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The Seat Of War

The Seat Of War image
Parent Issue
Day
29
Month
July
Year
1870
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Our correspondent "W," wLo last winter sent us interesting letters relatng to the niaiiners and eustonis of tbo ohabitunts ot' the ideutical regiou, now jcing occupied by the bulligerent artuies, g'ues the foliowing particulurs respectiug tiie loeality now beiug occupied y the Frencb troops. Beiug familiar with that section of the Khine provinces bis iufuruiittion is valuable ; - l'ree I'tcs.i. Ilusays: Saarbrucken lies somo fifieuu miles north of Bilescastle, from which placo I last winter wrote you. - The uiain lurnp.ko or military load con struoted by Napoleon I., aud called in constijueuee the "liaissrstrasse," leudiug from Mannheim, on the Rhioe, through Kaiserslautbin, Laudstulil, Homburg, (St. Ingbcrt), passes tbiougb Saarbrucken and thcnco to Furis. St. Ingbert ís ou the buuudary betweeu Prussia and Bavaria (a Buvarian cuslom house is locatod thcre), and is euvironod by a mouataiucus couutry contamina coal and ron ore, and alsy by oxteiüive fürtíst lunds, of which I Lavo pieviously given you a deseription. Tho inliabitants s.ill retain recoliecüons of thu last military occupancy of their town, wbieb w;is in 1832 when the Bavariau Govoruiaent ent tbree compuuies of infuntry to do duly as a Banitary cordon and provent the entrauce uf traveler.s, having a fear of the spread of the cholera at ttiat time ragiug iu Frmce. Barracks wore built and travolers detaiued, fiiiiiiatod and quaraiitincd, bu", iiot-vitbstanding these preca'jlions, tlie pestilenco progressed oawai'd over Bavarian soií. Tbesanitary cordon ou tbo Kaisor-itrcwe was ineffeotuaL tít. Iugbert 3 a frontier town. One otile wvst of St. Ingbert, in the Prussian domaiu, is a í-mall tnwu called Roclerge, atd hero Prussiau euatomhcuse u looaled. Four mile.s west lies Saaibruoken (ai;d St. Jahann) o realilj one town, lbough divi ded by tiie rivur Saar, vvh:ch is uavigable to this point by small craft. A stransrer vvould con sidor bullí places as one towo, but they have their separate govoiDiüeuts aud burj;omeistcrci. They are conuected by tevcral biidges (brucken), henee tbü uame of Saai bruckou. There fire here extensivo woelen aud tobáceo factories, and iu fact tha towu is quite au iinpor taut commercial center, mul I have u doubt ihe French would liko to obtaiu poseefsion of it. Sume four milos west lies thü tovvn of Voorbacb (üot Forbach) as transmitted by tbu eabl, a Frenen border town, baviog a custom houae. - Tbe surrounding country is not a Süudy plaiti as O!io uf your city coutemporaries bas it, but is a fertile wheat-growing regiou. Sumo eight miles south of Vorbafih lies the old Frenob lown of Saargeinuudo (m..':u.iíí tbc mouth of the Baar). lluro is tbu couflueuue of the rivera Harr aüd Blies. The Blies formt tbe boundary butween Franee and Bavaria for some disfcauco bofore it unites with tliu Saar, thut ia f rom llhiuelieiiii to Fi aueubuig, the former Bavariau, the latter i French town. In tbe vicinUy oí Frauenburg are a number of Bavurian towus - Ilabkirchen, Babelsheim and Asvveiler, Biesmgeu 8 üituu'.ed on the highest emineuce in th:tt looality - a ïuouuttiin coutainiug inexbaustiblu piaster beds - gypsum. - llere are the remains of a semaphoric hignal station erected by tbe first Napoleon. Jt 3 one ot a nuiuber occupying the gurroundinji cininenets on the routo to Frunce. They were used to telegrapb important military informatiou. Four miles cast of Biesiogen lies tho aucient town of Bliescastle, wbiob, approachcd bj that roaJ, is coucealed uutil one"abiup(ly comes upon it at a buud in the roüd. Just here the heights bijsiile tho town bristle with the remains ür ruins of riüe-pits aud similar dcleuBe3 eonftructud by the soldiera of Bonapurto The road is niacidaraizod and unsurpassed ; both sides of itÜDed with fruit kreea - principally oherfies - fiee to all travelera, the only restriotioo bein to use enre to üot damage tho trees, a duty which tbo geus d'armes enforce. Tho pou!atiou i very dense and the land well dintributod - rnaiiy owüiug but halt' an aore, and very few proprieton having more than ton acres. As m:iy ba inferred, the oultivation is very earoful'aud a proper variety of crops grówn ou caeli small portioD, sucb as wheat, barlej, potatoes, cl. var, etc. Ürchards aro nuiiieroiiH aud iiue, aud tbe wholo couulry is tho nativa horno of the prime inin ense quantitics aro niiscd and dried for export, also largely distillcd for brandy. There have beun ieasous when the erop was soid for eight couls a bushel. These are the principa] poiots in a circuit of .ome twenty miles, though tbere are numerous smaller villagea. - 'L'lie wbole cf this región, except at Si. Ingbert, is bigbl cultivated, produoing good crops ef ocreals, and is for fruit orchards ud the vine uuequaled. lmniediately surrouüding St. Ingbert tho BOll is eaudy. The iiihabitants are eogaged in tha coal and ron mines thercabouts, and in the glas, roo and steel works. A'su iu the manufacture of lampbliu-k fiom coal. The coal iniucs are a roya! de líense, and are operated by the King of B.ivaria, or ou bis Eiccouut.

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus