Five months later, thanks to the intervention of the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII., these unfortunate people were allowed to go back to their homes. For several months in 1917 things went better, but in 1918, the German Authorities recommenced deporting. A first batch of men and women was interned at Holzminden, while on another occasion the women were sent to Holzminden and the men to Jewie, near Vilna (Lithuania). The Official Records, to which the reader is referred, contain full details of these inhuman crimes and of the abominable treatment to which the exiles were subjected: privations of every kind, humiliation, torture and degrading occupations. On September 30th, 1918, the Kommandantur ordered the evacuation of all males from 15 to 60 years of age, but the German soldiers carried out their instructions in a half-hearted way, and many escaped. The approaching sound of the guns and the lax discipline of the soldiers announced the Allies' Great Victory and the coming deliverance to the war-weary people. On October 17th, the British troops entered Lille. [Illustration: M. JACQUET'S GRAVE _in the East Cemetery_.] The Ruined Industries of Northern France Before the war, Northern France was one of the most flourishing industrial centres in the country. The metallurgical firms of the North produced annually over a million tons of =steel=, representing nearly a quarter of the country's total production. This steel was transformed locally into finished articles. The exceedingly prosperous =textile= industry was carried on mainly at Tourcoing, Roubaix, Rheims and Sedan. The =flax= industry was also concentrated around Armentières, Lille and Halluin. The =cotton= mills of Roubaix, Tourcoing and Lille were extremely prosperous and important. The following general figures give an idea of the industrial importance of this region, which contributed one-sixth of the country's total taxes. Before the war, the annual industrial production was estimated at 4,000,000,000 frs., of which the textile industries accounted for 2,500,000,000 frs. [Illustration: TRULIN'S GRAVE _in the East Cemetery_.] The industries of Northern France have been =ruined=, not so much by the war, as by the systematic =pillaging= and =destructions= carried out by the Germans. Official documents left behind in Brussels by the routed enemy brought to light the existence of two German Organizations: the ="Abbau Konzern"= and the ="Wumba Waffen und Munitions-Beschaffungs Anstalt."= The mission of the =former= was to cripple France industrially, by methodically destroying her factories and mills, while the =latter's= agreeable and profitable task was to sell stolen French machinery and tools to competitive German industrial concerns. [Illustration] VISIT TO THE TOWN _To enable tourists to visit the town quickly and thoroughly, we have drawn up 4 itineraries, each of which starts from and returns to the Grande Place._