GREAT WEALTH IN ALSACE

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 190, 20 April 1915, Page 2

GREAT WEALTH IN ALSACE

.jsrWELLS THAT WOULD PAY. .u.. j u! , ’v j. \(t The Th ami corrosponde: ■. t of t!io ?l£ber tc sa yM ;tl iWt ItftSr c hyhu r f]i d■ wood of Nonnenbruch. who--'- numerous (jeman batteries -are km own to-be hid- ' - -\-x- ;&(>: W d . ',<(i i den, .tborgr&xe ve\y rich potash deposits pmnrds;»'-trn-fUit -isfor this, reason that the enemy is so desperately -fighting ; 'north-west and south in its defence. The Paris Journal, discussing the }French* situation'in Upper :A;l.saoep;a:rys: —"Our pressure vis - being exorcised in a slanting lino on thenforest' ofrJfonnen - brucekc. Cavalry.’patrols have already explored the - outskirts of this forest, known in-France as the. Tallis des Nonnc's., This is not because i,t is the direct road to Mulhouso. Its strategic importance is great, but there are other interests that make it desirable. It encloses, in point of fact, one of the richest tracts in the world. In 1901 deposits of potassium salts were discovered. Thirteen wells have already been sunk, and tiiese permit an estimate to be made of the value of the salts in the district of at least 00 milliards of francs. Now, this immense wealth does not belong to Alsace-Lor-raine. but is in the hands of German

capitalists, ami notably the Reichsbamk. By taking possession of the Mullionse well, or, more exactly, the salt mines which extend beyond Ilzuch with a perimeter of about 00 kilometres, Branco, without injuring residents in Alsace-Lorraine, would obtain possession of capital which would enable it practically to cover all the expenses of \ the war, and would become the owner of a guarantee far' exceeding in value all war levies past or present, and the stroke of tlie military master would be redoubled. An. excellent affair!