PLACES IN THE NEWS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 142, 16 May 1940, Page 9

PLACES IN THE NEWS.

TOWNS RAVAGED BY WAR. Dordrecht, or Dort, on an island formed by the Maas, 10 miles southeast of Rotterdam, is one of the oldest, as it once was the richest, of the trading towns of Holland. Among its chief buildings are a Gothic cathedral (1363) and a fine town hall (UcS9). An inundation in 1421, which destroyed over 70 villages and drowned 100,000 people, separated the site of Dordrecht from the mainland. Hare in 1572 the revolted States of Holland held their first assembly, and here in IGIB-19 sat the Protestant Synod which condemned the doctrines ol Arminius. .. „ Namurl with a population of 303,0U0, is capital of the province of that name in Belgium, at the junction of the Mouse and Sambre Rivers. The area is rich in iron and coal and is strongly fortified Fierce resistance, it will be recalled, was maintained against the German advance in 1914. The city has suffered greatly by war. Chief places of interest arc the Cathedral (completed in 1772), with the grave of Don John of Austria, the Jesuit Church of St. Loup (1653), a large military school, and an antiquarian museum. Namur is noted for its cutlery, and also manufactures firearms, leather, paper and tobacco. Longwy is a small town in the extreme north of the French Department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and is 18 miles south-west of Luxembourg. Its fortress capitulated to the Prussians in 1792, 1815, and 1871. "With a population of : about 12,000, Longwy's chief industries are ironworks and porcelain manufacture. CRADLE OF PEACE MOVES. Scene of numerous international conferences, many aiming at the out- : lawry of war, The Hague is the capi- ! tal of the Netherlands. It is two miles from the North Sea and 15 miles north-west of Rotterdam. The city, the population of which is 425,000, is traversed by numerous canals, important buildings being the Royal Palace, the Castle of the Counts of Holland, Parliament House, the famous picture-gallery, museums and the Palace of Peace/Its chief industries are copper and lead smelting, iron foundries, printing works, carriage and furniture-making and distillery. Dinant, in Belgium, around which heavy fighting is reported to have taken place, occupies a narrow site between the Meuse and a limestone ; hill and is 17 miles south of Namur by rail. There are manufactures of cotton, paper, leather, iron, copper- '. ware, etc. The population is 7000. Sedan, a frontier town in France, stands on the Meuse, 61 miles northeast of Rheims. The citadel capitulat- , ed to the Germans in ISIS, but Sedan is chiefly noted for the surrender in September, 1870, of Napoleon 111 ! and 83,000 men to the Germans. Pre- : vdous to its incorporation with France ■ in 1612 Sedan was the capital of an ■ independent principality and a Protestant stronghold. Clothing factories '■ and metal-work are the main industries, and there is an active trade in wool.' The population is 16,000.