ENGLISH AND FOREIGN.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 840, 13 October 1870, Page 2

ENGLISH AND FOREIGN.

! GOSSIP ABOUT THE WAR IN EUROPE. [FROM FRENCH AND BELGIAN SOURCES.] It seems that when M. Ollivier formed his Cabinet on the 2nd January last, he did so on obtaining a distinct pledge from the Emperor that fi-iendly relations should be cultivated with Prussia, and that if that power would second his efforts he himself would propose a disarmament. Avid all this time the Emperor was pushing on his preparations for war. When the false despatch was promulgated in Paris on the 6th of August, attributing the victory at Wisseuburg to the French, the excited feelings of the populace were wrought to such a pitch, that seeing Madame Sass, the opera singer, passing along the boulevard in an open carriage, they compelled her to stop, just opposite the Rue Vivienne, and sing the Marseillaise, amidst the frantic applause of congregated thousands. The news of the two defeats afc Forbach and at W Garth were received at Metz by the Emperor the same night, and produced a profound impression. He ordered a spepial train to be got ready, and declared his intention of placing himself Jit the head of the guard, and meeting death on the field of ba tie. Cooler counsel prevailed, but at the same time it was acknowledged that his dynasty had rcpeived a death olow. The Prince Imperial was sent to Pans, where the Empress proposed to hold a review of the National Guard in the Carrousel, with a view to counter .ct the painful despondency ef the Parisian population; but the officers of that force turned a deaf ear to the charmer. The E-npress Regent had already ceased to reign. A correspo: dent of the Independance Beige writing from Metz on the 7th of August, gives a uepio able account of the panic-stricken condition of that city, ar.d of the blank ignorance in which the inhabitants were kept of the progress of the war. What news did reach them —other than that brought in by wounded fugitives—-was derived from the English papers. Of the 78th Regiment, ail had been cut to pieces except live officers and 80 men, and these complained bitterlyoftheimpofcer.ee and incapacity of the generals. At one moment the officers cried, "Do not fire; it is useless." And the men stood motionless to be mown down by the terrible artillery of the Prussians. Tue streets of Metz were filled with weeping women, and with, men whose faces were whito with consternation. "It is not alone the enemy we haye to fear," writes this correspondent, a, Frenchman; "it is the inhabitants, who, although French by birth, speak the German language, and make common cause with tue enemy. They do not quit their homes. They do not try to save themselves, but await the victors with confidence. . hey visit the ileitis of battle, despoil the dead, and rob the wounded of their money, jewelleiy, cna even of their clothes." ivi. Edmond Texier, of the Sieele, writing from Jiaucy, after having been at Saverne and Metz, presents a frightful picture of the condition of M-'Mahon's troops after their rout by the Prussians. When the battle commeneed, at 6 o'clock in the morning, the Pre:;eh had not had so much as a cup of coffee, and they fought until 6 at night in a half-famished condition. It was not until the battle was over that any distribution of rations took place. " For four days," said one soldier, " we lived on potatoes collected from tue fields." Hi yer, adds M. Texier, was there a spectacle, of such utter disorganisation. Whole regiments have disappeared; entire bat!noons nave been cut to pieces ; and in six regiments of cuirassiers 122 officers were kiiled. Orders were given to charge the enemy, posted in dense thickets, from, which they directed a murderous fire upon their assailants in the open ; and the French found tuemselves powerless —the authorities had forgotten to supply thorn with cartridges ! Writing from LuueviUe on the 9th August, the samo gentleman says:—"lt is believed here that three Prussian armies have penetrated into Prance —one by Fobach, a second by Vleissenburg, and the third by Mulhouse ; and it is with the forces which we have at our command, in this moment, that we are to oppose this avalanche ? * * In a few days, unhappily, I may have to date my letters irom Chalons. We set out full of faith and enthusiasm for Berlin, and we shall be brought back under the walls of Paris. Arm, arm, one and all I » The wounded soldiers who were brought into the hospital at 1-iaucy after the affair at Freischwilier designated the combat by a single phrase, "It was not a battle, but a butchery. We were compelled to fall back for the want of ammunition." According to a letter from Bustle, published in the Bieclo, the inhabitants of Mnlhou-e are pouring into that town, with their household furniture and effects, in waggon?, carts, omnibuses, and vehicles of every description, and as fast the latter are unloaded the horses gallop back to bring in fresh cargoes. The people who are too poor to comply with the exorbitant demands ot the lortunate owners of vehicles, are to be seen staggering plong the road under the burden of as much of their household gear as they can carry on their shoulders. General Douay, who was killed at Weissen burg, was 6.1 years of age, and was in command of the 2nd Voltigeurs at the taking of the MalakuJl'in 1855. He also distinguished himself brilliantly at the buttle of Solferiuo. General Colson, who fell at Woirtb, was 49 years of ago. lie won his first military honors in Algeria, and added to them at the battle of inkormaun and at the Malakoif, where ho was wounded, lie was afterwards stationed with the army of occupation in Rome, where he was at the head of the staff.

THE STOUY OF A. CORK LEO, [evening post.] There is, we thiol*, a popular song of whicfy the exceedingly unsentimental subject of a cork leg is its theme. Mechanical contrivances for replacing missing portions of " the human form divine," have often supplied an amusing incident for a story or a farce, but it is something new to meet with a " Comical history of a Cork Leg " in a Bluebook. New Zealand Bluebooks, however, often contain strange matter, and the third report of the Commission of Enquiry into the condition and nature of trust estates for religious, charitable, aud educational purposes, contains in its appendix a story of a cork leg, which is worth repeating, as throwing some light on the way in which the public money is squandered ia pampering the natives. The scene of the story is laid in Wellington—the narrator is the Provincial Surgeon, Dr Johnston. After giving evidence as to the admission of natives to the Hospital, he says : " On one occasion I amputated the leg of an English woman, and of a Maori boy. The woman was supplied with a wooden leg costing a few shillings, and the boy with an artificial leg costing £25, which I always thought disgraceful. This was about four years ago. The Maori boy oMed a few months ago, and only last week the woman came to beg the leg. It had, however, been knocked to pieces by the boy, who was a drunken young scamp." This was all that was said about the cork leg at the time, but the unfortunate limb must have haunted the examening Commissioner, Mr Domett, for nearly five months afterwards, the assistance of Mr Commissioner Hart having been obtained, Dr Johnston was recalled, and was asked if he knew out of what fund the .£25 was paid for the Maori boy's artificial leg, Dr Johnston replied that he thought it had been paid for by the Provincial Government, when Mr Domett suggested that it had been paid for by Sir George Grey. Dr Johnston summarily rejected this hypothesis, and stated that the cost of the leg had not come out of funds derived from the College Lands, but had been paid for by either the Provincial or General Governments. He, however, promised to find out, and another week's adjournment took place. The result of Dr Johnston's inquiries was the discovery that the leg had been purchased from Mr Barraud, and paid for by the General Government. The Sub-Treasurer at the same time wrote, stating that the leg had been paid for out of native appropriations, on the order of the Governor. The following extract from tlie Sub-Treasurer's cash book closes the official history of the cork leg:—•? NATIVE PTJUPOSES. Bth Dec, 1563. 0. D. Barraud. Cork leg to native, £25. True extract. J. Woodward. How Exeter Hall should rejoice over this little story ; and surely the Aborigines Protection Society will be glad ia heart over the noble spectacle of an Englishwoman hobbling off on a wooden leg costing a few shillings, while the Maori boy walks boldly away on a cork leg, provided by a grateful country at a cost of £25. The whole thing is rendered complete by the woman waiting patiently like a second Lazarus until the Maori Dives had died, and then coming to beg the leg, only to find that it had been destroyed by the drunken young scamp in whose case we are told the Governor took "a strong personal interest." During the late debates on the estimates for the native department, Mr M'Lean very strongly objected to any diminution of the immense sum annually provided for " medical comforts," djra., for the natives; and Mx Qillies as strongly complained that none of the amount was given to the Provinces which hud to provide hospital accommodation, medical attendance, and similar matters for tho natives, at their own expense. Dr Johnston's evidence shows that although the General Government may out of its £II,OOO a year supply cork legs and similar luxuries, it is Provincial Governments which have to pay for the keep of the Maori patients, their medicine, &c. It may probably surprise our readers to be placed in possession of the following facts, taken from Dr Johnston's evidence, as to the management of our Provincial Hospital: " T&e principal on which the Hospital has always boen conducted, is to admit all natives upon application, both with respect to residence and subsistence, in, Hospital, and to meuical *■■ %

•If a Native and a European belonging to the same corps, and wounded in tlio same action, were sent together to the Hospital, the expenses of the white man would be charged to the Defence Office at 3s par diem, whereas the Maori, from right of race, would receive all the same care and assistance gratis. * * No Maori that ever applied has been refused admittance. * * Even if we turn out a European for the purpose, we always make room for a Maori. * . * Several have been in the Hospital for years together. * * They are very fond of being cupped, which is their favourite remedy for most of their complaints. * * One of them (Maori patients) makes the Hospital his home. He claims this indulgence by right of birth and race." If the Provincial Governments are expected to, and actually do, house, feed and provide medical attendance and medicine for all Maoris who claim them, the mystery attending the expenditure of the £II,OOO a year voted by the Assembly for native purposes, is deeper than ever. Surely it can't all be spent in cork legs.