Soptoraljor 5, 1914 
LAND AND WATER 
As for the Marfdehurn, slio was one of the latest German 
crniscrs, nominally cir^'^i'c^i to strain at 25 knots, but capable 
of something up to 30 knoiji at a spurt. Her armament was 
Blight — twelve 4"l-incli guns, but she had a belt of 3J inches, 
and so was fairly immuna (any way on paper) against attacks 
from others of her kind. She is correspondingly a decided 
Icsa to the Gerny\n Xavy; for all that the Ex'ssians have 
nothing available in the same cla^s with her. Such Ru«ian 
cruisers as are avjiilable are considerably more powerful, but 
abo a great deal slower. 
The consVit of tho Mapdi'hurf] was the Munch en, of about 
tl'.e same g:"n power, but somewhat slower and unarnioured. 
In the division presumably employed in the Baltic are thra« 
other light cruisers — Augshiirri, Siutfyarl, and Danz'i'j. 
Of these the first is nominally nearly as fast as the Magdi'- 
hurg, but rumour haa it. that her turbines have been damaged. 
The other two little ships are comparatively old. 
The net result of Baltic operations to date is that tha 
really effective German scouting force is reduced about one- 
third, and that apart fi'om. this there have been no losses on 
cither side, saving the few Russian lighthouses which the 
Germans have wantonly destroyed. The value of this parti- 
cular operation is the cost of tho rounds \yhich the Gei-mans 
Lave fii-ed. 
A TOPOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE 
WAR ZONE. 
By E. CHARLES VIVIAN. 
Allenstcin. — An important railway jimction on the 
/last Prussian strategic railways, upward of fifty miles nortli- 
v.-est of the Russian frontier, and about midway between 
Gumbinaen and Thorn. It is connected with both these points 
by rail, and is also on the hue from Oertelburg to Maricnburg 
and Dantzic. 
Belfcrt. — The territory of Belfort, at present about 
twenty-eight miles in length by thirteen in breadth, is all that 
is left to France by the Treaty of 1871 out of the former Depart- 
ment of Haut Rhin, and comprises less than si.x of the former 
thirty cantons of which the Department was made up. It is 
bounded north-east and east by German Alsace, south-east and 
south by Switzerland, north by the Vosges Department, and 
west and south-west by the Departments of Haute-Saonc and 
Doubs. The chief town of the Department, also named Belfort, 
b 275 miles south-cast from Paris, on the railways Paris to Bale 
and Lyons to Strasbourg. The population of the town is neaily 
35,000. Its fortifications have been greatly strengthened sijKC 
the war of 1870-71, and the town is now oue of the strongest 
frontier defences on the French side. The chief fortificatif)i\ \a 
the citadel, in front of which Ls placed a colossal figure, " Tlic 
Lion of Belfort," by Bartholdi, erected to commemorate the 
brave defence of the town by the French in 1870-71. Situated 
as it is among the wooded hills of the Vosges range, Belfort i.s 
of great natural strength, and this, together with the Frencli 
ftirtifications, renders it an almost impregnable position to attack 
from the German side. 
Chambery. — Capital of the Department of Savoie, 
situated between the upper valleys of the Rhone and the Isfre 
rivers. Population about 22,000. It is about fifty miles distant 
from tho Italian frontier, on the Paris-Lyons-Turin line of 
railway. 
Diewze. — A railway station in German Lorraine, on the 
Saargemund-Avricourt hue of rail. It is about ten miles from 
the French frontier, and about five miles north-east of Marsal. 
Gumbinnen. — The chief town of a Government district 
of the same name in East Prussia, situated on an affluent of the 
River Pregel, on the railway from Eydtkuhnen to Koenigsburrr, 
SMid about twenty-two miles west-south-west from the Russian 
fionticr. The population, including a small garrison, is estimated 
at about 12,000, and the town is engaged in various industries, 
of which the chief are iron-founding and the manufacture of 
ajjricultural machinerj-. 
Jodoigne. — A small town about seven miles south of 
Ti.lomont, in the province of Brabant, Belgium. It is a station 
oil the Namur-Tirlemont line of rail. 
Johannisburg. — Situated on the strategic railway from 
Lycl: to Allenstein. in East Prussia, on the south of the Spieding 
Lake, and about fifteen miles north of the Polish frontier. 
Maubsvge. — A first-class French fortress town about 
five miles south of the Belgian frontier and eleven or twelve miles 
fiouth of Mons. It is the point at which the main line from Paris 
to Belgium branches for Brussels and Liege, and is the site of a 
hir^e arsenal. It is about midway between Valenciennes and 
Thiiin. 
Phiiippeville. — A town of Southern Belgium about ten 
riilos from Givet, on the French frontier, and almost midway 
Lefween Givet and C'harleroi. It is situated in wooded country, 
and is connected by railway v.ith Charleroi and Charlcville on 
the French side of the frijntier. 
Poscn. — A Prussian province with aa area about equal to 
that of Belgiiun, bounded on the north by the province of Pru-^sia, 
on the east by Russian Poland, on the south by Silesia, and oa 
the west by Brandenburg. The population is upwards of 1,900,000, 
the majority of whom are Poles, with a minority of about a third 
of the population Germans. Posen, the capital city of tha 
province, is situated at the confluence of the A^'arthe and Cybina 
rivers, 150 miles east of Berlin ; it is a first-class fortress of great 
strategic importance, consisting of an inner citadel and an outer 
line of twelve main forts encircling the city. The main town ii 
on the west bank of the Warthe river, and the eastern or Polish 
part of the town is regarded as the poor district b}'^ the superior 
Germans of the west city. The total population is about 70,0(K), 
including a greater percentage of Jews than in any other German 
centre, and in normal times there is a garrison of about 8,000 men. 
The town is on the main Berlin-Thorn-Petersburg lijie of mil, 
end is also connected by direct Uncs with Stettin and with Breslau, 
from which latter town it is about ninety miles distant in a direct 
northerly direction. In the north, and especially in the north-cast 
of the province, the cotmtry is dotted with small lakes and ponds, 
and these are interspersed with large tracts of fen and marshland. 
In addition to the railway facihties which exist throughout the 
province, numerous canals and navigable rivers afford means of 
curamuuication between the principal trading centres. 
St. Amand. — An important railway junction situated in 
the line of forti.lcations extending from Lille to Maubeuge, in 
Northern France. It is on the left bank of the River Escaut, a 
tributary of tlie Scheldt, and is a junction for no less than sit 
lines of rail, which connect it with practically all the maiu Belgian 
lines, and with Lille, Douai, Valenciennes, and Paris. 
Soldau. — Situated about ten miles inside the Ccrninn 
frontier, on the railway line from Warsaw to Danti:ic on t!ie 
Baltic coast. This line is crossed at Soldau by the strato^iic 
railway from Oertelburg to Thorn. Definite occupation of Sold;ai 
end command of its railway junction threatens all the railway 
comiiiunieatious of East Prussia. 
Thora. — A town and first-clasa fortress in the province of 
East Prussia, situated on the right bank of the Vistula river, about 
ten miles from the Russian frontier, ninety-two miles south of 
Dantzic. It is a point of considerable strategic importance, and 
has ranked as a first-class fortress since 1878. The population 
is about 25,000, of whom two-fifths are Poles, and the to^sTi has a 
considerable trade in grain and timber as well as a certain amount 
of manufacturing activity. The Vistula, navigable at this point, 
provides means of communication with Dantzic and with inter- 
vening towns toward the north, and Thorn is also connected by 
rail with Posen and Allenstein by means of the strategic railway 
of the eastern frontier, and with Warsaw to the cast, and Berlin 
to the west by direct lines. 
Wilhelmshaven. — The principal German naval station 
and port on the North Sea, sixty miles north-west from Bremen. 
The harbour has an extent of about 200 acres and a depth of 
27 feet, this bein'j known as the " new harbour,'' and connected 
with various repairing and equipment docks and with the outer 
harbour. There is also a special torpedo harbour, together with 
three dry docks and a shipbuilding basin— altogether AVilhelms- 
haven is admirably equipped for the production and shelter of 
every class of battleship and naval war craft, is protected fully 
against any attack by sea, being situated on the western sido 
of Jade, or Jahde, Bay, and defended by the Elbe fortificationa 
and the HeUgoland defeuccs. 
17« 
