Norwich bulletin., 1914-12-02
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

The Department of the Mouse, in northeastern France, is one of the most strongly fortified regions in the world. The greatest length of this department from north to south is approximately so miles, and it's greatest width is approximately 40 miles, yet within that circumscribe area, with it's 2,400 square miles of territory, are the great fortress of Verdun, the fortified po- Sitons of St. Mihiel and Gironville, and the towns of MontInedy, Stenay, Mont faucon, Spfncourt, Troyon and Com mercy. each eloquent with recent mili- tary history.
 The Mouse river flows through the department from its southeast corner to its northwest border, crossing the latter only about ten miles from the historic battlefield of Sedan, Verdun, eastern banks and the great fortifica- tions of Teul form an outpost of its valley. About oEe-half of the total area of the department is embraced in the valley of the Mouse, which is enclosed on the west by the forests of Argonne, and on the east by the hills known as the Cote de Mouse. Still further to the east lies the forests Of the Woevre district. .One-fourth of the entire department is covered with for ests, and they were, prior to the pres eflt war, those finely kept forests of rance IpdL TeS6Q1DlS "OOQeQ QaTkSi in our own country.
 The three hundred thousand people who live in the department of the Mouse in normal times are devoted mainly to agriculture and manufac-' turing. Their crops correspond gen. erally to those of the Mohawk valley of New York, the Susquehanna valley of Pennsylvania, and the Shenandoah valley of Virginia Sugar beets are an important addition to the list of things produced from the soil.
 There are many industrial estalo- lishments in the department, such as textile mills, lumber mills, paper mills, carriage works and distilleries. Ligny- en-BarrioS is famous for it's output of scientific instruments. There are also important iron, steel and wire plants in the department and its files, hard ware and edged tools are famous.
 Important waterways cross the de- partment, one of them connecting the Marne in France with the Rhine in Germany, and the other running up and down the Mouse valley. Their aggregate length approximates 145 miles, or nearly three times the length of the Panama canal. In times of peace these canals are great thorough fares Of cheaply- transferred com merce. There are numerous railways, among them the main line from Paris to Strassburg, passing through the southern part of the department, and the line from Paris to Metz, passing through the middle section. Another important line is the one which fol- lows the Mouse valley.
 The Department of Ardennes, in northeastern France. with more of a panhandle" than either Texas or West Virginia can boast of, is one of the smaller and yet one of the most his torfc of all of the departments of EAv--,Y, ap,6 1fOT, h G prominently in the present war in Europe.
 In fact, Ardennes boasts of two pan- handles instead of one. The main one shoots northward into Belgium for a distance of about F miles, and has an average width of about seven miles. The other thrusts itself eastward be- tween the Belgian border and the De- partment of the Mouse for some 12 miles, and has a width of some eight or nine miles.
 The department slopes generally to- ward the Aisne, which flows through it's southeast-central section, although the Mouse flows through it's north- east section and thence northward through the Belgian panhandle. AL though the airline distance between the point where the Mouse comes into Ardennes is less than 50 miles, the waterway distance is III miles.
 For large part. the department is occupied by the remains of the French section of the great forest of the Ar denneS, through which Julius Caesar campaigned, and which separated the Celts and the Teutons of early Euro pean history. The forests have large ly disappeared with the encroachments of civilization, but the sharply marked linguistic boundary between the Elem ish-speal1ing people of Flanders and the French speaking people of south ePn Belgium still tells of the ancient barrier to intercourse between the two peoples.
 The Department of Ardennes has an area of only POPS square miles, but it possesses population of nearly BPS. 900 people In parts of it there are stock farms that remind one of the common crops Of the northeastern sec ton of the United States flourish, and fruit growing is practiced in some sec lions
 There are numerous industries in this region. At Rouizicourt is the large powder factory of St. Ponce: and at Charleville there are large nail-
 making and type founding establish ments. Sugar factories, tanneries, iron foundr5es and metal working es- establishments dot the valley of the Meuse. There are important textile plants centered at Sedan, and the de- Of thousands of pairs of wooden shoes.
 Ardennes has a. rich military his tory. It was at Mezieres that Cheva- Her Bayard, with 2.0e0 men, with stood the siege of the Imperial army with it's 35,000 men for nearly a month. in 1521, and that the French held out against the Germans fer six weeks in