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Show ALSACE-LORRAINE LOOTED BY HUNS and solid. The styles which bear the names of the kings of France, and which, in the villages, were 0 fine and delicate workmanship, acquired in the country districts a character entirely original, rustic. It is these that the antiquarians are now after. "As a consequence while nttending auction sales they find time also to seek out the little Alsatian homes and find little difficulty by paying the country people in actual currency in acquiring the old family clocks, of which the majority no longer run, and the chairs with their magnificent backs worn by age. "The demand for objects of this sort has increased immensely during the year that has just finished. The real buyers of them are to be found In the large cities. For the most part they are the 'new rich' who have made their fortunes from the war and who from one day to the other find themselves transported from the counter coun-ter to the top of German society and seek by all means to surround themselves them-selves with objects of ancient art." . : I Spoliation of Two Provinces by Beast of Berlin's Barbarians Continues. AST TREASURES TAKEN AWAY Objects of Priceless Historic and Artistic Ar-tistic Worth Carried Off to Supply the Demand of the New Rich. With the French Armies. Germany's Ger-many's latest spoliation of Alsace-Lorraine consists of the carrying away from the latter of all the old antiquities antiqui-ties and objects of art in which the two provinces for centuries have been unusually rich. The exodus of all these objects, many of priceless historic and artistic worth, across the borders of the two provinces and over into the big German Ger-man cities would appear to constitute consti-tute German's final effort to squeeze out of Alsace and Lorraine the last thing of value while she still' has it within her power to do so. During the seventeenth century Alsace Al-sace and Lorraine became very much a center for various lines of art and especially for the making of the various vari-ous styles of furniture which have since won for themselves fixed places In the history and development of nrtlstic furnishings. Because Alsace and Lorraine were the centers of the various trades, art crafts and manufacturers manu-facturers that were employed in the production of these historic styles of furniture, thousands of the best pieces remained in the two provinces where they became heirlooms in the native families. Treasures Forced on Market. It is largely this class of art objects ob-jects that the Germans are now Searching out and carrying off to Berlin, Ber-lin, Munich and other German centers. cen-ters. Owing to the fact that the German Ger-man authorities are now forcing the liquidation and sale of all homes and other properties owned by French citizens and often of Alsatians guilty only of French sympathies, thousands of these old pieces of furniture are being thrown onto the market in a manner that enables the German antiquarians anti-quarians to buy them at nominal figures. fig-ures. In other instances, the antiquarians anti-quarians search out families that have been impoverished by the war and force them to part for a little ready money with objects of the greatest artistic value. This exploitation of the two provinces prov-inces by German antiquity dealers appears ap-pears to have reached such a proportion propor-tion that even the German press, notably the Kleine Press of Frankfort have printed articles pointing out the iniquitous practice. The Hagenauer Zeitung also details the scandal In the following manner: "The lovers of the art objects and antiquities of Alsace are becoming alarmed over the fate of all the beautiful beau-tiful and precious art treasures that are now actually leaving the country. From all parts of the German empire antiquarians are now arriving and gaining possession of hidden treasures treas-ures from the very bottom of the two frontier provinces for the purpose of reselling them at fabulous prices to their clients at Berlin, Munich and elsewhere. "The hour Is propitious for such purchases. Numerous auction eal's and foreclosures offer favorable occasions occa-sions for the acquisition of objects of real style. Many small middle-class families of the villages have need of money, and without too much insistence insist-ence will give up a bureau of the Louis XVI style which has come down to them from a grandmother and with what thoy receive they can procure pro-cure other articles more Indispensable. Indispens-able. "In the seventeenth century the art crafts were very flourishing In Alsace. Al-sace. The house furnishing which one encountered even in the smallest, most faraway villages were elegant |