e been dismissed for
not disarming the refractory battalions.

It is said the prisoners accused of firing the cartridge manufactory are
to be shot in 24 hours.

Much fear is entertained for the fate of the hostages, whose execution
has been so strongly advocated in the Commune, in reprisal for the
alleged violation and murder of an _infirmiere_ by the Versaillais.

Some iron cupola-shaped cases, capable of holding each 1,000lb. of
powder, were to-day taken to the barricades near the ramparts for the
purpose of blowing them up if necessary.

It has been proposed in the Commune to abolish all titles of rank, with
the emoluments and advantages appertaining to them; also that all
children now illegitimate shall be for the future legitimate; and that,
instead of the present form of marriage, any man over 18 and woman over
16 may be allowed to go before a municipal magistrate and declare their
wish to marry.

The only breaching battery that has as yet opened fire is that
established in the Parc aux Princes, at 400 metres distance from the
ramparts. It directs its fire against the _enceinte_ at Auteuil, where
the gates and the drawbridge have been destroyed.

The Fort of Montrouge is almost surrounded by the troops, who advance
also by means of trenches towards the Redoubt of Hautes Bruyeres.

Towards the South a series of attacks have been made, with the view of
driving all the Insurgents on that side from their positions outside the
_enceinte_.

Last night, in an affair at Lagrange, the military put 110 Insurgents
_hors de combat_ and made 43 prisoners.

All the breaching works are not yet completed.

To-day the Insurgents have been firing from La Muette, which is on the
_enceinte_ between Passy and Auteuil, and I observed that they had added
to the number of their guns between the Point du Jour and Montrouge.
Yesterday they had three batteries between those points; to-day they
have been firing from five.

Mont Valerien has done very little to-day, and Montretout has not been
so violent as usual, but the military batteries at Bas Meudon, Les
Moulineanx, and Issy have been very active, as have likewise been the
mortars and field guns in the Bois de Boulogne.

Twenty-one members of the Commune no longer attend the sittings of that
body, but remain in their Arrondissements.

Four hundred Versailles Chasseurs are said to have deserted from their
own side into Paris yesterday.

Batteries of 30 guns have been est