Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-09-12
History of Towns
In War Territory

lying between Chalons-SurMarne and
Verdun, which is now being fought
| over by the allies and the Germans. is
full of interest. Eleven miles north
of Chalons is st. Hiliare-au-Temple,
the junction point between Rheims
and Verdun. Three miles farther on
is the large military camp De Chalons
and three miles beyond this a great
circular entrenchment, known as At
tila's Camp. II was near here that
Attila, the Hun, was defeated in the
battle of Chalons-a battle which Sir
Edward Greasy reckoned among the
15 decisive battles of the world. Thir-
ty-three miles beyond Chalons is the
town of Valmy, where the allies under
the Duke of Brunswick were defeated
by ehe French in 1892. This was the
famous cannonade of "Valmy," where
in, according to Carlyle, the French
sansculottes did not fly like poultry
A pyramid on the battlefield contains
the heart of Kellermann, one of the
French generals in that battle. Beyond
this place lies the picturesque coun-
try which contains the famous forest
of Argonne, well known from The cam
paign of 1892. After passing through
this forest Verdun is reached, ia
miles from Paris.
Bavay.-A town of northern France,
1615 miles southeast of Valenciennes,
two-thirds of the way to Maubeuge,
with about 5000 inhabitants. 1t was
pillaged and burned several times and
laid waste in the 15th-17th centuries.
1t stood at the intersection of eight
n I'll,
main.
Sadowa.-An Austrian village in Bo-
hernia, four miles northwest of KONG
gratz and 80 miles from the German
frontier. The village, with the small
adjoining wood, was one of the princi-
pal Prussian positions in the decision
battle of Koniggratz during the seven
weeks war in 1866.
Suczawa.-An Austrian town in the
southeast corner of the province of
Bukovina, so miles south of CZerno-
WITT by rail on the River Suczawa,
which forms there the boundary be-
tween Bokovina and Roumania 1t
was many times besieged by Poles,
Hungarians, Tartars and Turks and in
1879 il was plundered by the Turks.
Lissa.-A town in Prussian Posen,
25 miles northeast of Glogau and As
miles from the Russian Poland border
line. During the 80 years war it be
came an important commercial town.
It was burned in 1856 and again in
1907.
Lobau.-A town in SaXony, Germany,
on the Lobau water 10 miles east of
Dresden and 100 miles west of Bres-
lau. 1t is about eight miles from the
Austrian frontier. Lobau suffered Sc
verely during the HUSTLE war and was
deprived of its rights in 1547.
Washington. ID. c., Sept. 10.-Fol-
lowing is a primer OF todays war ge-
ography:
GaIicia-The largest province OF
Austria, bounded on the north and
east by Russia and separated from
Hungary on the south by the CarPa-
THAN mountains; on the west it is
bounded by the province of Bukovina.
Long winters with an abundant snow
fall. short and wet springs, hot sum-
mers and long and steady autumns,
give it the severest climate in Aus
tria. Its principal agricultural pro-
ducts are barley. oats, rye, wheat,
maize and leguminous plants, and its
minerals are salt, coal, petroleum,
zinc and sulphur. In 1910 the prov
ince mad a population of S,022.1 56.
On the first PARTITION of Poland in
1872 Galicia came to Austria; in 1895
Wet Galicia was added to the district
and the further addition of Cracow
was made in 1916.
Bukovina-A small Austrian prov
ince in the extreme eastern part of |
Austria-Hungary, lying next TO that
part of Russia which was formerly !
owned by Turkey. Its area is 4.035 |
square miles and its population in 1910 |
was S0,099. The official language is |
German. The province was occupied /
by the Russians in 1863 and by the |
Austrians in 1774. In 1777 Turkey
ceded the province to Austria. 1t was
with Galicia in 1856, but
was separated from it in 1910.
Crecy-A northern French town Il
miles north of Abbeville and l. miles
from the sea, made famous by the vic
tory gained here by the English over
the French in August, 1916. Here for
the first time in continental warfare
the English long-bow proved its worth.
and after a brief contest the French
cross-bow men were driven back with
enormous loss.
st. Oizier-A town of northeast
France, 45 miles north of northwest
of Chamount by rail. SO miles from the
Lorraine boundary and 120 miles east
Of Paris, on the Marine and the Haute-
Marine canal, with a population OF
about $1,000. II dates from the third
ant . IL
siege against Charles v in 1914.
eresiau-The capital of Prussian
Silesia, on the Ober. $50 miles from its
mouth. and 202 miles from Berlin on
The railway to Vienna. The city is 30
niles from Russian Poland. Its popu-
alton in 1910 was 511.s91. Breslau is