The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-18
RUSSIA NOT GREATLY ALARMED.
 AT REPEATED GERMAN DRIVES
Petrograd Discusses Frankly Personnel of Army
 Heads and Foresees Three Possible Moves Teutons That Would Embarass If Not Endanger the Czar's
 Empire.

the world of lending the full co-opera- tion of the people of Russia to the defense of the Empire, it's members raised, at a crisis when nobody has time to consider them, the most com plex and embarrassing questions of in ternaI reform. To open the discus sion of the advisabi1ity of a respon- sible ministry when plainly every thought is necessary to the national defense, seems alrn ost absurd; vet that Is precisely what the Russians let the Durna do, and by permitting it, sue ceeded in placing the Emperor tin a position which threatens to jeopar- dize his personal popularity, at the moment when it. is perhaps the most valuable asset the government pos4 sesses. /
 From military standpoint, there are two great dangers in Russia to- day. The first lies in a continued and successful German drive /on Pet rograd; the second is a drive in the opposite direction, with a view to opening a way through Russia to the Black Sea. to re-establish the broken communications with the Ottoman, Empire. Both are regarded as most unlikely of success even if attemr1t- ed; but both must be considered in weighing the present situation in Russia
 'It is scarcely probable that the Russian armies will begin to receive in sufficient quantities the small arms and munitions, they lack much before November. It is not therefore very likely that they will be ready to sune any serious offensive before the first of December.
 Meanwhile the defensive retreat must go on. General Rousski, who is looked upon as one of the ablest military commanders of the Empire,
 has the defense of <Petrograd in hand. The important defensive works which he has Acaused to be construct ed about Pskov are thought to be as nearly impregnabIe as. any en- trenchments have proved in this war His line. facing almost south, also serves to threaten the German conlZ muntcations in the event of any fur ther advance into Russia and to rem der any such further advance dam gerous.
 Tn this respect, therefore, the Rus sian situation may be regarded as sat isfactory, though the danger of the fall of Petrograd should not be be- Titled. Petrograd is almost essen tial to the Russians, not on account of any sentimental reason connected with it's being the capital, but be- cause tfree-fourths of the industries directly connected with supplying the troops are located there. and their loss would be a blow from which it would be difficult for the Russian troops to recover.
 *On the south the situation is less defined. It is evident that if Con- stantinople falls and the Allies are able to rush arms and munitions in large quantities bo the Russian forces, the situation of the Germans will be most serious. Over and over again I have noted that whenever an inn portant shipment of munitions has been made to any sector of the Rus sian line, the retreat has promptly stopped in that sector, a-slow but cer- tain advance has begun, and longil .train1oads of prisoners have begun to come through from that part of the front. It iss common opinion ip Rus sia, based on a great deal of expeFi- ence, that when the Russian is any where nearly equally equipped with the German now doing the fighting on the Russian front, the Russian is not only able to stop the German, but to push him back. I presume that this is on account of the fresh troops which are constantly being sent into the Russian lines, while to judge from the prisoners the q Rus sians have taken, the opposing Ger man troops are neither young nor very well trained as rule.
 '.As, then, the opening of the Dar- dane11es means the supplying of suf- ficfent arms and munitions to the whole Russian army without the long delays now inevitable. it would seem plain that the Germans must do ey- erything in their power to prevent the defeat of the Turks and the fall of Constantinop1e. Certainly this is Russian opinion. Moreover, it is be- 1ieved in Russia that the only possi- ble way to accomplish this end is for Germany to re-establish, somehow, her line of communications with the Dardane1les.
 s gro achieve this the Russians fig