THE RHINE BRIDGES.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 6965, 21 January 1918, Page 4

THE RHINE BRIDGES.

"The Rhine bridges," says a London contemporary, "are an obvious target for our bomb-carrying airplanes wbe.fi they begin ttie great offensive on Germany. Everything, that conies from ' the heart of Germany to our enemies on the West front must come across the-Rhine*'on budges. Oraitting those at the Dutch end, there art; numerous bridgeß which our airmen may encounter. Some of them are these; Duisburg, Dusseldnrf, Calogce, Bonn, Coblenz, May once, Worms, Mannheim. Speyer, Germersheim, Carlsruhe, Uastatt, Strassburg, Breisoch, Mulheim. Th 2 Rhine is the longest river in Germany, but only about four hundred miles of its total length of 730 miles are ia German territory. Starting from Rotterdam, there b first the Lower Kbine, about 200 miles to Cologne, then the Middle (or tourists") Rhine from Cologne to Mayenee, 116 miles; and ne?t the Upper Rjpnp, Mayence to Basel, about 209 miles. -The Lower Rhine is ; the commercial portion of the river. * At Mayence tbe river ia about 500 yards wide,*at Goblentz 400, at Cologne 430. Mannheim is one of the chief potts of Europe, and the port of distribution throughout Southern Germany of food and raw material. Duiaburg is a great Rhine harbour near tbe mouth of the Ruhr, b Rhine tributary which was canalised by Frederick tbe Great.^The Rbenish-Westpbalian coalfields * are adjacent here. One bridge destroyed woud cot make a great deal of difference to tfce er.etuy, but the destruction of these bridges in groups-—the groups fiom Coblentz, north or the group from Mayence scuth—-would bo a ver>' heavy blow."