are insulated by intersections of the river ; the latter being bordered in some parts with quays, and crossed by a number of small bridges. Some of the streets are tolerably straight and wide, but laid out norm no nnifom nbm. The public buildings are—the Gover"o"'s residence, to the east of the citadel, a fine edifice; the cathedral, a Oothic structure, with a spire 3S3ft high ; the theatre. +he town-hall, the public library, bosnitals. and a number of ohurebes and other reunions bouses. Here is likewise an arsenal with arms fop IFfl.OflO men. For education the chief establishments are a college royal, university, academy, college, and an artillery and engineers’ school. Manufactures—cotton, linen musPu. "anze. fustian, chintz, calico, and different, kinds of woollen goods. There are a number of tanneries, and the nloee, has an aetive trade, Ponubition 60.000. M«tz stands at thelmad of a branch of tho railway from Paris to Strasbourg.