Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 294, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1913 — TOWN GETS LEGION OF HONOR [ARTICLE]

TOWN GETS LEGION OF HONOR

Decoration for French City That Stood Two Sieges With Much Bravery. The town of Peronpe, not far from Amiens, has had the distinction of being decorated with the Legion of Honor and can now place the cross so much sought after by every Frenchman in its coat of arms and on its seal. Peronne has two memorable sieges -

to its credit, the first In 1536 and the other during the Franco-Prussian war. During the siege of 1536 Estournel, governor of the town, held out for more than a month against the Comte de Nassau, lieutenant of the Emperor Charles V. At the end of that time Nassau gave up the seige. The siege of Peronne during the war of ‘‘soixante-dix” was one of the broodiest in history. The Prussians surrounded it on November 30, 1870, and the town held out until January 9, when with half the town in flames, no

means of fighting the fire, not to mention the lack of food and drinking water, it capitulated. The fire was so Intense that the bells in the church towers were melted and the stacked silver pieces in the bank were turned into ingots. Six hundred and seventy houses were destroyed by fire and shells, while 3,Q00 soldiers and citizens were taken prisoners.—N. Y. Sun.

Tasmania boasts the richest tin mines in the world.