Norwich bulletin., 1916-11-14
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

Chempitz, one of the leading indus
 trial centers of the German empire and, according to Amsterdam des-
 patches, the scene of recent diots fol-
 lowing heavy casualties of Saxon reg
 imentS in the Somme zone defensive,
 is the subject of the following war
 geography bulletin of the National
 Geographic Society:
 ''The Saxon Manchester, as Chem
 nitz Is familiarly called, owing to it's
 extensive cotton spinning factories, is the great industrial center of the kingdom of Saxony, and, with a popu- lation of PSI 0G00, is in size the third city of this division of the German empire, ranking next to Dresden and Leipzig; from which places it is al- l most equi-distant by rail, 50 south west of the former and southeast of the latter. The town is admirably situated for l manufacturing purposes, on the Chemnitz River, an affluent of the Mulde, and at the foot of the Erzge- hills 75 miles long and 25 miles broad forming part of the natural boundary between Saxony and Bohemia. It is 1 surrounded by a fertile plain and has | an elevation of 1000 feet above sea- l level.
 l Almost from the time of its settle ment by a Slavic tribe known as the Serbian Wends Chemnitz (pro- l nounced Kem-nitz )nas been noted for | its industrial activity, first for it's lin- | 18th century as one of the centers of cloth manufacture. Today its fac ! tory products include stockings, wool
 en goods, gloves, chemicals, carpets | and bricks, and many of the made in 1 Germany articles imported into this l country before the war.
 'The chief activity of the citys army of working men since the out 1 break of the European conflict has l been the manufacture of the locomo- l tives required in the never-ending | transportation of troops from one bat l tlefront to the other. Tn peace times | there were 90 factories employing 20,- 900 hands in this Chemnitz industry | and it is probable that this number has been increased greatly during the l last two years.
 | During the devastating Thirty ears War Chemnitz suffered at the | hands of all parties, and was laid waste, but it entered upon a new era | of prosperity at, the beginning of the
 18th century, since which time a I streets and handsome buildings has grown up around the old or Inner City, | with its quaint, narrow thoroughfares and it's picturesque Dromenades which
 now occupy the crests of the old for l tifications.
 I 1 Chemnitz in 154G one of the first
 medieval institutions to be dissolved
 was the Benedictine Monastery found l ed in 1136 by the Roman emperor | Lothair II just year prior to his | death.
 At the time that the war cloud be-
 gan to lower SC suddenly over Europe l during the last days of July 1914,
 many American and English tourists
 were, in Chennitz, as this was the
 popular headquarters for summer ex-
 cursions through the Erzgebirge mountains"
 1 Mannheim, the great commercial city of the Upper Rhine valley which French aviators are reported to have
 raided recently, is famous as the f'chess-board municipality of Germany because of the precision with which it
 is laid out in 136 squares of equal l size, says 8 war geography bulletin which the National Geographic Soci-
 ety issues from Washington.
 | With a population of 200, 900 of it's own and 90,000 in the town of Lud- iwigshafen just across the river, Mann helm is not only the chief emporium
 for all South Germany, handling vast quantities of coal. petroleum, cereals, tobacco, sugar, coffee, and timber, but
 it is also great manufacturing scen- ter with chemical works, electric ma chinery plants; iron foundries, and
 automobile factories. At the head of
 important navigation of the Rhine, it
 is not only the leading city of the
 upper river, but is surpassed by Col
 ogne along on the Lower Rhine.
 'The rapid growth of the shipping
 interests of the city necsssitated a
 vast expansion of the harbor during
 the last quarter of a century. The new docks, quays and warehouses,
 constructed at the mouth of the Neck ! ar, which enters the Rhine at this point, cover nearly 250 acres. '"The most striking building in Mannheim Is the famous grand ducal palace, the largest of its kind in the German empire. Besides the apart ments of the Grand Duke of Baden into whose possession the city passed
 in 1902, the palace contains several interesting art collections. The orig f inal building was erected during the