NEWS BY THE MAIL

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 843, 29 July 1871, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL

A correspondent, wiifirig from Paris on the 'l3th, says:—" In the chaos of cdntradictdry reptirts concerning miKtarV Operations, it ! is a relief to meet'with some one Vho has actually seen some of theftghting with his own eyes, and %ho, riot being a Frenchman, is not too much-prejudiced I in favour of one side or the other. 'I I had some interesting conversation I with a friend—an English medical student —who has just spent a week in the ambulance of the Commune established at Neuilly, in the Rue Perronet. He declares that in spite of their braggadocio and want of discipline, | the National Guards fought with indisputable valor. Indeed to go to Neuilly at all requires a certain amount !of courage. There is not a gate leading I out of the city which is not more or less bombarded. The broad roads outside, such as the Bouelvard Bineau, are constantly swept with shells, and sometimes bullets and grapeshot add to the number of victims. Every house has received its storm of projectiles, and the ambulance of the Rue Perronet Jhas been hit no less than thirty-six times. Fortunately the shells came for the most part from small and, therefore, burst outside the ho'use without penetrating the walls. At the end of the Rue i ?erronet there are two barricades ! 'ioich have been fought over many lines; but the Versaillese, notwithstanding their numerous efforts, have riot been 'able to take them for good. The first has been carried several 'times, but only to be recovered a few hours afterwards by the National Guards, who, in this Quarter at least, have lost rio ground. In those incessant combats the Federals display a Very pertinacious courage. They face the rifle bullets of their adversaries with cheerfulness ) they study every inch of ground ; they profit by every ■stone, mound, wall* or window to hide themselves iarid take aim. The losses on both sides are considerable'; but the National Guards, instead of being ■discouraged, are every day becoming more hardened to their work. General Dombrowski, who is frequently in this quarter, has been the making of lis men. They absolutely adore him. &e is looked upon as possessed of a charmed life. He has escaped the greatest dangers by a miracle, without receiving the slightest hurt, and his example under fire has produced the best moral effect. At Neuilly a great deal of artificial courage was at first produced by hattd drinking. "It was curious to riotice>" said my friend of the ambulance) " that whenever a new battalion arrived from Par is* we were too to have tin undue proportion of Wounded that evening. The men on leaving town had drunk many farewell drams, and their pouches were very full. Towards evening they would be completely intoxicated-, and then in their excitement "they would rush forward, exposing themselves recklessly* aid getting shot. But the next day bile and sobriety taught them prudence." These disgraceful scenes, Wever will not continue long. Measures of extreme rigor have been taken to put an end to them ♦ and there was an an executien at Neuilly wy'ibt men Who had stolen between them four bottles of wine."

The German " St. Petersburgh gazette" 6b serves that Bussia has gained two victories over Ergland" —a diplomatic one in the Black Sea Question, and a financial one in the jnatter of the new Bussian loan. It ui known, says the ".Gazette," that the London Stock Exchange suddenly felt certain patriotic scruples, and thought it a most provoking act on the part of Bussia to come to the English oarket the same month in which m had of her own free will freed herself from the Treaty of 1856, and before the other Powers had given their consent to an alteration of the treaty Y e t the sum Bussia asked tor has been subscribed twice over in «>ndon all the same* and this success »the more remarkable fchat the price W the aew Bussian Five per Cent. J*an is much higher than any of those *bich were issued in 1867 and 1868. . Aie p ar i 8 correspondent of " Land ™Q Water" writes :—«• Whilst you yave your Cook, Eob'ertSi &c.-, in EngJw, we have here a wonderful school j 1 professors of the art of billiards. * was present the other evening at a K"? given b y M - Faure Nicolay, woo has eeveral times played before

the Emperor or rather haa knocked the ball about. to please His Majesty. M. Faure. Nicolay commenced Ins entertainment by playing all three balls from baulk, and lo ! after they had struck every cushion they cannoned. His powerful and his gentlo masse strokes (strokes made by striking down on the top of the ball) were executed with marvellous dexterity and precision. Tho professor would either ttiasse back the whole length of the table, or niasse round a hat placed in the centre of the tahle. By this I mean that ho would place tho red and the spot balls in the right hand top coiner of the table, and playing from the 'left hand bottom corner would cannon by passing round tho hat without 'touching a cushion. Some of these strokes require not only skill but force pf wrist; amongst the gentle masie 'strokes I may describe the following:—Draw a circle tho size of the crown '6f your hat on the table with a bit of chalk, place the three balls in a line in ,the Centre, and playing with an outside ball cannon without any of the balls leaving the circle. M. Faure-Nicolay does this with the greatest ease, and strokes more wonderful still, which would be dificult to describe, and must be seen to be believed. He plays not only with a cue, but with his hands and even his nose, and whether using cue, hands, or nose, the balls appear to obey some irresistible force, and to be under the most complete control."