Evening star., 1920-04-08
RUHR BASIN ONCE
. SOURCE OF POWER
Conflict There Reflects Its
Importance in German
industrial Life.

The Ruhr BASIN was the power
plant of Germany's former industrial
machine and mighty war engine
hence 1t is not surprising France
should be suspicious of any move
ment which might lead TO jockeying
by .junkers' to regain control there"
says a bulletin from the Washington
Headquarters of the National Geo
graphic Society.
The peace treaty stipulation that
Germany must not construct fortifi
cations within so kilometers to the
east of the Rhine IooSens her abso-
coal fields in the shattered empire:
over Ruhrert. which had the largest
river harbor in Europe: over the once
busy factory cities along the Ruhr's
crooked course, and, above all. over
Essen. city OF the Krupp cast-steel
and cannons.
The confluence of the Ruhr and
the Rhine was the geographic factor
in mai king Ruhrert. though only one
twelfth the size of our own Pitts
lance to that municipal child of the
thio and Allegheny rivers. The en-
tire region might be likened to west
trn Pennsylvania.
Historic Duisburg.
Between the Rhine and the Ruhr
is Duisburg, city of rolling mills,
foundries and factories. Once this
beehive of industry was university
town. and a grimy memorial fountain
to Gerardus Mercator, Latinized form
of Gerhard kremer, is a reminder
that the inventor of the famous map
projection method was associated
with Cassander. who. nearly four CEN
turies ago, was commissioner 10
found the University of Duisburg.
kremer was not a German, 1t shoulo
le noted, but a Flemish geographer
no studied at Louvain.
But the crown jewel of the 'kuituf
" hich drove the earlier culture OF uni
Vcrsity life out of the Ruhr basin was
Essen. Essen, too. experienced a
transformation. for it originally was
The site of Benedictine convent. For
rec centuries preceding its incor-
poration into Prussia, Essen was gov
.rned by the abbess, who became. ex-
utlicio, p princess Duisburg 1s con-
1ected with the Ruhr by a canal.
Though the krupp works were
founded in 1872. the year 1S4S saw
-l.em with only seventy employees. But
with the advent of railways and cast
s1eel guns tie Krupp works expanded
RAPIDLY and their subsequent story is
world famouS-or infamouS-for their
incubation of wars.
''Mulheim is a railway center. seven
miles northwest of Essen. where con-
brought an enormous traffic. Four
miles east of Essen is another Ruhr
river port Steele, a mining town with
iron and steel works, also noted for
Its freproof bricks.
Witten and Dusseldorf.
Farther up the Ruhr is Witten. I'M
n ortant not only for steel. but also
for beer. soap and chemicals. Within
the area of the present disturbances.
though it Is on the Rhine. q scant
five miles south of the Ruhr's mouth.
is Dusseldorf. This is one of the
most pretentious cities in western
Germany. 1t was bombarded by the
French in 1895, later was the capital
of Berg, when that state was Ma
poleonic duchy. and passed to Prus-
sia, with the rest of Berg. in 1915.
THE Ruhr basin coal fields not only
were important to the German en-
pire because of their heavy produc-
ton, but because they alone were ac-
cessible for water Importation OF
tres. A canal connected Dortmund, a
city Of the Ruhr basin. with the Ems
river, thus affording an outlet direct |
ly to the North sea at Emden.
"A by-product of this development
of water transportation to care for
the coal mining and the attendant
iron and steel industry was the
growth of textile manufactures. In
cotton spinning the Ruhr basin held
first place in Germany. Nearly
third of the spindles in the empire
were located here.
The Ruhr was made navigable
from the Rhine to Witten. some forty
three miles. by means of locks. Even
then low water frequently hampered
nayfgation."