"LENS MEANS COAL"

Thames Star, Volume LII, Issue 13847, 6 November 1918, Page 4

"LENS MEANS COAL"

FAMOUS TOWN RE CAPTURED. BIG ECONOMIC GAIN TO FRANCE The capture of Lens, from stra.tegical reasons, is in one sense most interesting to the French pubjio (writes a corresipondeiit of the Toronto Globe). Lens means,'coal. The British penetrated its suburbs in what • seems now to have been years ago. Tllieir classic victoiy at Ix)os brought them: within sight, of the pit-heads oi' Lens, but. the entry into the promised land of coal wias not then vouchsafed to. them.

The economic.gain to France, and, indirectly, to .Britain,'that will .result from, the recapture of Lens, is almost incalculable. Of the 60',00Q,----000-tons,of.coal which France required before tlie war, she received 40,----000,000 tons from her mines, and 60 per cent, of this came from the. pits' of northern France. The balance was miade up by 10,000,000 'from. England, 5,000,000 from Germany, and 5,000,000 froim Belgium. Owing to the German occupation of the Lens coal field the French output has been reduced to a minimuan,, 'l\ihile the aiihount formerly received from Germany and Belgiunn has, of course, been non-existent.- France, consequently, luas bad to depend for nearly four years on England "to miake up the deficiency.

England, it is gratefully aeknow■ledged, lias dome lier le-rel toest to accoimplish the impossible task of meeting the Firemcih. demiands, but naturally she lias been ima;ble, owing to Hie lack of transport facilities and her i own sniall pr-epa-ration for meeting . the imperative -damiaaids at hoon©, to . do more tha.n furnish, a, (part of tlhe , coal. Tlhe result is that coal is so ' scarce in France to-day that ; siujbur- ; ban .ga.B compamies round Paais have j all had to greatly curtail thie output-I of gas for heating and ilhtmanattion, ! while, som© ba.ve been comipelled to shut down entirely. Coal for domestic consumption has been frequently unobtainable, while coke soared to impossible prices. As an exaimple, I , know n suburban P.ai-is municipality which, this week ; offei^s coke as' a special opportunity at 39 dollars a { ton. .-Last winter ..many people,' even ainomg the wealthy class of.-, Paris, found the only place to keep; warm was in bed. It may be. judged ! .from these facts how eagerly Paris is j wutohing the British troops • driving into Lens.

'Hie question is as to the extent of , wilful/dtiauage- the Germans have been able, to do to the pits before retreatingl. If the Germans, as seems certain, have prepared for widespread destruction of the mechanism, of the . mines, then it will be a, long time ' before the pits^an recommence worfk-. ing. The fear here is that the Germans may. ha.ye set fire to the pita, .which would be a, much more serious i matter than the mere destruction of the engines and haulmg 1 machinery, and it would take probably many j months to' extinguish the fires. ;In any case, Plans is resigned to the prospects that winter will be well over before the mines in Lens coal field will be working again. i

It is suggested here Slat whatever damiage tihe Germans may"do. to ; tlie pits :they cannot destroy She coal, and that the ■witlidra'wal of the eineamy from gun-fire range'oi the adjoining Retliime coal field, which hn s been, under bombardment for m#ny montihs will, to- some extent, compensate for the Lens mines being unworkable. In any case, it is hoped the French military authorities will take immediate- steps to comb out , from the fighting ranks a sufficient numiber of trained miners to enable the taking o>f every advantage of the improved coal prospects in the north. Coal is a most vital need in every AJlied country, and too much imiportance cannot be (placed on its production, especially in the imimediaite future.