Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-06-12
TELLS OF RUIN =
WROUGHT BY HUNS
United States Mining Expert In
vestigates Coal and Iron
Mines in France.
ARE SET BACK MANY YEARS
Frank n. Probert Gives First-Hand
Story Of Unbelievable Atrocities Of
Huns In. Destroying Industrial
Life of France and Belgium.

consulting engineer of the bureau Of
mines, department Of the interior, and
dean Of the College of Mining, Uni.
versity of California, member of a
special commission to investigate the
damage done by the Germans during
the war to the coal and iron mines
and the steel works of France and
Belgium, after personal investiga-
tion. has just returned to Washington
with f1rst-hand story of the almost
unbelievable atrocities of the Huns in
the destruction and wreckage Of the
Industrial life of France and Belgium.
So systematic and diabolical has been
this destruction in one great coal
mining reH'on, Mr.. Pre- crt says, that
1t will taEe at least five years to re-
habilitate this district and 1t will be
twelve to fifteen years before it gets
back to normal, pre-war output. He
predicts that with the indomitable
spirit of France, in spite of the fearful
destruction to her steel works, with
the return of Alsace and Lorraine to
the mother land, France will eventual
ly become the dominant factor in the
future steel industry Of Europe.
Exploited by invaders.
In preliminary report to Van Fl.
Manning. director of the bureau OF
mines, Mr. Probert says in part:
"Early In the war the German hordes
swept southwark through the iron
basins Of French Alsace and Lorraine,
and for nearly four years this re-
nowned mining area was held and ex-
plotted by the invaders. Many Of the
employees were made captives and
German direction. The international
boundary between France and Ger
mary was drawn In 1871, to give the
victor Of the Franco-Prussian war con-
troll Of the iron fields, but since that
time scientific development, guided
by a better understanding Of the local
geology, exposed for France great
er ore reserve at lower horizons than
that Of the Lorraine annexee.
"The actual physical damage to the
iron mines is comparatively small
when compared to the destruction OF
the coal fields of northern France,
which Is as reprehensible as It is COM
plete. Only in few cases, where pill
lars have been robbed In the mines, II
there any collapse of underground
workings, but the equipment, both
surface and underground. has been
misused, and where ore has been
mined, the lack Of development will
defer realization on capital until the
exploratory work Is sufficiently ad-
vanced to admit Of daily output APP
proximating pre-war conditions. The
mines are not seriously crippled, hut
what Of the steel plants in which the
iron ores are smelted? In my opinion
no such atrocity was ever perpetrnted
against the Industrial life of any
country. Magnificent plants, compar-
ing favorably with anything we have
IN the United States, are now but
tangled, twisted mass of structural
steel and broken stone. The willful
demolition was scientifically planned
and Systematically carried out. This
after the removal Of all such meclan-
ical and electrical power units as
could be used by Germany. The ma
liciousness and efficiency with which
this crime against French industry
was carried out is almost .unbeliev-
able.
Surface Structures Razed.
an the coal districts of Pas de
Calais and Nord, a sector fought over
from the beginning to the end Of the
war, changing hands frequently, bonn
barded all the time, all surface strHc-
lures whether Of town. village or min
ing enterprise have been razed. Ar
ras, Douai, Bethune Bapaume, Lens,
Loos, COurriere, centers of coal-nlp
ing activity but few years ago ana
the mainsprings of French industrial
life are gone, but the indomitable
spirit of France survives and alre; dy
plans are laid for the future. Bru2y,
at the western edge of the known coal
field. was not in the fighting zone ana
its output has been steadily mHn-
tained, but going eastward the fright
fulness Is more and more appalling,
for the hate Of the Hun left its TX
on the mines during his forced retreat.
The coal measures are overlain ny
water-bearing strata, necessitatng
special methods Of shaft sinking and
support to keep the mines dry. The
steel lining Of the shafts was dyna.
mited, letting in the quicksands and
flooding the underground workings for
miles around. In the entire Pas dc
Calais region 1t is estimated that 12O,-
100000 cubic meters Of water must be
pumped before mining operations are
resumed. Having flooded the mines,
the head frames and surface equip
ment were systematically dynamited,
the twisted debris in many cases NIL
ing up the demolished shafts.
Likes Glowing Gum.