The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-28


 NT'TH the straishtsnins a,'a Of the se.
 V V raine which the Americans have accomplished so expeditiously the fortified city of Metz comes again into the foreground of public attention as an objective of the new drive
 Metz has been fortress since the days uf the Roman empire and always has been considered one of the strongest III Europe It never has been carried by stocm. although it has changed hands many times. Always it's ownership has shifted through treaty, treachery or fam- inc. Even in 1870 when it fell into the hands of the Germans, it was not directly attacked. It was given up as the result of French defeats in the battles of Co., ton,bex- Nouilly. Mars la Tour and Grave- lotte.
 The Roman name for Metz was Di- vcrdurum and they called it ''the strong hold of the gods"
 Metz is the capital of German Lorraine It is the pivot point in the broken fron- ter 01Nlu11lS the fEdHhS, NClto anu O'e'Nts of the west and south from the Germans of the east and north. The centuries long contest between Latin and German has surged back and forth over this city, ! broken in eddies around it, and the con- testants have continually regrouped with Metz as the central point in the plans /! of their opposing strategies, for Metz IS the most important key in the barrier be- tween Latin and Germanic civilizations. Metz and Strassburg are the two western gates of Germany.
 | The Romans used Metz as their north ern base against the Germanic barbarians, and they Connected it by military roads | with Toul, Nerdun and other camps III Roman hinterland. From Metz, the Ro- man legions made their incursions into east. and into the forest and swamp lands l of the north and west. By the Treaty of Merson, in 1870, Metz came into the pos session of East Franconia, now Germany. It rapidly gained importance as an in dustrial and outpost city. and, in the thir- tcenth century was made free imperial l city The Reformation. another element of the Latin German struggle, rageo around Metz as center. During these I times of religious unrest, Metz fell into the power of France and the French were | olfirmed in their possession by the Peace of Westphalia u64s). It remaineo un6er French rule until the German con- l quest of 1870
 The country all about Metz is strategic, and consequently forbidden ground. Tour
 have never been encouraged around the fortress The city lies in fertile, pleas ant valley, which widens out among the hills to the north and which narrows to- ward the mountainous French frontier
 It is upon the heights. the craggy hills
 the passes, the gorge-b broken, fir-cov-
 cred, razor back spur hills that the pow
 erful detached forts which guard the city
 of Metz and it's valley running between
 France and Germany are planted. These works have been constructed around the city by the scale, and they stretch Tn I wide, concealed fan, more than six miles ! before the outskirts of Metz
 The city itself is situated on the cohiiu' enoe of the Seille and Moselle, about |
 miles east of the French frontier It +
 built between the two rivers and upon th' islands of thspMoselle. Much of the cit,
 is composed of narrow, irregular streets lined with ancient, picturesque buildings
 There are some new and imposing struc
 lures in the town, however. and som'
 sfraisht streets. Even, in times of peace