OSTRAU  , the name of two

Austrian towns in the Ostrau-Karwin coal-mining district . (1) Mahrisch-Ostrau (Moravian Ostrau), a town in Moravia, 95 M . N.E. of Briinn by rail . Pop . (1900) 30,125 . It is situated on the right bank of the Ostrawitza, near its confluence with the Oder, and it derives its importance from the neighbouring coal mines, and the blast furnaces and iron-works which they have called into existence . The manufactures comprise sheet-iron, boilers, zinc, brick and tiles, paraffin, petroleum, soap and candles . The Rothschild iron-works at Witkowitz are in the vicinity . (2) Polnisch-Ostrau (Polish Ostrau), a mining town in Austrian Silesia, opposite Mahrisch-Ostrau . Pop . (1900) 18,761, mostly Czech . It has large coal mines, which form the south-western portion of the extensive Upper Silesian coal fields, the largest Austrian deposit .