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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 217, 13 September 1871, Page 4

, The, .Sound ,of : a Shell. — The Versailles correspondent of the Daily News, after describing the beauty of the country ■ between Mendon and Point du. Jour, says : « Suddenly , as your glaDce is fastened upon the arche3 of " ; the aqueduct across the Seine, there issues from a small dark dbjectj almost hidden., hehind the middle arch, a flash oi fire. A white cloud spurts: out through the arch and sails like a phantom swan over the water. Anotherflash;'follows immediately; after, from the grey bastion on. the shore, and your ear is intent to catch the first sound of ;theidletbr nation. At last, after several seconds, it coines,~a;nd closely upon it the sound of the shellNa's it rushes towards you with terrific, .speed. Yoji- see. nothing, but a feeling of terror seizes you. With each ; riioment the sound becomes more intense.' *At first It' resembles a low whistle 1 , but as rt approaches it becomes a howl, a" ys\\ ;a' savage shriek, such as the Angel of Death inigbt have uttered when he "passed over the Assyrian hosts. With all your selfcommand you cannot prevent a shudder. You ; step involuntarily between the wind'owSj ;.;. and, look: ; down \into, the battery close by. You see the men pressing against the fasciine ; workß of the earthen camp, and holding oa to..each_j>ther..in._ their, momentary terror. Some cover tiieir'ear¥la'escap6''frbm w the r i36tin'd,' r 'bthefß'' ! ' listen to it with their lips firmly pressed. On^comethe/shells, mingling th,ejr shrieks,* aW' moving" the^ Wry air-befd're then*. They may strike you ; ; they ,-may -fly into the room, and bring % dowa'jithel wholf.! h'ouse about your ears — but you think of nothing — yourlwh'olie existence ,see*mß to ' hkng on the sound that is still increasing if vehdmeDce. 'pSh'sh't l/i; It losses; over* yjour'ihlad-With a. kadxl JEite 'irees thove ai) with a mighty wind; a dull thud fifty yirds behind; an explosion — ancTthe" d inger for the present has passed. The re en in the |jatterjjr d\ose fyf juSip up, asjf electrified, fenfl j^gbj.j[ J^gh g^esori Tsfa what he was doing — one lighting his pipe, another) men4iurrfeJPlI b l^Q^s, ;ja; tb^rd heading the newspaper. The officer in command cries out u piece -^Mefo due x,"., The windows rattle, • the^darHM: foundations. tremJble, the batte.rv is for a momenji ealveß^ed in'ia cloud iif. smoke, and away goes the answer to the Point du •Jou^^ •■■•■■■ ;:■■:■ >,■•,-■■',:■ ■[.:^;.,:..r: i: :/ •■ ,'.'' '•"■' "")■ ■' x . .;.' '■''' , ' ■ ■„."' ,v, >'■•■■■ ■ .'''•■ ; i';.'!i" ' '•."•■'. '-,'i,' „,i ■ ■ ::j ;.■■••;. '.■'•:',".''• .•: • ri .'j,r,";' r - ..'. ; -r-,.. :.:?■>! :*•:•>':., •• vt^'- >,v':^«,'.i „>■:: •■