The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1918-06-20
CDNP|EGNE HAS
BEEN EVACUATED
MOST IMPORTANT CITY ALONG
MoNToIDIER-NoYAN FRONT.
SITUATED ON THE OISE RIVER
Has 5eSusifGl Forests, FsVorite Resi-.
denees Of Mary Ancient Leaders.
Birthplace st Gee. Guynemer,
Frances Fersr,oSs Airman

piegne. the most important city along
the line OF the attempted advance Of
the Germans on the Noyan- Montdidiel
front. and which has just been evacu
ated by the civilian population, is the
subject of the following war geogra
ply bulletin issued by the National
Geographic Society:
Situated on the southeast bank OF
the river Disc, Just mile below its
confluence with the Aisne, the city of
Compiegne, with population of 1900
at the outbreak of the war, is 81 miles
by rail northeast of Paris on the Paris
st. Quentin railway, As miles south
east of Amiens, and 25 miles west. of
Scissors.
1T is one of the most interesting
cities in this part of France, having
been known as Compendium in the
days of Clovis. It's beautiful location
on the northwestern fringe of the SUI
perb forest OF Compiegne, made it a
favorite country residence of many
French monarchs. The forest, which
contains more than $4,000 acres and
is 5S miles in circumference, was for
centuries a great royal hunting pre-
serve.
ut was Louis XIV who commissioned
Gabriel to build the magnificent palace
which is still well preserved, and it
was that monarch who here welcomed
Marie Antoinette, the i'll fated daugh-
ter of Maria Theresa, to France when
at the age of Is, she became the bride
of the douphin, the future Louis XVI.
1t was here also that that other Aus
trian princess, Marie Louis, spent her
brief but happy honeymoon with Ma
poleon |. AS an evidence of the Emper-
or's infatuation for his bride Ian infat'
uation that caused Metternich to
write that he is so evidently in love
with her that he cannot conceal his
feelings and all his customary ways of
life are subordinate to her wishesO
there is still to be seen in the park
surrounding the palace an iron trellis
which he ordered built to remind the
19-year-old empress OF her favOrite
trellis at Scronbrunn. This incident is
of the devotion displayed
by the Babylonian king who built one
of the seven wonders of the world, the
hanging gardens, in order that his
bride might not be without her native
mountain scenery even on the plains
of the Euphrates.
ut was at Compiegne that one CT the
saddest episodes in French history oc-
curred-the capture of Joan of Arc by
the Burgundians in 1880, followed by
her martyrdom at the state just twelve
months later in Rouen.
Before the war Compiegne was an
industrial town of considerable i'm
portance, its chief activities being boat
building, rope making, distilling, and
manufacture of chocolate, machinery,
sacks, chemicals and hats. 1t also car
ried on a thriving river born traffic in
timber and coal, and its asparagus
farms were famous.
In 1914 Complegne onereu stern
resistance to the Prussians, and in the
Franco Prussian conflict of 1S70-1S71
it was one of the headquarters of the
German army.
Now and for all time to come Com
piegne will be dear to the hearts OF
the French people not because it was
once favorite residence of Louis XIV,
Louis XVI, Napolean I, Louis Philippe
and Napolean III. but because on
Christmas Eve, 1894, there was born
here Georges Guynemer, Ace of Aces,
the foremost airman of France, who
before his tragic death at the age of
% had won every honor that his CRATE
full country could bestow upon the
matchless defender"