﻿THE 
  STORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  RUHR 
  

  

  563 
  

  

  easily 
  the 
  greatest 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  Rhine's 
  busy 
  

   ports. 
  

  

  Geographically, 
  too, 
  the 
  adjoining 
  har- 
  

   bors 
  of 
  Alsum, 
  Walsum, 
  Homberg, 
  and 
  

   Rheinhausen 
  are 
  considered 
  one 
  with 
  that 
  

   of 
  Duisburg. 
  And 
  here 
  you 
  see 
  the 
  great 
  

   Rhine 
  working 
  at 
  maximum 
  capacity. 
  

   Each 
  year 
  it 
  hauls 
  nearly 
  85,000,000 
  tons 
  

   of 
  freight 
  ! 
  

  

  Chief 
  among 
  these 
  Ruhr 
  factory 
  towns 
  

   are 
  such 
  places 
  as 
  Dusseldorf, 
  Essen, 
  El- 
  

   berheld, 
  Barmen, 
  Hagen, 
  Mulheim, 
  So- 
  

   lingen, 
  Bochum, 
  Dortmund, 
  and 
  Rem- 
  

   scheid, 
  besides 
  many 
  smaller 
  but 
  equally 
  

   busy 
  centers. 
  

  

  Dortmund, 
  the 
  largest 
  city 
  in 
  West- 
  

   phalia, 
  boasts 
  a 
  history 
  dating 
  back 
  a 
  

   thousand 
  years. 
  Long 
  ago 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  free, 
  

   fortified 
  Hanseatic 
  town, 
  and 
  once 
  it 
  

   withstood 
  a 
  siege 
  of 
  twenty-one 
  months, 
  

   "led 
  by 
  the 
  good 
  bishop 
  of 
  Cologne 
  and 
  

   forty-eight 
  other 
  princes." 
  It 
  is 
  proud 
  of 
  

   its 
  churches, 
  centuries 
  old 
  ; 
  its 
  monas- 
  

   teries, 
  with 
  their 
  relics 
  and 
  antiquities, 
  

   and 
  its 
  municipal 
  museum, 
  with 
  prehis- 
  

   toric, 
  Roman, 
  and 
  Germanic 
  collections. 
  

  

  Hard 
  by 
  is 
  the 
  historic 
  hill 
  of 
  Hohen- 
  

   Syburg, 
  where 
  Charlemagne 
  fought 
  with 
  

   the 
  Saxons. 
  From 
  its 
  crest 
  you 
  can 
  view 
  

   the 
  vast, 
  smoking, 
  seething 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  

   Ruhr, 
  where 
  drones 
  and 
  idlers 
  are 
  an 
  un- 
  

   known 
  human 
  species. 
  

  

  Then 
  there 
  is 
  Oberhausen, 
  site 
  of 
  the 
  

   famous 
  "Gutehoffnungshute," 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   largest 
  iron 
  and 
  steel 
  mills 
  in 
  all 
  this 
  hum- 
  

   ming, 
  mill-specked 
  region. 
  

  

  This 
  Ruhr 
  is 
  preeminently 
  the 
  habitat 
  

   of 
  labor. 
  Everybody 
  works, 
  and 
  nearly 
  

   everybody 
  works 
  with 
  his 
  hands. 
  An 
  

   army 
  of 
  chemists, 
  engineers, 
  and 
  tech- 
  

   nical 
  men 
  is 
  employed, 
  of 
  course 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  

   form 
  merely 
  a 
  small 
  element 
  of 
  the 
  grimy, 
  

   dusty, 
  sweating 
  population 
  that 
  keeps 
  the 
  

   coal 
  moving, 
  the 
  furnaces 
  roaring, 
  and 
  

   the 
  big 
  lathes 
  turning. 
  

  

  The 
  population, 
  variously 
  estimated 
  at 
  

   from 
  three 
  and 
  one-half 
  to 
  four 
  millions, 
  

   is 
  not 
  easy 
  to 
  determine, 
  because 
  thou- 
  

   sands 
  come 
  and 
  go 
  as 
  the 
  tide 
  of 
  trade 
  

   rises 
  and 
  falls 
  ; 
  and 
  nowhere 
  is 
  the 
  world- 
  

   wide 
  house 
  shortage 
  more 
  keenly 
  felt 
  

   than 
  in 
  this 
  densely 
  peopled 
  area. 
  About 
  

   many 
  of 
  the 
  mines 
  the 
  government 
  has 
  

   set 
  up 
  temporary 
  barracks, 
  where 
  thou- 
  

   sands 
  of 
  miners 
  are 
  housed. 
  

  

  Poles 
  and 
  men 
  of 
  Polish 
  birth, 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  a 
  hundred 
  thousand 
  of 
  them, 
  figure 
  

  

  in 
  the 
  daily 
  life 
  of 
  this 
  industrial 
  region. 
  

   They 
  have 
  brought 
  with 
  them 
  their 
  own 
  

   speech, 
  habits, 
  and 
  religion 
  and 
  they 
  form 
  

   their 
  own 
  social 
  groups. 
  Many 
  of 
  them, 
  

   like 
  the 
  hordes 
  of 
  "Saxongangers" 
  who 
  

   in 
  normal 
  times 
  swarm 
  down 
  into 
  Saxony 
  

   every 
  crop 
  season, 
  return 
  eventually 
  with 
  

   their 
  savings 
  to 
  Poland. 
  

  

  This 
  group, 
  though 
  reduced 
  by 
  war, 
  is 
  

   still 
  conspicuous, 
  but 
  has 
  become 
  largely 
  

   naturalized 
  and 
  serves, 
  too, 
  to 
  strengthen 
  

   the 
  Catholic 
  element 
  in 
  this 
  otherwise 
  

   largely 
  Protestant 
  section 
  of 
  Germany. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  more 
  picturesque 
  and 
  less 
  

   crowded 
  spots 
  of 
  the 
  Ruhr 
  the 
  overlords 
  

   of 
  industry 
  have 
  reared 
  their 
  villas 
  and 
  

   spacious 
  homes 
  ; 
  but 
  a 
  distinctive 
  leisure 
  

   class, 
  an 
  idle 
  rich, 
  like 
  the 
  groups 
  con- 
  

   spicuous 
  in 
  Charlottenberg, 
  Dresden, 
  or 
  

   Wiesbaden, 
  is 
  not 
  found. 
  Hundreds 
  are 
  

   here 
  who 
  have 
  retired, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  the 
  

   aged 
  and 
  pensioned 
  workmen, 
  dozing 
  

   comfortably 
  in 
  the 
  clean, 
  cosy 
  colonies 
  

   built 
  for 
  them 
  in 
  cities 
  like 
  Essen. 
  

  

  "early 
  closing" 
  is 
  the 
  rule 
  in 
  the 
  

   ruhr 
  basin 
  

  

  Schools 
  there 
  are, 
  of 
  course, 
  and 
  higher 
  

   seats 
  of 
  learning 
  in 
  the 
  larger 
  cities 
  ; 
  there 
  

   are 
  old 
  miners, 
  too, 
  detailed 
  to 
  teach 
  the 
  

   miners' 
  sons 
  how 
  to 
  wield 
  the 
  pick, 
  to 
  

   shoot 
  out 
  a 
  load, 
  or 
  dump 
  a 
  push-car. 
  

   And 
  even 
  the 
  smallest 
  industrial 
  center 
  

   supports 
  its 
  inevitable 
  cafe, 
  its 
  park 
  and 
  

   beer 
  garden, 
  and 
  its 
  "Lichtspiel," 
  or 
  

   movie 
  theater 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  close 
  early, 
  and 
  

   by 
  10 
  o'clock 
  at 
  night 
  the 
  streets 
  of 
  Essen 
  

   are 
  as 
  empty 
  as 
  the 
  ruined 
  streets 
  of 
  

   Pompeii 
  ; 
  for 
  the 
  Ruhr 
  miner 
  is 
  a 
  sane, 
  

   thrifty, 
  and 
  methodical 
  soul 
  ; 
  he 
  knows 
  

   no 
  man 
  who 
  works 
  eight 
  hours 
  a 
  day 
  

   2,000 
  feet 
  underground 
  could 
  hold 
  his 
  job 
  

   and 
  dip 
  very 
  deep 
  into 
  such 
  gay 
  night 
  life 
  

   as 
  that 
  on 
  "Kurfurstendamm" 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  

   "Xachtlokals" 
  of 
  Dresden 
  and 
  Hamburg. 
  

  

  Hard 
  times 
  come 
  here, 
  as 
  in 
  every 
  great 
  

   industrial 
  region, 
  when, 
  for 
  one 
  reason 
  or 
  

   another, 
  many 
  men 
  are 
  out 
  of 
  work 
  ; 
  but 
  

   the 
  professional 
  tramp, 
  like 
  our 
  hobo 
  or 
  

   "blanket 
  stiff" 
  who 
  rides 
  the 
  rods, 
  is 
  an 
  

   unknown 
  character. 
  

  

  Here, 
  too, 
  women 
  workers 
  are 
  numer- 
  

   ous 
  : 
  you 
  see 
  them 
  tilling 
  the 
  tiny 
  fields 
  

   between 
  the 
  towns, 
  handling 
  trunks 
  and 
  

   freight 
  about 
  the 
  stations, 
  or, 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  

   north, 
  digging 
  and 
  hauling 
  peat 
  from 
  the 
  

   wet 
  lowlands. 
  

  

  