SEIZURE OF ENGLISH SHIPS BY THE PRUSSIANS.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 821, 15 March 1871, Page 2

SEIZURE OF ENGLISH SHIPS BY THE PRUSSIANS.

[TIMES SPECIAL COKKESPOM)EM.S>

Au incident much to be regretted,' but Bcarcely to have been avoided, of which some account will probably have reached you by telegraph, occurred a few dayßago on the Seine. The French have numerous gunboats on the river, with which, starting from Havre or from Quilleboeuf, where the Seine begins to broaden towards the Eei, ! they make reconnaissances -as far as prssible in the direction of Rouen. On the 21st one of the gunboats had advanced to within a short distance of Duclair, where, on the right bank of the river, the the Prussians are established in some force. Duclair is a little port or landingplace, about half-way between Quillebcsuf and Rouen, and the Prussians had already begun to block the passage at that point when the approach of the hostile craft was „ announced. Fortunately, or unfortunately, five English colliers, unladen and carrying nothing but ballast, were at hand. They were just what was wanted to complete the naval barricade, and the Prussians, using them for that purpose, sank them. The owners will lose nothing, since the Prussians have given a bond of indemnity ; but the thirty odd seamen who manned the vessels, and who were forwarded yesterday to the care of Mr Leefortin, her Majesty's Vice-Consul at Dieppe, are certainly to be pitied. It i 3 to be hoped, however, that the indemnity payable by the Prussians will be sufficiently large to cover the loss of wages these poor fellows must otherwise suffer. As a sufficient number of English colliers are not always to be found on the Seine the Prussians are thinking whether they cannot in future stop the progress of the French gunboats by means of torpedoes. That, no doubt, would be the most effectual plan ; but there seems to be some difficulty in the way of executing it. You cannot " requiriren" a torpedo ; the thing must be made to order. Neither can you force French workmen to take part in the construction of machines to be used against their own countrymen. The Prussians can, of course, enter French workshops, employ French engines and utensils ; but the actual fabrication of the torpedoes must be done by Prussian hands. No doubt they will show themselves equal to the occasion. But whether torpedoes will prove more effective on the Seine than they have been found on other rivers, or at sea, remains yet to be seen. The three French ports declared by the National Defence Government in a state of blockade are, as you will already have heard, Rouen, Fecamp, and Dieppe. Havre being in the possession of the French- and, as far as I can learn, likely to continue so — will, of course, remain open ; but vessels entering the port of Havre, and proposing to ascend the Seine, will be stopped at Quilleboeuf, which will at least be better for them than having their progress arrested further on by Prussian torpedoes. At Dieppe the blockade will, I am assured, be of the mildest possible kind. The war-steamer which already guards the entrance to the port will stop all vessels (with the single exception of the packet which still crosses to and fro between Dieppe and Newhaven), but if, on examination of the ship's papers, it be found that the cargo is addressed to some known commercial house at Dieppe, no obstacle will be placed in the way of its delivery; Ships, however, bearing cargoes addressed to persons unknown will be sent back. The importation of cotton for Rouen, where, through the. closing of the mills, as many as 40,000Tiands are said to be out of work, will, it is to be hoped, be encouraged on both sides. One hundred and fifty bales, imported through, Dieppe, with the knowledge and sanction of the Prussians, are expected at Rouen to-morrow or the next day. The French, by the way, seem to take it for granted that if the Government corvette, which stands sentry at the entrance to the harbor^ allows vessels to pass, no objection will be made to their coming in on the part of the Prussians. But if the French take care that the Prussians receive no provisions, or clothing, or horses, or ammunition, by way of Dieppe, the Prussians, we may be quite sure, will see that the French get no arms. When Dieppe was occupied a second time by the Prussians the chief want of the little army quartered there was boots and horses. All residents and visitors not being foreigners were called upon to send their horses to the market-place, where a Prussian officer selected a certain number of animals, and, according to the custom in such cases, bought them at his own valuation, and paid the price in paper redeemable at the end of the war. As nearly all the good horses one sees at Dieppe belong to Englishmen, the Prussians, out of many hundreds submitted to, their choice, found a few worth taking-r---not, I believe, altogether more than a dozen. Doubtless they fared better in the matter of boots. All the. boot and shoe makers in the town were " required." to send to an appointed place all the ready-made goods they had on hand, an assurance being given that whatever was taken from them would be paid for at its full value. Of course, too, there was a little money transaction. No contribution whatever was levied. But Dieppe possesses a tobacco manufactory, which, like all such establishments in France, belongs, or did belong, to the State, and General von Goben, the distinguished Chief of the Eighth Army Corps, explained to the Municipality that, as State property, the tobacco manufactory passed from the hands of the French to those of the Prussian Government. As the representative of that Government he conld not work the manufactory, neither could he carry it away with him, and he had no wish to burn it. He therefore proposed to sell it, and (making a good guess) fixed the value at the round sum of 100,000 f. The Municipality protested that the price demanded was exorbitant. They made a bid, however, and ultimately the manufactory was sold to the Municipality of Dieppe for fifteen thousand francs. Part of the money wa3 paid down, and the rest sent on to the General a day or two afterwards to Neufchatel. The intention attributed to the Prussians of seizing and holding a French seaport must — if it was ever seriously entertained— have been abandoned by them now. One French vessel outside renders Dieppe useless to them, while as for Havre, the only port they could turn to really advantageous account, there is, apart from the possible subsequent difficulty of avoiding, the blockade, the actual present difficulty of taking the place.