OUR PARIS LETTER.
(fbom ottb own cobrespondent.)
Death oe General Clinchant.— The illness of General Clinchant—inflammation of the lungs, complicated with pernicious fever—terminated fatally on Sunday afternoon (20th March). The deceased Military Governor of Paris was a native of Lorraine, and was born in 1820. He was a pupil of the school of Saint Cyr, and received his ■ Commission as sub-lieutenant in 1841. After passing through the successive grades, lie was made Lieutenant-Colonel on the field of battle of Solferino ; he became Colonel in 1862, and General of Brigade in 1866,----for his services in the Mexican Campaign. During the war of 1870 he commanded a brigade under Marshal Bazaine and took part in all the fighting which preceded the capitulation of Metz. On the surrender of that place he succeeded in escaping,; he was appointed commander of the 20th Corps, for operations in tne East of France, under Gen. Bourbaki, and gained the battle of Villerseall on the 16th January. After the defeat at Hericourt, and the attempted suicide of General Bourbaki, General Clinchant rallied|the troops, under Generals Cremer and Bressolles, took the command of all the forces in the East, and ordered the retreat into Switzerland, when M. Jules Favre, by an extraordinary oversight, had neglected to comprise the army of the East in the armistice. After the peace General Clinchant returned to France, and was placed at the head of the sth Corps of the Army of Versailles. He next commanded successively the Ist Corps at Lille, and the Bth at Bourges, and, on the death of General Agniard, succeeded him as Governor of Paris. General Clinchant was Grand Officer in the Legion of Honour and was considered one of the most brilliant officers in the French army. The State made a splendid funeral to the late General, which was attended by a large crowd. The celebrated band of the Republican Guard, led by M. Sellenich in person was in office.
The New Goveenob of Paeis.—General Lecointe, the new Military Governor of Paris, was born in 1817, and entered the Service in 1839 as sub-lieutenant, after passing through the Military School of Saint Cyr. He obtained his grades successively, and when the war of 1870 broke out, was Colonal of the 20ih Eegiment of Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, which distinguished itself, but suffered great losses in the battle of Gravelotte. Colonel Lecointe was one of the officers shut up in Mtetz with Bazaine, but at the capitulation he escaped through the Prussian lines. He reached Paris, and was then made General of Brigade, and received the command of a division of the army of the North, then forming under General Faideherbe. During the night of the 10th December, 1870, he drove the Prussians from the town of Ham, and made the Prussian garrison prisoners. On the 23rd of the same month, at the battle of Port Noyelle?, with v the 22nd corps, which formed the French right wing, he carried the village of that name with the bayonet. At fiapaume on the 2nd and 3rd January he defended with a battalion of the 23rd of the Line and three companies of Chasseurs the principal attack of the Germans on the village of Brefvillers, which was the key of the French position in the centre. He then took the offensive, and drove the Prussians from their ground. At St. Quentin on the 12th it was his corps, the 22nd, which held out with great courage and protected the retreat of the 23rd when overwhelmed by the masses of the enemy. In January, 1878, General Lecointe was called to the command of the 14th Army Corps at Toulouse, and was afterwards made Military Governor of Lyons when General Farre gave up that post to become Minister of War. The New C«ab Aiexandeb lll.—The new Caar, Alexander 111., waß_ Grand Duke heir since the death of his elder brother at Nice. He was born in J 845, and married the Princess Dagmar, daughter of the King of Denmark, who, according to custom, changed her name, and received in. Greek baptism that of Maria Frodovonna. Three sons, Nicholas, George, and Michael, and one daughter, Xenie, have beeu bom of that union. Alexander
111. is brother-in-law by his wife of the Prince of Wales, the King of Greece, the' Prince Royal of Denmark, and the Duke of Cumberland, the dispossessed heir to the throne of Hanover. The new Emperor passes for being hostile to Germany and to the growing influence of the German element in the Russian administration. Personally he exhibits a very marked type of the Russian race, being of tall stature and broad-shouldered. He has worn a full beard since the war, in which he distinguished himself greatly. He resembles his grandfather Nicholas byhisiron will and application to work. The Czarina, who is now aged 34, joins to her persona! charms a vigorous and intelligent mind. She took part in all the lessonsof political and social economy, military art, and general history, which her young husband took to prepare for the future responsibility that has now devolved upon him. The new Emperor and his wife are a pattern of domestic felicity. Alexander 11. leaves four other sons, Wadimir, Alexis, Sergius, and Paul, and one daughter, the Grand Duchess Mafia, wife of the Duke of Edinburgh. As President of the Imperial Council, the ; Czarewitch became thoroughly acquainted with State affairs of all kinds, and consistently displayed ardent Liberal opinions. He is well known to have frequently remarked, "My first reform after my accession will be to give the country a Parliament with responsible Ministers." In 1878 he. went, through^ the whole of the itusso-Turkish -cilia-J paign with his uncle, the Grand Duke - IS ickolas. From the very commencement serious disagreements broke out between the two Princes, the heir to the throne never hesitating to point out his relative's errors. Their disaccord reached such a point that the Emperor felt himself compelled to prevent its continuance by^ separating them, and placed two corps;: belonging to the Grand Duke's command under the sole orders of the Czarewitch, who afterwards used them to besiege Rustchuk. The new Emperor has visited almost every part of Russia, ever aecom-'. panied by his wife, from whom he is never separated, and has everywhere been enthusiastically received. Their town in Poland some years since had the best results as regards that unfortunate country, their passage through, though for a short time, having left, not only kindly souvenirs, but hopes that the aspirations of the Poles would some day be fulfilled, and that eventually. the right of using their own language and religion would be restored to them. Late events have had, at all events, the advantage of grouping round.the Czarewitch the new and purely,. Russian element, an element Liberal; pro£ , gressive, and patriotic. '
Terrible Fiee at JN"ioe.—Gbeat loss 1 of Life.—The most disastrous fire on - record in this neighbourhood occurred at the Theatre Municipal in the eveningiof the 23rd March. Just after the performance of Lucia de Lammermoor had coin-' menced, the audience was startled by an explosion of gas, and the utmost consternation and confusion prevailed, a wild rush being made to the doors. The theatre was soon in flames, and though . assistance arrived from all parts, it wag impossible to rescue all within the building and about eighty persons have perished , in the flames. The excitement of the inhabitants was intense,, many persons rushing about in the crowd in search of missing relatives, and their shrieks were heartrending. The anxiety depicted on their feature was painfuHn the extreme, as one by one the charred bodies of the victims were brought out of the theatre. The fire commenced about 8 o'clock but from the first it was apparent that the* means of extinguishing it was utterly* inadequate. First the scenery and other stage property became a prey to the".':' flames, and then the roof fell in, the; r brigades being unable to cope with the" '■' '■ emergency. The theatre has been totally i destroyed. Tne inside is reduced to! a' ' mass of charred and smouldering ruins^ and only the walls remain standing. Immediately after the explosion, V, the body of the theatre was.V ( plunged in darkness, and an artiste' then on the stage was seen enveloped iu-r flames. This was the signal for an im,-,, mediate stampede, everyone losing, all presence of mind. Many persons were crushed to death in their frantio efforts to escape, but the majority of the victims were stifled. The Italian Theatre at Nice was particularly ill-constructed, its corridors were narrow and badly distributed, its staircases were steqp, narrow,, and tortuous, there was but one door, which ' was reached by a small flight of steps.not more than two yards wide, and to gel'to the orchestra stalls it was necessary to•• . pass under a kind of tunnel under the orchestra itself. It was in this almost inextricable trap that nearly 100 wretched -• people were crushed, suffocated, or burned 1 to cinders. A single hour sufficed to ! destroy the place completely, and to work unutterable woe. Most of the victims were those in the cheap places in the upper galleries. The total number of telegrams seat from place to place within the city; of/,.; Paris itself during the, year 1880 was . , 969,157. These telegrams produced !'' 578,887fr 47c. In these figures sent.by ' the pneumatic tubes laid down first in 1879 were as follows: 337,793 telegram cards, and 123,100 sealed telegrams. The cost of the telegram card is 30c, and & of the sealed telegrams 50e. Both these means of communication are becoming daily more and more popular. ; ( ■■?
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Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3886, 13 June 1881, Page 2
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1,599OUR PARIS LETTER. Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3886, 13 June 1881, Page 2
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