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TirE nTTRLTNGTON FREE PRESS 'AND .TIMES i THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1914. The WEEKLY FREE PRESS, 3 cent per copy, CO ccnls for six months, J1.00 per year, postage paid. Advertisements anil subscriptions ro eclved nt tho office, 183 College Btreot Full advertising rates tent on nppllcn. tlon. Accounts cannot bo opened for subscrip tions. Subscribers will please remit with order. Names nto not entered until pay ment la received, and nil papers nto Btop ped nt tho end of tho tlmo paid for. Remittance nt tho risk of tho subscriber unless mado by registered letter, or by chock or postal order payable to tho pub lishers. Tho dnto when the subscription expires Is un trirt addrcss-lnbol of each paper, tho chango of which to a subsequent date becomes a receipt for remittance. No other receipt Is sent unless requested. The receipt of tho paper Is a sufficient receipt for the first, subscription. When a change of nddrcss Is desired, both tho old and now addresses should bs clvcn. Term ffl.oo n Yenr. In Advance. DA 1H by mnll M.00 n yenr In advance, HATH IS CANAllAi DAILY f-I.Oo n year In advance. VKI3KIiY....$2.00 a year In advance. FUKE 1'IIIISS ASSOCIATION, Publishers. Iliirllngton, VI. BURLINGTON, THURSDAY. AUG. 20. WANTED. When you want anything, advortlso In tho new spoclnl column of this paper. Somo bargains arc offered thero this week which It will pay you to rend about. Seo pngo two. This paper has more than 25,000 readers every week ani one cent a word will reach them all. During tho excitement of the last few days tho world has overlooked tho fact that a new ruler has been crowned in Persia. Ahmed Mlrza Is only eighteen years old and comos Into a hard rulo with a gloomy future. Excluded from tho front and forced to get his stories In the form of war-office bulletins Issued hundreds of miles dis tant from the scene of operations, tho war correspondent Is no longer the war correspondent of old days. One more picturesque type has gone. Chauncey M. Depow was not far afield when he declared the present war to be "tho crime of all tho centuries." I'eople ore supposed to be Intelligent enough and civilized enough In this age not to follow the example of the people of a tlmo when war was the natural order. It Is amusing to hear so rnueh Eald about Russia ns the main Issuo In tho great European war. Russia as yet has done nothing, and It Is not clear that she will play the most prominent part In the fight. If Japan decides to tako a hand, another convenient bug-n-hon will ho pro vided tbosi who grasp nt straws to show that rmpi-ior William is the defender of civilization. Wo may soon expect to see the yrtlow peril trotted forth In all its terrors. The announcement of the selection of Congressman Plumlcy as a member of the House judiciary committee to 1111 an existing vacancy will bo received with pleasure by his friends In particular as well as by all Vermontcrs in general. The fact that Congressman Plumlcy has received this honor In addition to serv ing as ranking member of the minority on the war claims committee, as well ns holding other positions, shows that his ability Is appreciated by his colleagues. Insofar as the present war is tho war of the Gorman people against Europe, lAmericnns can have nothing! but tho very greatest sympathy for thesa splen did leaders in thought and industry. There Is a wide-spread belief, however, that this war Is the affair not of the German people but of the Frusslan mll ltnry party, and particularly of the Prus sian Kaiser who crushes down tho bet ter part of Germnn character under a weight and expense of militarism. Thero Is also n feeling that this same ambitious and militarily Inclined Knlser has been tho disturbing element in tho pence of Europe and has forced the insane cinr.e for armament which has resulted, In th. present awful convulsion of nations Tim i'A.vamv ran, tn til i: meiicii .t mahim:. Vermont Is not a seneonst state, but wo havo a veritable Inland sea Jn I.ako Champlnin which has taught us tho valuo of water transposition, nml especially the need of means of handling commerco with other nations.' Probably no State has felt a keener Interest in tho Pannmn canal and In tho application of that waterway to the purpose of helping to develop an American merchant marine than hos the Green Mountain Stnto In proportion to Its size, and tho llttlng recognition given Admiral Clark In that connection has helped to swell that in terest. Tho war In Europe, has helped to blan ket what otherwise we;"- .rvc been recognized as one oV the greatest of world events, nnmely, tho official open ing of the Panama canal to commeice. Wo are glad that whllo a largo poitlon of the world Is devoting itself to the artH of destruction, the American people havo devoted their attention ns well as their treasure to a work of construction which will havo tho most far-reaching signifi cance for tho world's commerce. From tho tlmo Columbus discovered America, If not before, to tho present time, man has been seeking a shorter cut between tho Atlantic and the Pacific oceans than tho long trip nround the Horn. For centurlis men dreamed of this consummation, and now Hint the United fitntcs brings this dream of tho centuries to a giatlfvlug consummation, absorbing Intenst In n world war eaums tho pub lie to pass by tho opening with hardly a passing thought. While this great Intur-nceunlo wator ifft'uy wus constructed with tho Idea that WILL FAMOUS BATTLE OF WATERLOO BE REPEATED? The appearance of the name of Waterloo in connection with tho movement of forces engaged in the European struggle suggests tho query, "Will the Waterloo battlefield again decide the fate of great nations for a hundred years to come and incidentally remake the map of Europe?" lias England another Wellington who can strike hands with a former foe in the person of the French and stay the prog ress of another champion of military absoluteism in tho Ger man Kaiser, who would put all Europe at his feet, and who, if he could succeed, would be greater than Napoleon, yea, the greatest military figure of all the centuries? Waterloo is directly in the path the Germans would naturally take in sweeping across Belgium to French terri tory, toward which they are plainly progressing despite the delays interposed by the Belgians in and about Liege. It is only a short distance in a southerly direction from Brussels, which the Germans have been threatening, forcing the Bel gian government to flee northwest to Antwerp. Behind the veil of secrecy imposed by the war press censorship, and curtained by the screen of ever-moving cav alry thrown out in advance, which side with talismanic fatal ity is seeking Waterloo as a field of destiny? Here the great Napoleon, after escaping from Elba, to which he had been sent by the allies as nominal sovereign of the island to give place to Louis the XVIII. as ruler of France, saw his star of hope sink below the horizon forever. Here on the plain about two miles from the then village of Waterloo the Eng lish under Wellington and the Prussians under Blucher with the Belgians, Dutch and Hanoverians combined their forces and on the memorable June 18, 1815, crushed the military genius, who shortly before had assembled a grand army of 500,000 men on the frontier of Poland to invade Russia. Does Emperor William hope to repeat the success of his Prussian forbears with Blucher and Bulow as the dominant factor at Waterloo appearing at the right moment to turn the tide of battle which had previously been running against the allies? Does England fondly believe the shade of Well ington will again hover over the British forces and again bring victory on this famous field? The plans of military campaign have thus far been suc cessfully concealed by both the allies and the Germans from the general public, however much each may have been able through land spies and aerial scouts and military reconnoiters to discover regarding the designs of the other. Nobody can say with any degree of certainty from outside indications just where the impending conflict is to occur. According to all accounts, however, Waterloo will be near the center of the zone of operations about to result in a great battle. The French forces in large numbers have been reported as proceeding in a northeasterly direction from Char lerot to Gembloux, and a straight line drawn from Gembloux in a northwesterly direction to Brussels, a distance of only twenty-five miles, would leave Waterloo just west of the line and much hearer Brussels. The Germans, on the other hand, had proceeded at last accounts as far west as Diest and Aerschot, the last named only twenty-five miles northeast of Brussels, which this north erly line of advance would leave to the south, and only about thirty miles from Gembloux, where the French were report ed as concentrating, this point being only a few miles north of Namur on the Meuse river. It can be seen therefore that the Germans have swept on either side far past Liege, which is farther east on the Meuse, whatever may be the fate of the dozen forts which stayed the progress of the Germans so long at that initial point of hostilities in Belgium. The general plan of German strategy seems to involve the invasion of France with three large armies, one advanc ing through Belgium, another further south through the re gion about Metz, which is regarded by military experts as the probable scene of another great battle as in the war of 1870 71, although the actual struggle might take place near Nancy or Verdun, with a third army marching across the border nearer, if not upon Swiss territory, the idea being that later on the three wings should converge in an attack upon the French capital. The movement of the northern German army seems to have taken on a form directly opposite from this general plan of campaign. Belgium presents itself to the Germans in the shape of a half open fan and they have entered the kingdom at the small end, near Liege, every mile they advance forcing them to present a longer front. The Germans have been marvelously successful thus far in making the real point their first great assault upon the French lines. Whether the most powerful blow will be struck by the northern army, or whether this movement is a mask for the concentration of the chief army of penetra tion further south, where the French would not have the aid of the English and Belgians, as might seem probable, or whether they have succeeded in forcing the concentration of French armies at the center as well as along the Belgian fron tier, and propose to rush an immense army across the border still further to the south, thus turning the Fxench flank and forcing the French forces at the north to retire toward Paris or run the risk of being cut off by the converging Ger man armies, is the pretty military problem concerning which the allies must guess to a greater or less degree, unless suc cessful scouting has disclosed to them the secret. On the other hand, the British and French forces have also been able to screen their movements so that the world is in ignorance of the real battleground the allies would choose so far as the German strategists would let them. Manifestly the allies by withdrawing the advance lines of the French and Belgians could make a stand with Waterloo as their chief center, if they were so disposed, and it is fair to assume that the military and geographical considerations which led to tho selection of this battlefield in the Napoleonic campaign in 1815, will prevail to a greater or less degree in the mighty conflict of practically a century later. Whether the impending battle is to be another Water loo for the French, despite the fact that they have changed places with the Germans among the allies, or whether this is to be another Waterloo for Emperor William as it was for Napoleon, his predecessor as a champion of military abso luteism, are the really great issues involved in the present stage of the conflict. The struggle between German and Slav is another and a race issue, not dependent upon mere form of government, which is not likely to be settled until a later day. it would give us a paramount advantage In the ability It would afford us to quickly transfer our warships from one ocean to the other, It transpires that wo havo given all nations tho sumo privilege, thunks to a democratic administration, which tins nover believed In encouraging a merchant murlno. Indeed the chances are that tho first great naval udvantago will bo exper ienced by the warships of some of tho old bulllguruiits, for by act of Congress It has boon mudo "free and open to tho vessels of commerco and of war of njl nations." If n German war vossel or a British dreadnought or a Japancso tor- pedo destroyer should seek passago through tho Panama canal, wo could not discriminate between them. Whllo wo hnvo warships In goodly number and whllo tho Panama canal would accommodate any of tho dread noughts drawing thirty feet of water, we havo no merchant mnrlno with which to celobrnte the opening of this great water way, and wo find ourselves confronted by tho neoesslty of devising ways and means of securing ehlps for tho trans portation of the products of this nation to tho old world. This democratic Con gress Is engaged In threshing out this problem, nnd Incidentally nccustomlng Itself to the thought of extending gov ernment nld In some way to tho consum mation of this great project. Now that1 wo have tho canal, or rather havo provided the world with this short cut between tho Atlantic and tho Pacific, It behoove us to ndopt speedily tho most effective method of making this canal of tho most practical benellt to our people In time of pence, no matter how ser iously we may have compromised Its use by our battleships exclusively in tlmo of war. run VKinio.vr ;ovi:it:soit.MiiP. Never before was tho political situation In Vermont po mixed nB nt tho present time. The overshadowing fact Is that n nomination for offico no longer neces sarily means an election In cases where the one, was equivalent to the other, and tho republican lenders aro beginning evi dently to realize this fact. Only a few days ago the llrattleboro Reformer threw this bombshell Into the political camp: "Acknowledging Mr. Clement' s per sonal fitness to hold the office of gov ernor, the Hollows Kails Times manes tho pertinent Inquiry whether It would bo good policy for tho Republican party to place at the head of Its ticket a man of great wealth 'whoso entire life has been hound up with big business, and tho kind of big business that many supposo has In the past influenced legislation in Its own behalf.' "Assumlnir that the leaders of the Re puhllcan party In Vermont aro anxious to rehabilitate the G. ). P., It would be well for them to give this question wr lous thought. Smator nilllngham, who; reems reasonably sure of getting the republicans to renominate him, belongs to the same wing of tho party as Mr. Clement. Even his admirers admit that he isn't In any sense a radical. "So the question naturally arises: Can tho pnrty march to victory under a Clement-DilHnghnm banner? Hnvlng In mind the way the State vote was shot to pleens two years ago, we confess tho sltuntlon Is somewhat of a problem." The fact that the Rutland Herald Jumped into the political arena as long ago as the first week In June, 1013. In support of Dillingham for the United States Senate hd the Clipper to state that Mr. Clement would be a candidate for governor and tbnt tho two would bo found pulling together. It must be ndmltted that for mmc tlmo the men who were for the one seemed to a marked degree to bo for tho other, but tho feeling reflected by tho Reformer that a ticket combining the two might be a handicap has plainly been making its Influence felt In Washington county. The Hnrre Times, which Is In clot,o touch with the political situation In that part of Vermont, may not havo been Inspired, but It plainly voices a prev alent sentiment In an editorial headed, "Why Not Gates?" as follows: "Three good citizens of the State have ! announced themselves as willing to be the republican candidate for governor this fall, and although the caucuses to ele t delegates to the convention that will select a candidate aro less than two weeks away, no one of the three has ns yet created any enthusiasm among the voters. Two, four nnd six years ago the Times advocated getting out of this rut of always seleetlng the candidate who put himself most prominently for ward, but the custom prevailed with the result that each succeeding election brought a smaller republican vote. Will the party continue to practice this year, or has it learned by experience that there must be a change In methods If the party Is to contlnuo In power In tho Stato? "If ever the pnrty should make tho selection, it Is thl. year. "If republicans who strayed away from the party two and four years ago nro to be brought back to the fold, a candi date must bo selected whose very name will bo an assurance that If lie is elected governor tho State will be guaranteed a wise, progressive and economical admin istration. He must be a man whose per sonality ivlll lend great strength to the ticket. "The party lias such men, and the Times has In mind one in particular, who by ills able public services In tho past eight years, has won for himself a high placo in the esteem of all our citizens, and lias shown a capacity for even greater duties. "Thin man Is Charles W. Gates. "Although ho refuses to beoonio an no tivo candidate for governor while hold ing his present office as State highway commissioner, lie will .not refuse tho nomination. The Times has assurance to this effect. "Why not. then, nominate him?" As we understand the sltuatiun Mr. Gates Is regarded by many republicans no a possible compromise candidate in tho event of tho duvolopment of a stren uous struggle between Clement, repre senting tho reactionary republicans, nnd Fleetwood and Howe, representing tho more progressivo wing of ttio party.- Re publicans havo told us they had repeat edly urged Mr. Gates to become a candi date, but ho took tho stand thnt ho could not consistently become a candldnto for tho offico while holding his present posi tion, maintaining that tho road organiza tion should not be mado a political ma chine, and that ho would not accept tho nomination In any ovent unless ho could bo fiee to stond for what ho regards as tho Hughes brand of progressivo lepllbll cnnlsm; thnt he stood forapolltlcnl houso elennlng rather than burning up the house Itself so far ns party Is concerned. The statement Is now mado that In the event of the nomination of Mr. Clement by the p publlcnns, Indicating a reaction ary stand, torruer Collector Olln Merrill would become an independent candidate with the nKsurancn of tho endorsement of progressives, and color for this report Is to bo found In the vigorous handling of Mr. Clement's candidacy In Mr. Mor rill's homo paper, tho Enosburg Standard, quoted elsewhere In these columns. It Is recognized, morcovor, ho would mnko an ablo governor. Mr. Fleetwood will go Into tho State republican convention on a progressivo republican platform, according to his friends, nnd will make n vigorous Iffoft to causa such principles to prevail. Not a few republicans who supported Dr. Mead In 1910 have expressed the.lr desire to havo an opportunity to vote for Mr. Fleetwood In tho present struggle; and If ho were nominated wo understand hip nomination would bo endorsed by many progressives, If not all, making a strong combination against the democratic can dldato. Mr. Howe's recent statement Indicated that ho would not nnd could not make a campaign for the nomination by tho Stato convention, owing to Illness, hut It Is assumed he will have not a few votes In the Stato convention, especially from tho southern pnrt of tho Stato. Tho progressives have changed the dato of their State convention o thnt they will be In a position to endorse the re publican candidate or nanio i straight ticket of their own, nccordlng to the character of the republican State ticket and platform, and they will manifestly have It In their power to largely In crease tho chances of an election of a ennilldate for governor at the polls. We havo thus stated tho gubernatorial situation as It stands nt the present time, outside of the dcmoprntlc camp. If tho election should go Into the Legislature, nobody can say just what would happen, for we expect to see more Independence In the election of legislators than ever before. MAKE-UP OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY Description Is-tnci! by the National .-og niphlc Society. In spite of Its Important position, both Beogiaphleally and politically, but few people realize exactly what thoy mean when tlmy speak of Austria-Hungary, and to many the words Austria anil nun gary si em Interchangeable terms for the same country. "What, then, Is Austria, what Is Hungary, nnd why aro thoy nl wuv bracketed together?" The Austrian empire is a constitutional monarchy, formed of three kingdoms (Bo hemia, Oallcla and Dalmatia), two arch duchies, I'ppr and Lower Austria, and collection of duchies, courtships, nnd mar graves of princely rank; all of them unit ed In the persons of the Emperor Francis Joseph. The adjacent and entirely Independent kingdom of Hungary, In addition to Hun gary proper, includes Croatia, Slavonlo. and Transylvania, countries formerly In dependent, but now through intermar riage, conquest and Inheritance, all pos sessions of the apostolic king of Hungary, who happens by a purely historic chanco to be also sovereign of the empire of Aus tria. The po.sses.slon of n unifying link In the person of their common ruler has led to tho Ausglelch or "Compromise," where by tho two countries, for mutual conven ience, have agreed to Join forces In maintaining Joint diplomatic and naval and military services. Beyond this the two countries are entirely Independ ent, each having Its own constitution, Legislature and administration. No country In Europe, except Hungary, contains within it.s borders so many di verse nations and tongues as the Aus trian empire. Kach of the three great ethnic stocks of Europe Is represented the Latin, the German and the Slav, with the latter predominating, as to It helong V,,(0,im out of the l,io,OX Inhabiting the empire. The Hungarians, or more prop erly, the Magyar, Is perhaps the keenest patilot In Europe, and he manifests hl.s enthusiasm by seeking to Impose his lan guage and customs upon his Slavonic fellow-citizens with a persistence that nei ther opposition nor passive resistance can diminish. In those lands so mixed in nation ality and language, there is no less a variety of religion; Roman Catholics preponderate, but Greek Orthodox, Cnlat Greeks, Lutherans, Calvanlsts, Jews nnd even American Gregorlans aro found within thulr bordeis. Tho customs-union beween Austria and Hungary has rendered these countries a commercial unit; but roughly speak Ing Hungary is the agricultural and pastoral country, whllo Austria Is In dustrial. Hungary is also tho richest country in Europe in mineral depos its, tho range of which is singularly wide. Austria Is, after Switzerland, tho most mountainous region In Europe more tnan rour-nrths of her vaat tor rltory being fiOO feet above sea level, Mountain climbing Is the great na tional game, llko baseball in tho Unl- ed States. Old, young, middle-aged. all take a keen Interest In It. Even Emperor Francis Joseph Is an enthusi astic mountaineer at moro than SO years of ago. In his time he has scaled most of the great peaks of his country, Vienna, tho imperial city, tho capi tal of Austria, owns her own electric and gaslight, street railways and om nibuses, ico manufacturing; plant warehouse, stockyards, browory, wine cellar, all tho pawnshops and even tho undertaking ostabliwhinonts liudnpest, tho capital of Hungary, formerly two cities, Uuda and Pest. Is ParlB, Vienna and London In one, a combination of tho gnyotles of th capitals of the world, with a littlo dis tinctive Hungarian puprlca spico mruwn in. r.ven in tno remotest corners nt Austrla-IIungnry tho strong arm of tho law Is over present, the river strotches nnd the back country being policed by a heavily-armed constabu lary. Springfield Republican. IMPORTANT PART. Some time since two citizens met on the main treet of a rural town and after crops and politics had been exhausted they be gan tho usual questions about each other's family, "What's become o' yer son Jnko?" que ried one of the natives. "Halnt seen him fur a couple o' months," "Gone on the stage," replied tho iiecond. "He's what they call a light comedian." "Light comedian, eh?" returned tho first, with n puzilod expression. "What In the thundeintlon Ib t)iat7" "Ho stands behind a black curtnln on the stage," explained tho seoond, "nn when a feller what thoy call Pawnoo Peto shoofs nt a candle Jako blows out tho light." Excursion to JllsBisquot park, Soa ad 4U VPfio seven. 200 llemnrknhlr Indnntrinl Growth Under Grminn Regime Military Strong hold Since Itomnn Period. The French forces which are reported to bo firmly entrenched In Muelhausen nnd other towns of southern Alsace are sold to have designs on tho city of Strnssburg. It is no wonder. Strnssburg has been a bono of contention botween the French nnd Germans for moro than two cen turies since 1681 when It was seized from German control by Iiuls XIV. In his "Roubkrlege" and later officially awarded to him by the treaty of Rys wick. It was well-nigh 100 years before the Germans as a unified nation found the opportunity to recover the famous old university town nnd the province of Al sace which went with It. That time came In 1S70, when the French, stirred to ac tivity by tho threatening power of tho Germnn confederacy, struck the blow that drove great Teuton hosts Into arms and brought down defeat, the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, nnd a heavy war debt upon the nation's shoulders. FRANCE LOSES STRASSBURO. Germany had begun to look upon Stmsburg ns the stronghold which threatened her empire In the south and onco tho French forces had been scat tered and routed to the north nnd the main army had marched on triumphant ly toward Paris, another great force be sieged the city and took it after six weeks' stubborn reslstnnco by 20,000 French troops under General Uhrlch. In that siege the city was tho object of a terrible bombardment hy the Ger man troops, whoso fire killed hundreds of French soldiery, struck down citizens In the street, ruined dwelling houses nnd toro to pieces scores of famous old build ings. Ono of the structures wrecked by the heavy tire of the Teutons was tho old citadel erected by Vauban. the French engineer of Louis XIV.'s era, which at that time formed the main body of the defense of tho place. This loss has rankled In the breasts of tho French for the past 40 years. For by this time the heavily German popula tion had been partly replaced by an en thusiastic body of French citizens, who for many years after the cession of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany did not hesi tate to show their dislike of German dom ination. Some hlstnilans have declared that the people have become pretty well reconciled to German rule In the past 10 or 15 years, but reports from abroad, telling of the support given the French by the Alsatians, seem to Indicate that they awaited only an opportunity to struggle for their return to tho French nation. CITY OF COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE. This Is ono reason for the eager prog ress of the French troops toward north ern Alsace. Hut there Is another. Strnssburg Is a town of great commer cial importance. Through It passes a Inrge part of the trade between France, Switzerland and Germany, and from It aro exported manufactures of all sorts wrought by the hinds of the Alsatians In scores of factories and shops with which the city teems. Strnssburg lies on tho River 111. but two miles from the Rhine, in the middle of n fertile plain stretching eastward from the high peaks of the Vosges moun tains, which since 1S70 have formed th boundary between the French and Ger man territories. It Is divided into three main parts by the arms of the river. Of these the central portion is the larg est nnd embraces the oldest part of tho town, In which the narrow crooked streets nnd a fow old buildings preservo a trace of the picture of the old fort In medieval times. Many of these buildings were destroyed during the bombardment of 1ST0 and new structures hnve risen In their places, Furthermore, In tho process of com mercial expansion since 1J70 there has been a wide egress to the north, the fortified area tins been extended nnd the old walls torn down to allow new mod ern public buildings and scores of homes to grow up. Hero are to be found al most as many handsomo public build ings ns any German city enn show, be sides a number of historic edifices. INDUSTRIAL GROWTH OF CITT. In the flourishing trade of recent years many industries have grown up. Tan neries have begun to dot the water front, browerles and furniture factories have sprung up and shops for the manufacture of Jewelry. Among other industries are tho manufacture of steel goods and lo comotives, of pianos and other musical Instruments, printing and the manufac ture of paper, soap, glove and tobacco, There Is considerable attention to agri culture In the fertile country which Im mediately surrounds tho town, nnd a sub stantial trade Is carried on In coal, hops, produce, wine, hams and sausages. Largo numbers of geese aro raised by tho peas ant population for tho famous Strnssburg pates de fole gras, tho renown" of which has spread to other lands. An Inkling of tho expansion of tho town In recent years may bo gathered from the knowledge thnt Its population, which In 1S71 was 7S,0no, Is now In round figures, about 170,ii0. Even this repre sents a Ktowth of 4.1. V) in 21 years, Commercial and Industrial development has brought with It the canalizing of the river which Is i;nw connected with the Maruo nnd with the Rhine hy an exten sive sstem. Meanwhile nn excellent poit development has taken place, tho whnrves and quays occupying a space of about 2M acres at the present time. Tho city has also become a railroad center. It Is apparent that Strnssburg has be como a commercial prize, n city of far greater value than It evnr wns under French tutelage. Its addition to the French domain would be a great coup for the nation, STRATEGIC FORTIFICATIONS. Tho strategic Importance of tho town also makes It a desirable point of attack Tor tho French legion Strnssburg Is really tho bulwark of tho German de fenso In Al.nce looking toward the French frontier. In placo of the great oltadel of Vaubnn's era. which tho Ger mans shelled out of existence In Sep tembor, 1K70, have sprung up n system of in outlying forts surrounding tho town at a distance of from three to five miles from the center, with an Inner lampart which Is strongly fortified. Theso forts nro regularly gariit-oned by a force of 5,ono to 1(1,000 men. Undoubtedly this pnr rlson has been heavily reinforced of lute by tho German army. Controlled by' Frnnce for Years. From Muelhnusen tho prorrf-s of tho French up to tho outer lino rtofemo should be relatively easy, as It lies over good country, with tolerably good roads about 90 miles along tho very valley of the Rhino. Hero tho rough, high coun try of tho Vosges mountains ban given way to rather level plain lnnrt In which ngrlculturo Is followed moro or less. Tho city of Strnssburg Itself Is only is miles from tho French frontier nnd 210 miles from Paris, while 370 miles to the north east lies tho Gorman capital, Berlin. The German forts at Htrassburg, though erected before ISM), for tho most part nre thought to bo thoruglily cqjtppd with up-to-dntn military accoutrements It is hero tho Teuton forces must offer their stoniest reslstnnci to tho French if the latter nro to proceed northwnrd from their frontier. In enso of dire stress tho Germans can put a largo Fectlon of tho town under water, It Is wild. IN THK ROMAIC DAYS. Strnssburg has been a military strong hold since the Roman period. This wns the scene of tho establishment of thn Roman Argentoratum, where tho eighth legion of the Romans was quartored aft er the Cells, who had a settlement there, had been driven out. In 357 Emperor Ju lian won a signal victory over the Ale munnl here and Emperor Maximilian spoko of It as tho bulwark of tho Holy Roman empire in the north. Hut W years after Julian's victory tho Alemannl got control of the fort and still later It passed Into tho hands of the Franks. Its first church was built by Clovls In 510, and from that time It acquired great political and religious im portance. Early in the middle ages, when it had become the seat of a Roman bishopric, the Strnssburgero, chafing under tho ec clesiastical rulo as they gained greater wealth, struggled for freedom for mam' years, finally meeting with success at the hattle of Oberhausborgen in 1203, when they reerh-ed tho designation of a froo imperial Stato from Philip of Swabla. Th association with the Germans had come In nil. when the Duko of Lorralno paid homeici- to Henry I. The period of commercial nseendanev wow followed by Internal revolution which In 1.132 resulted In the admission of the guilds to a share in tho govern ment, and ngnln the town beiran to flour ish. In 13S1 It Joined tho Swablan Pa lte bund. IN REFORMATION TIMES. Tho reform doctrln.-s wero aceepted there about lftft, under thi leadership of Martin Hueer. and for a epnturv and a half the old Strassburm-:' Mynster was given over to the Protest.int s. rvlees Hut with the capture of toe town by Louis XIV. In 1CS1 there wis a return to the Roman Catholic faith At the tlmo of tho Fnnen revolution It was deprived of Its prlvl'-r-s as a freo town and hecamo a French pro vincial capital. Then tho opisr .p.r lands,, which had probably belonged t" ' e bish opric from the fourth century oi were seized by the French government MANY FAMOUS BUILDINGS Tho most famous of the Strass'v-rs buildings is the Munster, of whl- h a volume could bo written. It repres jts four centuries ns it now stands. Part of the crypt dates from WIS. its nps denotes tho transition from the Roman esque to the Gothic style, while the navo. In puro Gothic, was finished In 1275. The west facade, with a screen of double tracery and beautiful sculptured designs, wns planned hy von Stetnbach. but the upper pnrt of tho facade and the towers were finished in accordance with a later plnn. Tho north tower, erected In 1425. is 4 feet high, while the beautiful stained-glass windows and a strange astronomical clock are a few of tho curiosities of tho medieval period to be found there. Tho Protestant Church of St Thomas, which was hullt In Gothic style in the 13th nnd Hth centuries, with a monu ment of Marshal Faxe, sculptured by Jean Haptl-te Plgalle. under Louis XV., Is another famous nld building, whllo tho Hotel du Commerce Is of tho Renais sance period. The Church of the Sacred Heart nnd tb Temple Neuf. rebuilt since 1570, aro among the treasures ot the town. The Btrassburg University, which Is now quartered in handsome buildings erected between 1S77 nnd ISM. manv of them de signed by Ecgert. was orlcinally founded in 15S7, but was suppressed In tho French revolution on the ground that It was n stronghold of German feeling. It was reopened in 1572. It has about 1.400 stu dents and ISO prnf!ssir There is a so In Strassburg a Protestant gymnasium which datos from IMS. TAl.KI.V W.I. tnlkln' war ju.-t cveryoouy tniKiir war ju.-t you come with me Where the red-cheeked apples rhino on. the wlnesap tree. Just come out to take the ml'e That leads to country' dnv, And let them fuss and light ai 1 bile, We'll henr what God's things say. Everybody tnlkln' war It's tint, to end an ear To something sweet and beautir I and ripe with sun nnd cheer Just come out nnd let thim rant, And we'll glory-stirred So far from all their fuss and cant And hear the moekln' bird. Everybody tnlkln' war nnd now's out time to slip Down wher.- the good green country sings on many a warbling lip. Down where there Is no bloody strife. No hate and dre.id and tears, But everything so glad of Ilfo That It dances and It cheers. Everybody talkln' war nnd whnt good does It do? Just i-oiiio with me where violets peep and skies aro hcndln' blue. Just come out to grass and tree And babbling brook and stream, Where God's things dwell In nil tho girt Of romance nnd of dream. Baltimore Sun. "GRATE VICTORY FOR SENSE." Two Inrge orchards, side by sldo brought much profit to Farmer T irmui and much trouble, for the orchards were, considered fair game by the youth of tha village nnd two orchards are harder to watch than one. Ono day, looking from one orchard to tho other, Turmut saw a small boy shin down a tree and. uttering a word of warning to another Imp still up among the apples, ran off. "Got yer this time," ho roared to thii boy almost hidden nmong tho leaves. "Come, down!" Getting no answer nnd not being In a hurry, ho sat down and waited. Tims passed, nnd still ho waited, until a ser vant brought him a note thnt had J 1st been dropped through the letter box H did not wait after he had rend It as fil lows: "Somo people ns apples, somo as sonee, You bin wotohln n pair of trowsls stuffe with straw, and wo bin gettliV your nppler from tho other orchard. Gruto victory tot Bcticol" London Answers.