The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-14
By ROBERT c. BENCHLEY
Associate Editor Of Life

Copyright 1921, by The ge-Herald)
 New York, August 13.-(Spe- cial) )-If France and England are going to do what the head line writers call split over Si- lesia, it is high time that the average man in this country had a clearer idea of the problem. At present many people think that if you add oxygen to Silesia you will get oxide of Silesia and can take spots out of clothes with it.
 A definite statement of the whole Upper Silesian question is therefore due, and. for those who care to listen, about to be made.
 The trouble started at the treaty of Noblitz in 1773. You have no idea what perfectly rotten treaty that was. It was negotiated by the Grand Duke Ludwig of Saxe-G -Goatherd- Cobalt, whose sister married Norris sey and settled in Fall River. The aim and ambition of Lud- wigs life was to annex Shielzeu- gingen to Nichtrauschen, thereby augmenting his duchy and at the same time having a dandy time. And he was the kind of man who would stop at nothing when it pleased him to augment his duchy.
 In this treaty, Ludwig insisted al lsir,o SiIexia monogamy. This was very clever, as it brought the centrist party in Silesia into direct con- flict with the party who wanted to restore the young Prince Niblock to the throne, thereby causing no end of trouble and nasty feeling.
 With these obstacles out of the way, the greed and ambition of Ludwig were unrestrained. In fact, some historians say that they knew no bounds. Summon ing the Storkrath or rather com mon council (composed of three classes: the nobles, the welter- weights and the licensed pilots) and said to them (according to Taine):
 An army can travel 10 days on it's stomach, but who the hell wants to be an army?'
 This saying has become a by word in history and is now re- membered long after the Grand Duke Ludwig has been forgot ten. But at the time Ludwig received nothing short of an ova-, ton for 1t and succeeded in win ming over the obstructionists to his side. This made everyone in favor of his disposition of Silesia except the Silesians, as they could neither read nor write. they thought that they still be- longed to Holland and cheered duke every time they saw one
 The question remained in abey- ance thereafter for a century and a quarter. Then in 1895, three years after the ascension of Ralph Rittenhouse to the throne of England. the storm broke again The occasion was the partition of Parchosis by the great powers, by which the towns of Zweiback, Ulmhausen and Ost- wi1p were united to
  dustrial triangle" on the Upper Silesian border. These towns are situated in the center of the pumice district and could alone supply France and Germany With pumice for 50 years, provided 1t didn't rain. Bismarck once called Ost-Wilp "the pumice heart of the world" and he was about right, too.
 It will therefore be seen now important it was to France that this industrial triangle on the Silesian border should belong to Germany At the conference which designated the border line, Gambetta, representing France, insisted that the line should fol- low the course of the lser river ("Iser on one side or the other'D was the way he is reported to have phrased it), which would divide the pumice deposits into three areas, the fourth being the dummy This would never do.
 Experts were called in to see if it might be possible to so di- vide the district that France