New-York tribune., 1884-01-26
INDUSTRIAL FRANCE.
rv poEERTP. PORTER, MEMBER OF THE LATE
TARIFF COMMISSION.
socIrTY AND LABOR IN THE GREAT IRON
DISTRICTS.
NJ.
,-pou Spr,IAL CORRESPONDENT on IHi; lLth' Nt-l
~" NANrN Menrt he-a. NOseIIcl oct. -.

Arthur Young, who made q tour OF fr'"oV J"'' -
torc the Revolution and who did Tor fl"u'o VIII"
Defoe had done half century previously lot "I'"
pri,,ip. said of this city: Il went to Nancy
.t, orcot cvuectation. having heard 1t repre-
o,te5 as the nretticst town in France. think on
IL whole II Is not undeScryIng the character IN
,,oin, Of building. direction and breadth oi streets
p,rdeoux is far more magnificent Bayonne ana
- ,rc more lively but there is more equality
o e. Nancy; il is almost all good, and the pnhHe
buildinpS are numerous Now that nearly CEN
+rr, has elapsed il is CuriOrs 10 read some OF Ihe
descr;ptiou, of the principal towns OF frlaco "S
-, a,reared 70 this close observer when be tray
eIIed through the whole kingdom on his bind
,oorc. though his remarks Nancy might apply
now Young was disappointed with Paris the
,-oc,s are narrow crowded, nlne-tenths are dirty
ond all are without foot-pavcments' Walking
said he done 50 easily in London, IS mpos'ioIe
fora vel-dressed woman The theatres dlSgHs ed
hin, esnecallv one which he was told was bullt III
CIV weeks " and then lit became good for nothing
IN nv ewes. for suppose II will be tumblng down
in six wears" He was struck with the prodlgall'y
and riches of the merchants of bordeaux, ana as
for tho theatre there it was ny far the most mag
nihcent in France
Az once amazed and dazzled by the spendor OF
Nantes (which is 10 this day q handsome city
Yonng found here "the best hotel Ill France.
uarve then "a now was prospcring, " more full OF
motion life aud activity than any place nave seen
in France ROuen has evidently improved Oh la'e
wears for Young nothing III II mi great
uglv sinking close and ill-bullt town whlch i Iu
of nothing but dirt and industry" hhenhs was
"manifcent the Cathedral making great hs-
rren The Lyons people seemed unable OF uilNlAI'ne
% civo him any information about the silk indus
nv He found 20 900 people there subslstlng on
charity. and the appearance OF what Is no" tue
second city of France was disappointing, L prefer
even Nantes 10 LYONS" he rather petulantIy eN
cloin,s ToulOns struck Young a. II Wouid 'he
traveller to-day melancholy, large ana ancient
INT not peoplcd in proportion to Its SIZE. he was
disgusted with the preserved dead shown MN
in the vaults of q church and thought the learning
that the people pIlded themselves on was rather
rretentious More interesting objects 10 this prac-
ticaI Suffolk farmer than churches and academeS
were the new quay, the corn mills and the Cahai-
de-Brein~ Marseil les now the first port OF the
countrv. Young admitted, was busy and well
built in the new part but in the old close, ILL.,
built and dirty" The theatre was not to be com
pared with that of Bordeaux, and as for the fort,
ait was "A horse pond compared with the Tar
onnen Half Spanish, sleepy Bayonnc was by
much the prcttiest town have seen IN France
As for Lille now the fifth great manufacturing
town he only observed that it was surrounded
bv more windms for expressing the oil of cole
seed than are to be seen anywhere else, l suppose
in the world" St. Etienne he does not mention,
hut both this town and Lille were hardly little
more than villages then. With the exception OF
the northwest there was little manufacturing and
that mainly textiles. The total consumption Of
coal for the whole country was less than sO0OOO
:ons and the home production half OF that amount.
The IRON industry was confined TO the casting Of
cannon etc. at Nantes and Changy, and few other
points France was purely an agricultural country
.,.d, ed nj Of people
lived as Young describes, in mud huts without
class for windows. The most abect poverty
aboundcd. The roads were infested by bugands |
and rnhhcrs He as arrested several times as spy,
Obliged to obtain passport from place to place !
and imperlled his life 10 take trip that now may I
he taken with ease and luxury.
TLecxcusa tor this depression is to show on the .
highest English authority that France was at the /
clos. of the last century at least one hundred years
behind Great Britain and that when we consider
III. astonishing drains Of war. beginning with the
Revolution and closing with sedan the growth Of
Tie handsome chief cities OF to-day the increase IN
the production of The soil, and i'm short. the gener-
NJ progress Of the country has not been less remark
able than that Of the United States.
Returning 10 Nancy, we nndit sltuated IN val
lev watercd by the Ncurthe; on each side some
chains of mountains and hills covered with splendid
forests here and thare handsome villas and yne-
greatest rou-p,oducirg department Of France. The .
Neurthc-oj-llo,ce district produces annually 800
coo tons. oI oue-quartcr OF all The pg-iron of
FIauCe. L. this vicinity Is mined about 5000 .
tons of iron ore; nearly hajt the total product.
which was ahout $500. 900 tons in $50. Beside,
this France Imported 100000 tons Of Spanish
auI other ores, consuming upwards of 100000 .
tons which !, nearly doable the quantity consumed .
in any year previous TO ls7l.
Nancy itself does not look like the centre Of an
iron-produciug country. Ii is clean, respectable .
town uay and old in some quarters and
WAIT, in othes-. Il Las handsome modern build-
ius~ AID few fair specimens OF medieval archI-
lecture The people are provincial. Industrious AID
dislike Germans which may he ozpiaincd from
tie fact tlata portion Of the iron industry of this
region Was lost to France after the FHnc0-Gcman
war. hy The cc,siua 20 Germany If Alsace- Lorraine
and that one OF the most saugliuary fights Of the
Wax took ace in the rolug-mIlls Of an ron-rorks
Of tins district. Met aud Stra-bourX seem 20 cast
Their shadows over Nancy, aud although the
French Of Iii, vicinity hoa-t of the fcrt'nca-
tions Of foul on the Moseo. few miles west of
Nancy they still feel bitterly TIE loss Of thrirtwO
tr,at shoaghod, especially here along the border
Tie industries OF The Town are mainly those Of
cotton aud wo,cu. / visited couple Of WOO len
nails and found them rather old-iashiored and
Lot comparable with those at Rouba.x, IlbU1f and
Rheims. Tie cotton mills were not Oi the tret
class. Embroidery upon cambuc muslin and ac-
onet, employs the greatest number of hands.
amounting TO 10000 persons in the town aud sur
rounding country.
Accompanied by a friend secured conveyance ,
audscon found that the only way to see this iron
region was 20 take to the road The iron mines
found, constituted two distinct groups. those Of
Nancy and OF Longwy, the Inter place leing ~
the extreme north end of the Department. Tho
jnp0rtant places IN the first group are Chayisu1
Marhache. Efouard BouNiereS-1ux- Danes Bon