The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1914-12-31

DEPARTMENT OF AfsNE.

One of the northern provinces of
France, lying in direct line be.
tween Namur and Paris. Only a
very small section of its northern
boundary touches Belgium, the De-
partment of the North leaving it only
a fVe-mile participation in the inter
national boundary. Within it's Dor
ders many historic clashes of arms
1867. and during the Franco-Prussian
War; at scissors and Laon during
the Napoleonic and the Franco-Prus-
sian wars; and at Craonne year
before Waterloo. Chateau Thierry,
Yeryins, St Gobain, and many other
places in the Department have fig
ured in the history making of the
past few months in France. -,
The country of the Aisne is a sue
.cession Of long, rolling swells, broken
here and there by unexpected hills,
and fretted with wonderfully we'll
kept little farms, with fields of grain
large stretches of potatoes, sugar
beets and fibre plants. All around
and in between are the carefully
groomed government forests typical
|of France and Germany - extensive
wooded areas where broken branches,
brambles and shaggy growths are not
lallowed TO spoil the general effect
There are many small industries
scattered throughout the Depart
ment II contains some excellent
clay beds, which supply number of
small brick works There are a
sprinkling of small plants for the
weaving of cotton and silks, the mill
ing of -four, and for distilling and
brewing. It's beet-sugar manufacture
is one Of its most important indus
tries. It's mirror works at st. Gobain
are famous wherever telescope
equipment is used, perhaps the finest
telescope mirrors in the world bear
ing the hallmark of ST Gobain.
The Aisne is essentially an agri-
cultural department. Its northeast
ern lands form good pastures and
support a considerable amount of
dairy farming One of Europe's
most effectively insistent cheeses,, a
simple peasants cheese, is ripened
there. This cheese is sold in the
form of little yellow-green cylinders,
and has a sturdy individuality about
it which always commands the imme-
date respect and attention of the
stranger. inwardly, it is related to a
German product which takes it's
name from the HarZ Mountains
The Departments area is about g.
866 square miles-a little more than
twice that Of Rhode Island; and the
population numbers more than half
a million. Peasant holdings abound.
Trig, intensely-worked, though small
farms fringing the roads, the rivers
Escaut, Sambre, Aisne,
Marine, Ourcq and Disc, and the
miles and miles of interlacing can
ais, give the American visitor a vast
ly different idea of the European
peasant from that which he cherished
at home. In northern France, prob
ably, the peasant proprietor reaches
his fullest dignity; and his industry,
thrift and pleasing appearance re-
move him from the class Of objects
that demand pity.
Laon is the capital OF Aisne. It
Is built all on top of a Y-shaped hill,
the spur of the Y being given over to
and military camps
LaOn is one of the several European
towns which have to be scaled BY
the tourist. II takes a quarter of an
hour to climb into the place from the
railway station by means of stair
way Of 2bS steps, relieved here ana
there by long inclined platforms.