The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1919-04-27
VANDALISM IN COAL
AND IRON FIELDS
pestrnctton Accomplished wfsh
Soonufic snd FScndish Thorough
nos In FiAnderA
ATROCITIES UNTHIhkABLE
WORKS Robbed 81 Everything PSr-
ablo and Dynamite FnLsises
tho Work OF Demolition.

WARRINGTON, Apfn 7s Frank
IT. Probort consulting engineer OF
the bupeAu OF mines department or
the interior ana dean Of the college
OF nilniaI University Uf California.
member OF spec!al commiAn.on 10
investigate tho damage done by the
Germans during The war 10 Tho coal
and iron rniues and th- steel works
OF Francs and Begun, after pea
soma .nVesi!Ea!iUn. han Jus. 70 %. Lci
20 Washington with n firsshand
story ~. ,aS alnopl uGbo..ssAole
htrt O...ss OF the IlIuG IN tho de
h,f Ion ard NfscAAEo OF mo In
duttiLa l.ic o. France and Begun
Jo t.sIIGA.-G and d.GyV LSRi has
cou ,h!s dcs rlc,lon IN one great
toA. Il!aiEx region, Mr PrVbort
tSys lhR, Il wll take a. leAsg tdn
years 70 rehab.l.tate th!E district AnI
IL viii be twelve 10 fifteen years u0.
fore {. se.s back 10 normal ptO-war
Outpu1. He predics that with Tho
IndomiEabIo apltI OF France. ip
Lp.tc Of the Isallul des ,rucuon %
her stse. works. with the return OF
A.sace and Lorraine to the mother
land. France Will eventually become
tho dominant factor In tns futurs
tsei industry or Europe.
In n preliminary report 10 Van
Ii Manning director OF the bureau
OF mincA hr. Frobert says, In part
Early IN tho war tho German
hordss swept southwark through
lhe Iron basins OF French Alsacs
and Lorraine and for nearly four
,ears this renowned mining area
was held and exploited by the in
Nadsrs Many OF The employees we're
made captive and compelled to work
in the mines under German direction.
ihs International boundary bstwsen
france and Germany wA drawn In
ltl. 10 Give the victor OF the
Franco -Pruausan war control OF tho
iron fields. but since that time scien-
tific development guided by a bet-
Ter understanding OF the local
geology, exposed for France .
greater ore reserve Al lower horizons
han that OF the Lorraine Annsxss.
Coal Worst Sufferer.
During the German occupation
the iron mines were not intsnsivsly
exploited because OF the necessity OF
recruiting able bodied men into the
Teuton army and on account OF the
large accumulation Of war minerals
III preparation for the war, The
mines 10 comparatively ANAL when
compared 10 the destruction OF tho
coal fields Of northern France, whioh
. a. reprehensibls ~ u 10 complete.
Only in q few caAes, whore pillars
have been robbed In the mines, 10
there any collapse Of underground
workings, but tho equipment. both
surface and underground, has been
misus~d, and whore ore has been
mined, the lack sf development will
defer realization Of capital until tho
exploratory work 10 sufficiently Ad-
vtnced to admit OF daily output ap-
proximatinE pre-war conditions The
biines are not seriously crippled, but
what OF the steel plants in which the
iron ores are smelted7 In my opin-
Ion no such atrocity was ever per
petrated agains. the industrial life
OF any country, Magnificent plants
comparing favorably with anything
We have In the United States, are
now but tangled. twisted masA OF
structural steel and broken stone,
Tho wilful demolition was scisntiff-
cally planned and syStsmatical
carried out Thie nftor the removal
Of all such mechanical and electrical
power uAits az could be used by
Cermant Ths malicio usness and
efficiency with which this crime
axsinsS French industry was carried
out 10 aimost hnbelievable.
Systematic Destruction.
In the coal diAtytcts Of Pas Dc
Calais and Nord. sector fought