The Washington herald., 1921-07-26
OFFICIAL FIGURES
SHOW FRANCE HAS
REBUILT HERSELF
Since Armistice 2,172,167
Persons Have Been
Housed.
ROADS RE STORED
$50, ,000,0 Cubic Yards OF
Trenches Had to Be
Filled Up.
ROADS RE STORE ID

Filled Up.
what France has passed through
an the years since the hghtlns on
ber soil stopped Is graphically toio
in an oficiaI report by various gov
ernment oficial bureaus The re-
rort an detail shows that the popu-
1,,ion Of the invaded zones OF
Franc. totaIed IN 1914 4.6so.1s3. Al
fn. time of the signing OF the
.rfptsttcs. IL had fallen as low a.
4isS.4S5. BY the LIST OF May TINS
wear Il had risen again to f,16S'ioS'
or N per cent OF the 1914 popuia-
tion. Distributed as families. the
fxures of population are as foi-
lows:
IN 1914. 1..7s.7s3 families; st the
time of the signing Of the armis.
tice, f2s,l53 families; on the LIST OF
May. 1891, 1,1ss.s7o families. or 81
per cent Of the prevar total IL
4, ,Snteresting to note IN connection
with the population Of the devas-
tzted regions that. whereas sS per
cent of the total population has re-
turned, 81 per cent of the families
~Ebich formerly lived there again
do 50.
OF the total population given
above, Ass. 1856 lived in villages and
towns which were either destroyed
or damaged, the present population
of which is s.5ss.s42-
z,1zz.1sz Housed.
since the armistice, 2,172,1s7 per
sons have been housed in buildings
either repaired or newly con-
structed.
The number of postoffices in the
invaded zones in 1914 totaled l.SOs'
At the signing. Of the armistlce'
only as of these were open. BY
the 1st Of May OF this year. l'4oS
had been reopened TO the public.
There were Sans private tele-
nhones installed in the devastated
regions IN 1914. At the signature
Of the armistice, no telephone
..rvtcs existed. On May 1. 1891.
s4.I51 telephone subscribers were
again receiving service
There were 2,571 telegraphs de-
stroyed in the devastated regions
during the war. Two thousand
three hundred and forty-two Of
these had been reopened by the LIST
OF may OI Iuls yceA"
Railroads Hard HIT.
Two important railroads suffered
serious destruction in the northern
and northeastern parts Of France
during the war. These were the
Nord and the Est railroads At the
signature of the armistice, these
reported 1885 kilometers Of double
track railroad completely destroyed;
further 1.062 bridges. tunnels and
eulverts were either destroyed or
badly damaged. On the 1st Of May
sf the year 1921, the Nord railroad
reported that it had entirely re-
constructed and reopened on pre-
war schedule basis the 1.4s5 XII
pmeters Of double track line de-
stroyed and that il had rebuilt e53
Of -I.0S2 bridges, tunnels and cuI-
Eerts destroyed or damaged. On
November IL, 1918, the Est rail-
road reported that 7o9 kilometers
pf double track line on its system
we're entirely destroyed. together
with 441 bridges, culverts and tun-
nels. On the Ist OF May of this
rear. Il reported 7oS kilometers OF
Soluble track line entirely recon
structed and open to service and
ALI OF the 4I1 bridges, culverts. etc
petmanently reconstructed
~ Single Track Destroyed.
Locar railway lines also suffered
heavy destruction. 2.3S5 kilometers
n, single track line being COM
,laeeIy destroyed at the time OF
me- armistice. together with 467
bridges, culverts, tunnels. etc. de-
Ttroyed or damaged. On the 1st OF
Nav of this year. 2,010 kilometers
H single track line were reopened
% ,trahic and 422 bridges. culverts
6nnels, etc, were completely re-
constructed
Fifty-twoN thousand seven hun
lred and thirty-four kilometers OF
highway were in a state OF COM
,lete disrepair at the time Of the
aruinE Of the armistice- Forty
hree thousand five hundred and
,inety-fye kilometers were recon
rrncted by the 1st of May. 1921
H,3.z2o bridges destroyed or dam
sxea. 2,s45 have been completely
ebuilt. Fourteen million eight
iundred and twenty-five thousand
pns OF crushed stone were neces-
arS to the repair Of these roads
- Hospitals Rebuilt.
OF the 1874 hospitals situated ir
he liberated regions before the war
k1sey were destroyed or badly dam
hged in the period of hostilities- Or
As 1st of May, 1891. seventy oi
hese had been completely recon
tructed and were again open tt
he public, and eighteen were ir
he course of reconstruction. There
we're 2,s21 public health station:
It the disposal of the Inhabitants
4 the North and East of France
D 1914 At the time of the armis-
Ice, all but 667 of these had beer
Bosed- On the LIST Of May of this
pear, z.s20 had been again recon
tructed and were at the disposal
II the public.
The decomposition of the land
ver which fighting took place show
ID that z.oss,s:3 hectares of cui-
Ivated land was destroyed, and 4O6,-
30 hectares Of pasturee land was
endered unht for use. Woods anc
prests, marsh land and ponds raised
ne acreage which had to be re-
made. In addition to the above
york should be added $4,000, ,Oot
ubic meters of trenches to be filled
md 373,O00.00o square meters oi