Evening star., 1923-02-06
ADVANCING FRENCH
REPORTED rs MILES
OVER new BORDER
Continued from First Page. }

hour shifts a day-and have not been
affected either by the railroad strike
| or lack of fuel.
August Thyssen, the venerable
founder Of the famous steel dynasty.
| is an indefatigable worker. He is
eighty-one years old, but Is at his
desk regularly at g. in the morning.
frequently remaining there until IL at
night.
Locomotives are busy shunting cars
! in the immense railroad yard of the
| plants, which cover about ten square
miles. They are built around seven
| pitheads. and are thus provided each
] day with sufficient coal to supply the
/ entire works with motive power
Occupation an Aid.
The French occupation has not in
! terfered with U.S. is the opinion
expressed at the Thyssen plants 'As
, a matter of fact, II has helped US. We
were having lot OF trouble with the
communist element among our WORK
ers, but the French occupation and
the arrest of Fritz Thyssen lined them
up solidly behind u.s."
| Many Industries in the Ruhr are in
a similar situation, mining their own
] coal within q few hundred yards or
| the works. The railroad men nave
remained faithful to their jobs, and
| the plants are we'll stocked with raw
material. Thus they can hold out for
many months.
The French may be able to occupy
| the Ruhr militarily. but they will
never get anything worth while out
| of it," said one Of the Thyssen direc-
tors. "Our workmen are satisfied. We
raised their salaries 80 per cent on
| February i. and they now draw 1880
an eight-hour day. We shall raise
| their wages again should the cost OF
| living increase.
Trying to Provide Food.
I'VE are doing everything we can
to provide food as cheaply as possi-
BILE. There are now eighty carloads
Of foodstufs from the interior of
! Germany at the Oberhausen yards.
The shipment has been delayed on
account Of the strike. but we are
| bringing 1t here in lorrfes to dis
| tribute among the workmen at cost.
Fats. which are especially scarce in
the Ruhr. will be provided at the rate
of a pound and a half monthly for
| every member Of each employees
household.
Our workers have received pledges
| Of food from Holland and America,
which will be forthcoming should a
| famine occur.
| The management Of the Thyssen in
/ terests assert that the French state
| ment to the effect that the huge prof
1
tied In foreign countries are errone-
GUS. All available funds. 1t is said.
| were used to buy raw material with
| a view to the emergency OF the prob
! able occupation. 1t is declared that
August Thyssen found II very diff
cult to get sufficient funds from the
banks to meet payments due Decem-
ber 81 last
Railroad Yards Idle.
| As the correspondent motored
through Duisburg. Ruhrort, Ham
| born. Oberhausen and Muelheim, he
! noted that most OF the steel plants
and mines were working. but that
the railroad yards were all idle ex-
| cept for a few trains manned by the
French. However. the trainmen were
at work IN the private yards and
plants.
Navigation Is at a complete stand
| still. At Ruhrort the corresponds Mt
| saw two tugs flying the Dutch lag
| and one with the French emblem.
hauling two coal barges up the Rhine
| toward Alsace. The river was prac-
| tically deserted.
| The Industrial magnates have not
lost courage. I'VE can hold out as long
as the French can" seems to be the
consensus of opinion.