Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-12-24
Two-Tlirds of Northern
France Is Returned 10
Cultivation.
$4,000 MILES OF ROAD REBUILT
Achievement Reveals
Story OF Pioneering unparalleled
in Undergraduates Worked In OVER
coming Great Difficulties.
ny Faith Hunter Dodge.

was infinitely worse than nothing. an
orderly. productive universe is being
evolved
Before me lies sheet OF thin
paper, the carbon copy OF r statis-
teal report from the Ministry OF the
Liberated Regions. Il seems to me
moro eloquent, more beautiful and
more worthy to b" conserved for flu
ture generations than many an illu-
minated page Of many Il priceless
fourteenth-crnt volume. such as
museums guard in locked glass cases.
1t is the record OF achievement
against great odds. But II is also
the story OF a work that remains 10
be done. When the invading hosts
rctrea,ed from Northern France, and
,thc French people returned TO search
FOR the ruins of their homes they
moved into a district approximately
as large as the state Of New Jersey.
that had been turned from fruit
ful land into wilderness The de-
Nastaicd areas were Criss-crossed
trenches Uttered with debris ana
dotted with ruins that had once been
homes or factories. The soil. more
over, had been so churned by shells
that ii had become a vast waste filled
with warhorn craters.
Two-Third. OF Area Restored.
Two thirds OF this area has been
restored and RETURNED to cultivation.
Millions Of mon were employed dur
inG the war 10 dig trenches. but peace
could muster only it's hundreds Of
thousands 10 fiji them up. The fac
tories OF the entire world were kept
busy turning out the shells that
plouchcG the soil Of Northern France.
The work OF repairing the damage
they did has de>olvcd upon the
French farmer.
Tho
familiar with the cost Of road build
ing hut Il has also learned that
highway system is not created in a
aas. France has undoubtedly made
! world record in road building ono
IF the frst steps In restoring the de-
Iastated regions was. OF course. to re-
build The highways. state roads that
were destroyed, II placed end 10 end.
would reach one and II half times
~ ouud IA" world, following the line
IT tho equator. OF the S6.iSj miles
II highway destroyed, $1,000 miles
have been rebuilt. OF the remaining
$4,000 miles. l5,OoO have been made
passahlc"-when the weather is fine.
Industry and agriculture have pro-
seeded hand In hand in the work Of
restoration. There are In the State
IF Massachusetts approximately H.
. 700 Industrial establishments. North
arm France had 22.Sil factories that
bweTe destroyed OF this number, APP
tprox.matcly 3000-2,9Ss. to- be exac;
E--havc not been rebuilt. There were
Enurc towns and villages destroyed
Than there arc in Kansas. Nebraska
and Iowa Two-thirls OF these COM
snunitics have been either completely
.or partially restored. FINALLY. Of tho
1850, 600 people forced from the de-
3;astated regions In 1914, G33,o0" never
'eturned. That is as many neoplc rs
E:here arc in the city of Pittsburgh
|,r the state OF Dakota.
So it is that, Notwithstanding all
hat remains To hc done in Northern
France. the reconstruction achieve
Erent there is a story OF pioneering
In history.
French Splendid Pioneers.
The French have always been
lind their habit OF presenting a
pleasant dcmcanor in the face OF
livery handicap have made them able
o cope with all the SURPRISES aud
difficulties ui Il primitive wilderness.
Pluck, rcsourccfulucss. quick w!ttcd-
less, common sense and sociabil!ty
re national traits which have served
8hcm VOL in their pioneering exploits
Pm North and South .AmtIiCa. in AL
4seria. in Tunisia, in rndG-China, and
in the islands in the seas. liut their
pioneering In the past showed ulti-
nate results OF varying degrees OF
success. Thus. less than 300 years
ago, Jacques Marquette, with Louis
Toilet. began tho history OF our own
Central tmisuamed M!dwcstern)
states; Robert Cavalier dc Ia Sale
and Louis H"nncpin followed In their
steps, and their heroic self-sacrihce
and devotion to lofty purpose are
%riricn large In our history
Rut our Central states hear little