The =Roubaix= or =St. Maurice Gate= dates from about 1620, and was erected from the plans of _Jean de Mesre_, _Jean Petit_ and _Jean Fayet_. Of its three entrances, the middle one only is ancient. Above each entrance is carved a coat of arms. The one in the centre, forming a tympanum, is between two pilasters supporting a triangular pediment. At the top is a row of battlements, with a stone niche surmounted by a broken pediment in the centre. The niche contains the =statue= of a woman. Over the passage is a slate-roofed building ornamented with coloured glazed bricks. _Go through the gate and take the Rue du Faubourg de Roubaix to the =Eastern Cemetery=._ The graves of =Jacquet= and =Trulin= are in this cemetery _(see photos p. 24)_. _Return to the Grande Place by the Rue de Roubaix, Rue des Ponts-de-Comines and Rue Faidherbe._ ROUBAIX-TOURCOING From Lille to Roubaix and Tourcoing, via the Boulevard des Trois Villes. Total Distance, including return journey: 16 miles. =ROUBAIX=, one of France's =chief industrial centres=, is of very ancient origin. The first important mention of it in history, however, only goes back to the 15th century (1469), when one, _Peter of Roubaix_, obtained permission from Charles the Bald to manufacture cloth. It was occupied and sacked several times by foreign invaders. In 1792 it was taken by the Austrians, in 1794 by the English, and in 1914 by the Germans. In 1554, Roubaix, which had become a rival to Lille, obtained permission from Charles Quint and later (1609) from the Council of the Arch-Dukes of Austria, to manufacture velvet, fustian and common grey linen cloth. A decree of the State Council in 1762, granting similar privileges to all the parishes, was the subject of long lawsuits, which were decided against Lille. The popular song-writer, _Gustave Nadaud_ (1820-1893) was a native of Roubaix. There are no monuments in the town anterior to the Revolution. The population, largely composed of the working classes, increased rapidly between 1881 and 1891, and numbered 120,000 in 1914. The suburbs: Wattrelos, Lys, Croix, Wasquehal and Mouvaux, are extensions of the town itself and are growing steadily. Since 1830 Roubaix has been an important centre for =wool combing= and =spinning=, the machinery employed comprising 700 washing, carding, combing and weaving machines and 300,000 spindles. Before the War, the wool-spinning mills produced =6,000 tons= of yarn annually, the whole of which was used in France. The =dyeing= and =finishing= industries, which date back to 1760, had steadily prospered. In 1914, 48 firms, employing 8,000 workpeople, were engaged in this branch. * * * * *