The " fort" in the Rue Chabrol is still held.
M. Guerin and his followers, now reduced to ten, still defy arrest, and the Ministry of the Interior for some inexplicable reason still refuse to employ force. The street is barred, the sewers and the water supply are cut off, and no one is allowed to commu- nicate with the besieged, but the house is not stormed as it would be if a gang of coiners were within it. Even the fire- engines are not employed, though they could flood the house in an hour, and even M. Guerin admits that such a termina- tion would make him ridiculous. The cause of this weakness is still unknown, but it is possible that the Government dread a popular riot directed against the Jews. They are aware of a savage feeling in a section of the populace, and fear that if Jewish capitalists were compelled to fly Paris would be grievously injured. It is possible, too, that General Galliffet would rather appeal to the soldiery on any other subject.
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