THE WAR IN EUROPE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 884, 5 December 1870, Page 2

THE WAR IN EUROPE.

[MEtPOURKE *QE CORRS3PGI*DENCE.] ' Bismarck has. published an account of his/negotiations with Jul«s Favre. Ha demanded the cession of Strasbourg, Metz, and the adjacent territory, and urged that .an area little short of Nice and Savoy should be yielded. He thought the population greater by three-quarters of a million, and denies that : lie even hinted at reducing France %o a second* rate power, or made any offensive allu* sions to the consequences, of .the war. Bismarck holds that such cession would not lower France's position materially in Europe. In the contests outside the line does not behave well. The &ardc Mobile acts better. Accounts respecting food in Paris are very contradictory. The wood* and copses round the city are burned by means of petroleum and tar. The burning; forests at night are an awful spectacle. The villages and camps,for many miles round are clearly : visible. Ori JlartynV hill the Freueh dug an immense grave, throwing up corpses and coffins to the surface ready to receive the killed. On Sundays the population make; merry as usual, the.principal difference slovenly dresses of the citizens. , At the engagement, 19rti September, outside Paris, French troops behaved disgracefully, many running away without their officers, and spreading' universal panic. ; Puring the engagement a battalion of Mobiles fired on a regiment of the line by mistake, causing their rMreat. The Prussians fought under shelter of the woods at great advantage. Many Zouaves fled without firing a shot, and were arrested in great numbers, and it was pro* posed to shoot them in the Champs de Mars, The Russian Press continued to advocate the cause of Fran even after Napoleon's surrender. The Moscow Gaulle appeals to Europe, urging her to intervene —riiot with diplomatic nates, but an army. If there was any life in Europe left she should pot permit the brave French nation to be humiliated and plundered, and the Gazette argues that if annexation begins, there may be restitution by Prussia of countries formerly Slavonic Russia is making immense military preparations. Strasbqrg must have been taken by storm, had it not capitulated in a few hours, as all the necessary preparations had been made, and surgeons and other members of sanitary corps had been told off to hold themselves ready for such. Taking an inventory of air material of this enormous arsenal will be a great task. The cannon alone is estimated at fourteen to fifteen thousand, and many more no doubt have been destroyed at the fires which took place at the arsenal. Tho garrison wijl go as prisoners of war to Rastadt. The population has not suffered much from want of food, but many are ill from anxiety and confinement. The gates are now besieged by Strasburgers, seeking readmission. A breach in the citadel wall 60ft. wide is just opposite lunette 52. General Werder on meeting Genral Uhjieh embraced him. UhricH had held out uutil threatened with assault and a general bombardment. His position was utterly untenable. Trains now run regularly to Kehl, within half a mile of the old station, aud in a few days, tbev railway bridge being repaired* Strasburg will be in communication witlj the German lines. The breach in the bastion is 200 yards wide. After surrender the behavior of the French garrison, except the marines and Customs' oncers, waa disgraceful. Two-thirds of the men were vioieutiy drunk, and dashed their rifles to pieces agaiust the walls and paving stones. Tuey hurled their swords and bayonets into the moat. Many danced to the music of the Prussian bands. Some rolled about ou the ground. Some to embraee German soldiers, and sang ribald songs; others shook their fists in the faces of their captors, The officers made no attempts to control them, probably thinking \i hopeless. .;. At Toul a tremendous bombardment preceded the capitujation;. 2,500 men taken prispuers, eighty- officers set free on the condition not to serve again in this war. Seventeen, including Commaudaut Huck, preferred captivity,

At Metz, Baziiue was regularly in« formed by Prussian Generals ui' French: reverses, but he refused to surrender, There ,\|ere deserters iron* uau^

,v A sharp attack occurred before Metz on - £oth September. The Times correspondent says: —* e The French attempted to ! break out in force towards Thionville, at the 'same time making a feigned attack on Merchyle-Haut A heavy cannonade continued for four hours. Ultimately, the French were driven back. The fight* ing extended over several miles. The casualties on the French side were considerable. Marshal Bizaine again sent .the Prussian prisoners back into their lines, and it was stated in Berlin telegrams of 24th September, that he offered to capitulate if the garrison is allowed free retreat with ail arms on condition of not serving against Germany for three months; this is contradicted from other .quarters. ( Bazaine, it is said, holds to ithe Emperor, and declines to recognize the Republic." On the 27tb, the cor- , respondent of the Cologne Gazette,'writing from Marly, gives the following account of sorties made from Metz;—" It ' is now 10 a,m., and our baggage and our former quarters are deserted. Like poor , wanderers we are seated at an old table in the road, counting shells that hum over head, marking their flight, and listening for their explosion behind the village; we are seated by the side of a waggon heaped up with buudles containing all our baggage, drinking wine and watching the . progress of flames in three villages which are on fire, and waiting for the moment when Marly, struck by French shells, shall also take fire. Troops are drawn up in companies and battalions alongside the . jroad. At three p.m. the enemy ceased firing from their guns. We agiin go into saloons of chateau and sit down upon our .boxes and bundles, and we soon managed . to sleep as comfortably as we should do between decks of an emigant ship, but all ..of a sudden.cannon shots are heard between Quelen and Peltre. I hastened to the tower of the church, and climbed up to take a bird's-eye view of the battle field From behind Magny can be seen issuing from the works at Montigny upon trie line of railway a long train of carriages drawn by two engines; it ventues as far as Peltre, and in front of the station infantr) and cavalry of the enemy get out of the train, and send out skirmishers against Peltre and the farm of Thiebnilt, alarming our v.utposts. Tne empty train then returned with the intention of fetching more troops, but our batteries of Mercy de Haur opened their iron mouths and protested. At the same time fire breaks out in three places, at Grange aux Boi3, Ars ]U Guneye, and Peltre. As, however, shells from Quelen again began to fly over the village and about the tower of the .church, and as our men were swarming out of the houses, duty cailed us It was about 8 p.m., and the roar oi Gannon ceased two hours, when all of a sudden Peltre and the whole of its surroundings became a sea of fire. We were told that our Brigadier- Geueral Von der Goltz had set fire to and determined to completely reduce this place to ashes, as it was oniy a place for the French to forage in, and was continually the cau3e of all those repeated sorties. These un expected steps seemed to draw down upon US as a reprisal heavy .cannonading from Fort Quelen. At about 8.30 shell fol lowed shell, and fl.tshes of guns were fol lowed by the roar of the discharge, which 9?as replied to by Prussian batteries which were placed in the neighborhood of the blazing village of Pel!re. At 9 all was quiet again. The N.E. portion of the aky was reddened and colored as if with tires of northern lights. All round was in flames at 10 30 p.m. We were again Called into the streets-r-a fresh alarm had called us to arms, as a n'ght sortie of the enemy had been signalled. From 10 30 p.m. up to 0 a.m, we lie in the trenches in a most apathetic manner. 28th Sep tember 9 a.m. : A farm close to Magny was in flames. of Blaine's orders of the day fe.ll into our hands, wherein he states, as the plan of operations of his ■ invested army, that they are to seek by means to harass and tire the enemy. The French soldier is to have biscuit aud as large a quantity of ammunition as possible with him, so as to make small raids and foraging expeditions in the adjacent villages. At noon Maisop Houge, on the Moselle, near T°urnbridge, was deserted our 68th E«giment, and set on tire ; and it is stated some sharp fighting took place there. At 2 p.m. a heavy cannonade from Fort St. Quentin was directed against Frascati, where our fourth company was placed. Next morning the jP.rp&ians evacuated all the villages, and

will allow the French to choose between ceasing their useless shelling and cannonading, or seeing a number of burning villages around them. A severe outpost engagement, which took place before Metz on the 3rd October, i 3 probably the most important military event reported of late."

The hon. W. Gisborne is a candidate for the representation of Egmont (Taranaki) in the General Assembly. The Lyttelton Times, Ist December, says: —We regret to learn Mr Francis Jollie, of Mount Peel died yesterday. No particulars a 9 to the cause of death have yet come to hand, Mr Jollie was one of the leading pioneers of settlement of New Zealand, having first resided in the Nelson province. He was at one time Nelson agent for the New Zealand Company, and has always taken a prominent part in the public business of the colouy—• having been for many years a member of the General Assembly, Mr Jollie always took a great interest in the active duties of a settle r , and his farm at Wakapuwaka, in the Nelson province, was considered the model farm of its day. We believe he was also the first cultivator of the hop in New Zealand, and from the beginning he made, the Nelson hops have already obtained a name iu the market.