Meade County news., 1917-06-21
wU YhHELMSHAvEN, the scene
q M of terrific explosion which
v v is supposed to have

" " is supposed to have
wrought great damage to
the imperial docks and shipyards re-
Gently, is one of the two most impor-
tant naval stations of the German en-
lpire, says a bulletin of the National
Geographic society.
Only sixty-five years ago the site of
this now strongly fortified town of
$4,000 inhabitants given over chiefly
to shipyards, dry docks, fitting out har-
bors, iron foundries, boiler foundrles
and boiler factories, was desolate,
low-lying, marshy tract of land on the
edge of shallow inlet of the North
sea, known as Jade Busen or Jade bay,
which had been formed by foundations
in the thirteenth and sixteenth centu-
rieS.
In 1852. however, the nascent spirit
of Prussianism awoke to the fact that
the kingdom did not own single inch
of sea coast on the North sea. In or
der to acquire foothold on the west
ern shore of Europe the Prussian king
purchased from the grand duke Of Old
enburg the marsh, four square miles,
upon which now stands Wilhelmsha-
ven, and the purchase price was $780,
600 thalers (about $355,000).
Seventeen Years Building Town.
For seventeen years large body of
worllmen was engaged at great ex-
pense in building the town, dredging
the bay, and sinking piles in the peaty
soil upon which to erect the docks and
shipyards. 1t was herculean task
and frequently months of labor would
lbe wiped out In single hour by n
high tide or violent storm. In the
end, however, the work was complet-
ed and the harbor was formally opened
by King William, 0fterward Emperor
William !, in the presence of. many
British&ndval officers who little inn
agined what q momentous ceremony
they we're witnessing, for with the ded-
ication of Wilhelmshaven began in
Earnest the development Of modern
Germany's sea power.
One of the odd difficulties with
which Prussia had to contend in the
building of Wilhelmshaven was the un-
friendly attitude of the kingdom (soon
thereafter to become Prussian pro-
wheel of Hanover, which'refused to al
low the construction. of a railroad
across Its territory from Prussia into
Oldenburg, so that all the material for
the harbor had to be shipped from
Prussia by the long sea route.
Wilhelmshaven is less than 40 miles
in an airline northwest Of Breme4, and
is only 60 miles by rail from this great
commercial center.
The new harbor Of Wilhelmshaven
has an area Of 40 acres and depth
Of more than twenty-six feet.
Memel. Germany's Northern City.
Another Of Germany's important sea.
ports is Memel, in East Prussia, which
the Russians partly destroyed early in
the war.
Memel Is lands end for the Ger.
mans. II is the most northerly town
in the empire, lying but few miles
from the Russo-German border. Be
fore the war, Memel was a city Of con-
siderable consequence, a city rushed
with commission business and port
whose harbOr was always filled with
sail and smoke columns. The port Is
midway upon the Baltic sea, conven-
iently placed for trade with Stock
holm, Sweden, to the north with Riga
and Petrograd, Russia, to the north
east; with Copenhagen, Denmark, to
the west. and with the many north
German ports. 1t has an excellent
harbor, well improved. protected. by
two lighthouses and by forts toward
the open water.
Memel was the center of the Baltic
lumber trade. Great rnfts of logs
hewn In the. forests of Russian Poland
ana western Russia, were foated down
the NiemeA river and the Kopnig VIII
helln canal every year, and the lumber
product of the citys mills was distrib-
uted by the busy Memel feet to every
Baltic port, much of ii going TO Rus
sla. Pole, Russian, Lett and German
during the years of peaceful effort
frat"rnized in Memels coffee houses
beer gardens and in the tidy, preten.
tlous little inn, Nimmersatt.
Tilsit, a military and commercial
center is So miles south-southeast of
Memel, while Koenigsberg, capital of
East Prussia, lies 81 miles to the south
west Nemel had a weil-tO-do popula.
tion Of al out $4,000 before the war.
A city without poor and without mil
nonaire, II possessed thriving trade
In trnnsit gOods, agricultural and man.
ufactured produce In international ex.
change.
I Was a Growing City.
Memei had a growing Industry-Iron
Ioundries, shlpbuildIng yards, and fac.
tories for the output Of chemIcals, ma.