The Monticellonian. [volume] (Monticello, Ark.) 1870-1920, 1918-07-05

Der as small child during the siege
of Strasbourg playing sometimes in
the sheltered garden of brewer at
Sehiltigheim. and was much pleased to
find, twenty years or more later, that
he had installed a brewery at Nancy
on really gigantic scale. Cabbage
picked in salt, which is national
dish of the Alsatans, Is fabricated
here for the whole of Alsaee and is
sent all over Europe.
Noted for Many Arts and Crafts.
Embroidery and the making of boots
and straw hats keep thousands of
hands busy in Nancy, which central
ICES the work of the villages and ham,
let's surrounding it. Before the war
the yearly export of boots and shoes
amounted to over 100000 divided
among % manufacturers. They were
of common variety, sewn by machine,
generally with nailed soles, and were
almost solely destined for export. Brt
the chief industry of Nancy is ths max
ing of straw hats, whicb~once -four
ished all over AlsaeS, ars1 after our
defeats migrate., 10 Nancy.
In the tow szitself, as | saw during
my late visit, most home workers are
employed at taking hats, while the
large factories often employed as
many as 5000 ork people-and two
thirds of these were women. This
trade, of which Marcy has the monopo-
ly in France, has bten great loss for
Germany. especially tor the Rhine and
Saar provinces, Where, strangely
enough, most of the towns continue to
work for Nancy. The Visits, however,
which serve to make straw hats, are
quite an industry in themselves. In
their raw state they come chiefly
from China. and are sent o Italy and
Switzerland for the bleaching process,
whence they are imported in o France.
England which is the chief i,termedl-
AIRY, yearly imported half a million
tons of plaits. But even here Nancy
was making great progress bef1-e the
war, and with groups which had
formed in Lyons and Caussade was
trying to make herself Independent of
both England and Switzerland.
Straw Hat and Printing Press.
The trade of straw hats gives rise t,
many others. for Nancy, after having
received the raw material, turns out
every kind of hat trimmed and ready
for export, and for this accessories Of
all kinds are needed. What struck me
most when | walked through the large
WORK. chnns fhnnconAc and thnn-
sands of bell-shaped hats, put one into
the other forming immense pyramids.
1t was the Panama hat, the light,
white head cover which is so great Il
favOrite and almost endless in its
wear. These hats in their primitive
state are the product of the Bourbon
palm or latania, and are sent by the
republic of Ecuador The dressing of
the Panama hats is one of the great
industries of Nancy, and 1t is all the
more important at the present time
when our women have been compelled
to take the place of men, for this Is
light industry. we'll within their pow
erS.
The printing works of Berger-Lev-
rault form one Of the most interesting
features of Nancy. They are famed
not only all through France but may
say the world. Here is the printing
done of almost all the branches of the
French government, and the proprie-
tors are the publishers for the minis
tries of war, finance, police and many
other departments, for which they pro-
vide millions of copies.