Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Vosges

VOSGES, a department in the E. of France; bounded N. by Meurthe-et-Moselle and Meuse, W. by Haute-Marne, S. by Haute-Saône, and E. by Elsass; area 2,303 square miles; pop. about 430,000. The surface is covered in the E. by the wooded summits of the Vosges Mountains, and in the W. consists of fertile undulating plains. It is watered by the Moselle, with its affluents the Moselotte, Vologne, Madon, and Meurthe; the Meuse with the Mouzon and the Vaire; and the Saône with its affluent the Coney. The industries include silk and wool spinning and weaving, embroidery and lace-making, bleaching and dyeing, and the manufacture of glass, pottery, paper, beet sugar, beer, leather, and machinery. The capital of the department is Epinal. The Vosges was the scene of the earliest fighting in France during the World War. See World War.