Norwich bulletin., 1916-10-11
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

SeVfeS--AS women or all ages ana of every nation have joyfully barred their fingers of rings and their arms of amulets to supply the sinews of war for soldiers fighting in defense of their homes; as the mellow pear of myriad bells has been stilled in order that their metal might be nodded in to DTazen- -throated cannon; as the statues of heroes are ove-thrown and the material reoast into shrapnel shell; as costly fabrics are torn into bandage5 for the sorely wounded, so in this hour of national travail France has seen fit to convert her incOmPar- able porcelain factory at Sevres into a plant for the production of crude, gross ungainly earthen pots and re- -orts required in the manufacture of high explosives.
 The National Geographic Society has issued an interesting war geog- raphy bulletin on Sevrcs which now assumes a position in industrial France complementary to the great ordnance city of Le Creusot. The bulletin says:
 Bits of ux-Sevres worth many times their weight in gold; 18th cen- tury porcelain vases, for which cer- annie connoisseurs have paid as high as $50,00G each, today count as naught in the scale of values at the Manufac- ture Rationale de Sevres compared with the immense cauldrons, jugs and u UC1Dl6S OI SloLSI pOllSIy WHICH l1l5 munitions makers of France utilize in the mixing and reducing of various chemicals required in the manufac- ture of powerful explosives and of poisonous gases.
 The main factories of Sevres. which were dedicated to the fine art Of porcelain and pottery making 160 years ago, are located on the left bank of the Seine, fetween Paris and Ver- sailles, some three miles beyond the main Notifications of the capital. They almost touch the magnificent St. Cloud, in which stood a palatiaI chateau once the property of the dukes of Orleans and later a favorite residence of royalty, but which was destroyed by the Prussians in 1870.
 'SeVres, which has a population of about 10000, is one of the oldest towns in the vicinity of Paris, but it did not become the center of porcelain manu- fracture in France until 1755 when the factory established six years previ- ously in Vincennes by the brothers Dubois was transferred to this point. Three years later the esta blishment was taken over by the government under the patronage of Louis XIV it soon began to flourish. Not only Louis but two of the most influential members of his court-the Marquise de Pompadour and the Comtessepdu
 
 the beautiful products of the factory. The colors ''bleu de roi," rose Pom padour'' and rose du Barry are en- during testimonials of their patron age.
 At the outset only a soft porcelain, now called vieux tSevres, was manu- factured here but the success of the potters of fASaxony with hard porce- lain and the discovery of deposits of kaolin near Limoges caused the French to carry on valuable experi- ments which bore fruit in the broad encd scope of the Sevres works in succeeding years.
 During the French Revolution porcelain manufacture was practically suspended, but with the ascendancy of Napoleon Sevres became populous and thriving center of artistic indus try, for which each great victory in the field the emperor desired fresh table service to commemorate the event. and special vases were ordered for all occasions. One of the most famous of these vases was the mas sive piece of porcelain designed to celebrate the marriage of the great soldier ruler to Marie | Louise of Austria. The principal dec 1 orative group, in bas-relief, contained l 115 figures, while the secondary group, representing the populace shouting congratulations and good wishes, had ] from 1000 to- 4.000 figures.
 The magnificent Musee Ceramique, occupying the ground and first floors | of the factory and containing exam pies of porcelain of every country and every age, was established in | 1895 by Alexander Brongniart who was appointed director of the estab- l iishment by Napoleon and remained ] in charge until his death in 1S47, in spite of the many changes of govern | ment. a | ''In the suburbs of Sevres is the at trative little viaage, Vile dAvray which boasts of the Villa des Jardies once occupied by Frances prose | Shakespeare, Balzac. In the same villa, on the last day of the year 1882 died Gambetta, one of the master | minds of modern France. His death was the result of an accidental dis l charge of a revolver, and the tragedy occurred in the presence of Leonie Leon, the woman who had exercised so potent an influence over his career as far r-sighted statesman.''