El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-01-10

mile OF two from the old
The BeIrIan with his sentiment
for the historic site feels dr.
ferentIy. and his views win prob
ably triumph.
Lens. a city OF subteranean iron
and concrete, offers the most battling
problem OF all to the builder Tt
seems hopeless; but on the shapeless
mass OF ruins that was the great
Lens church a plain wooden sign
board defiantly announces, Lens
Veut Renaitre"-''Lens wins % Rise
Again"
CamoufIaged Fortress.
At Tpres and Rheims. buildings
were obliterated by enemy fire while
the allies held the ground Lens. on
the other hand, ives destroyed by
British fire while the Germans were
there, and during the last two years
OF their occupation the town was
almost encircled by British troops To
remain at all. the Germans had 20
convert the ruins OF the houses into
concrete shelters, reinforced with
plates Of iron Accordingly, what ap-
pears At first sight 20 be a mass Of
tangled brick and rimbers. as IN the
other cities. Is in Lens camou-
tagged fortress often 10 and 10 feet
thick, which must be blasted and
pounded apart before the work Of
ievelng the wreckage can begin
Some progress has been made.
but painfully little, and I should
judge Il would take another two
years before Lens can Eet the
German concrete out OF the way
and start 10 build afresh as
though IL were n city rising on
virgin site
BY train yesterday I Travelled 10
Paris from Lens. In three hours. Not
remarkable time, for a 100 mile
journey. it would seem. yet 20 me
the trip seemed miraculous. I had
seen the main line railway that runs
along the cot OF Nimy ridge. then
through arras and down across the
HlnQeubur- line through the wilder
ness Of the SOmmes when 10 lay
blasted TO pieces even the very road
bed so scattered and tumbled by
great shells that it was hard 10 see
where a railway had once been
Road Rebuilt.
And today the road has been re-
built, though on both sides for much
Of the distance the old tortured ruins
and acres or wire tangled amid a
wilderness Of debris remain IN
touched
The reconstruction N this road
VIII be OF immense economic benefit I
70 France. for II affords the outlet
for tho Lens coal basin France fs
shiveriug this winter. with no coal
TO speak OF for the civil population. Z
But her railways and vital Industries
are kept going, IN great measure
through the coal that I saw passing
in long trains over the Lens-Arra5
line.
In 1913. the society OF mines pro-
duced 100000 tons Of coal in the
Lens basin, one-tenth OF the total
production OF France.
Total Destruction.
And then the German came. With .
out exception, every one OF the 5000
houses in which the society housed Z
$4,000 Of its 1900 workmen was de- I
stroyed In the fighting that ebbed I
back and forth during four cam /
pains, and every pit head was
sIlashed- Railways workshops, build I
ing Of all kinds machines. boilers, /
plant. pit timber was al reduced 70 Z
JUNK ana the enemy deliberately 7
flooded ali the mines he could reach. [
sucn coal as France now obtains from p
me Lens basin is from the minesF
mat were back Of the French and f..
British lines. and remained compare d
lively immune from frightfulness. al I
though most Of them had 10 be I
worked under shell fire.
me mine owners have lost no time I
since the armistice- Enormous pumps
or $4,000 horsepower each. are work ]
ing in all the flooded mines. and in i
g W 1a-Aa some OF Lle DIS VIII De .
ready 70 work again. provided the
souchez river IS able 70 carry off an .
me water that is being poured into ID
without overlooking its banks IN five .
years, was informed, all the mines /
VIII be In ORDER but not for 10 years. I
my Informant fears, viii uroduc-
ton reach the 1918 figure. Next I
year, the Lens society VIII build 1900 /
houses for its workers. and $500 /
yearly IN each following year.
in America last sumner I was often u
asked whether the French would not I
resent hordes Of tourists pouring over I
the ground where 50 much sacred IF
blood has been spilled. Certainly. 81 Z
ne tourists are irreverent and make T.
2 picnic Of their travels. there win f
be bad feeling.
HIT IL cannot be too sfroncIy +
said that France wants Ameri- /.
can tourists next season. all who +
can come. she needs the money. E
The people in the devastated re- F
slons, many OF them. are destitute
and without work, and a flow OF
travel into the ruined lands win T
bring money there and indirectly T
help the reconstruction. That is the
viewpoint, not only Of the people E
themselves in the Artois. Picardv and E
-h1mnagne. but &c IS the view OF the
French government-Copy 1920
Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate. I#