Evening star., 1923-06-24

go out by the trainload to all the
principal centers of Europe.
They are mining black diamonds
right under this tower on which we
stand and through the thick, smoky
air you can see the shafts of mines
which have been working for dec
AIDES. There is a shaft-house with
whirling black wheels at our right
and we can see the cars rise up high
above the shaft and dump their loads
into the furnaces. beginning their
fiery work of making steel The
whole of this krupp plant is found
ed on coal, and the city of Essen.
which is bigger than Buffalo or Pitts
burgh. covers catacombs from which
they have been taking coal for hun
dreds of years Some of the tunnels
are not far from the surface and
some are a half mile beneath US.
Lying in his bed at night in some
parts of the city. one can hear the
picks and the blasting of the miners
digging out coal far below. The same
conditions obtain in other parts or
the valley, and the whole country Is
underlaid with deposits said to be-.
next to the British coal, the best in
Europe for the making of steel.
The Ruhr valley is peppered with
coal mines and every mine has its
steel works or some other kind or
industrial plant above 1t. The whole
region Is An ant hill OF industry and
It is this coal, so. accessible to the
iron nearby, that forms the founda-
tion of the prosperity of Germany.
> Of
Ruhr. 1 have before me some figures
made by the scientists. The mines
have been worked for 500 years and
so far about 5000, 1000, 900 tons of coal
have been taken out Of the ground.
1t Is said that 10000, 900. 900 more tons
are easily accessible and that almost
as much more coal can be mined be-
fore they begin to play out. Indeed,
some of the German estimates say
that the Ruhr has enough coal to
| last for 1000 years at the present
rate of production. Others figure the
amount left in the ground. at 220,-.
100000 tons. ~
Nevertheless. the Ruhr has been
giving Germany more than so per
cent Of it's coal and at the same time
furnishing millions OF tons for. ,ex-
port to France and the other coun-
tries about. In 1915 1t produced two
ffths as much as Great Britain and
before the French invaded the Ruhr
more than $4,000 men were employed
in the mines. The production the
| year before the world war amounted
! to 115,000,000 tons, and last year 1t
had reached to within 1S,oo0.o00 tons
/ OF its pre-war production. At that
time. in addition to the great supply
given Germany and the 1s,000.0 900 tons
furnished the allies, the mines sent
quantities of coal to Austria, Poland,
Hungary and Czechoslovakia- is it
any wonder that these people object
| ~ "
IN BORROWER the industries are so
iltl many that they affect nearly
every factory and home In the re-
public The pig iron production in
normal times was more than 5000, 1000
tons, and the steel output something
like 10000, 900 tons. The capital in
vested in the district approximates
! one billion gold dollars. and among
| the products are iron and steel goods
of all kinds, machinery, textiles, salt
works, and coke ovens.
There are about 500. stock companies
/ and the organisation 10 such that they
all work more or less IN combination,
under Germany's most famous cap
ltains-ofstndnatx7A s1netharArat-p place