SAARBRÜCKEN, an important industrial and commercial town in Prussia, on the left bank of the Saar, a navigable tributary of the Moselle, is situated 49 miles east of Metz, at the south end of one of the most extensive coalfields in Europe, to which it has given its name. With the town of St Johann, immediately opposite on the right bank of the river, here spanned by two bridges, Saarbrücken forms in reality a single community, with a united population of nearly 22,000. St Johann, though now the larger, is the more recent town, being in fact the creation of the important railways whose junction is fixed there. Saarbrücken itself is not directly on any main line. The industries of St Johann-Saarbrücken include wool-spinning, brewing, and the manufacture of tobacco, chemicals, tin, and stoneware. The trade is chiefly connected with the produce of the neighbouring coal-mines and that of the numerous important iron and glass works of the district. The Saarbrücken coal-field extends over 70 square miles; and its annual output is about 6 million tons. Of this total the Prussian state mines yield about 5,200,000 tons, Prussian private mines 100,000 tons, the mines in Lorraine 500,000 tons, and mines in Rhenish Bavaria 200,000 tons. In 1880 the population of Saarbrücken alone was 9514, and of St Johann 12,346....