es troops were repulsed in
several attacks made by them last night upon the barricades at
Chatillon, Moulin de Pierre, and Moulin Saquet.

There was a vigorous engagement yesterday evening at the Dauphine and
Maillot Gates, and the Versailles troops were driven back with
considerable loss.

It is rumoured that Fort Montrouge has been evacuated.

The Commune declares that it has a reserve force of 20,000 men.

Of M. Thiers' house little more, it is feared, than the outer walls
remain standing.

MAY 17th

The "Majority of the Commune"--as the Commune is now spoken of in
consequence of the secession of 22 of its members--has resolved to form
a Central Club like that of the Jacobins, composed of delegates from
various clubs of Paris, in order to keep itself _en rapport_ with public
opinion.

The 12th Legion has formed a battalion of women, who in addition to
their other military duties are to disarm publicly all runaways.

The Communal Delegation of the 2d Arrondissement, considering that
slavery was considered immoral even before the American War, and that a
standing army has been suppressed by the Commune, decrees that all
houses of ill fame in their quarter shall be immediately closed, as
involving traffic in human beings.

Peter's Restaurant was searched last night, and several arrests were
made, among them officers of the National Guard suspected of complicity
in the Tricolour Brassard Plot. The Restaurant is closed.

The heaviest firing to-day has been against the Point du Jour. Large
pieces of Marine Artillery have been placed on the ramparts behind
Montrouge.

A terrific explosion has just (6 o'clock) created general alarm.
Enormous volumes of smoke are visible from a great distance. The
cartridge manufactory near the Ecole Militaire has exploded. Six hundred
_employes_, chiefly women, are said to have been killed. Bullets were
launched in all directions, killing and wounding many passers by.

The Insurgents have constructed a battery of Marine pieces, which much
embarrasses the troops and retards the breaching works. Breaches will be
opened at three points--namely, at Mortemart, opposite Auteuil, at
Bastion 65, opposite the Parc-aux-Princes in the Bois and in the
neighbourhood of Vaugirard.

This afternoon the Insurgents fired from three batteries between the
left bank ending the viaduct at the Point du Jour and Montrouge. One of
these batteries was placed close to the Vaugirard Gate, and its fir