The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1915-08-13
EUROPEAN WAR PRIMER.

X
has ebbed and flowed in decisive
waves since the wars outbreak. From
this northeastern corner of Russian
Poland, the forcers of the Gar have
smashed their way deep into East
Prussia, and they were thrown back
this way by the reinforced Germans
upon their fortresses of Osowiec,
Kolno and Ostrolenka. The ground
in the north of the government has
been fought over a number of times,
and just recently have the Germans
swept over the first line of defenses
toward the southwest and the south
east. A description of this interesting
battle amphitheater follows:
The government of Lomzha is one
of the dreariest regions in Russian
Poland. Extensive marshes spread
over much of its area, particularly fol-
lowing the banks of the Narew river,
as its winds its way southwest to-
ward its confluence with the Vistula,
north of Warsaw. The Bug forms the
southern boundary of the government
and is one of the last obstacles to
march on Warsaw from the north. In
parts of its course, the banks of the
Bug are worn in deep terraces, and,
likewise, the bed of the Narew is cut
so deep in parts as to give the coun-
try hilly appearance. Clayey, wire
grass tufted swamps fill in much of
the monotonous picture of this region
with dngy rust and brown.
Just to the north of the government
lies the Masuren Lake region of East
Prussia. The same singing, moist
cold, the same leaden skies, and the
same hot, brcathless summers hang
over the Polish district as those found
in East Prussia. The winters here
are the bitter winters of the Russian
plain where the snow crystals snap
and crack like powdered ice under
runners or the tread of heavy boots.
The cold and northern storms set in
about the middle of November.
The government is primarily agri-
cultural 1t has an area of 1860
square miles, much of which is taken
up by grain, fiber, potato and stock
farms. The chief crops are rye, oats,
wheat, barley, buckwheat, peas, pota-
toes, fax and hemp. The potato crop
is used, in part, for the manufacture
of alcohol. This is carried on in nu
merous distilleries within the govern
ment. The fax and hemp find their
disposition in home factories, in the
factories of LODI, and in export
Geese-probably, the distinctive prod
uct of Russian Poland, and one which
in the past, has taken a valiant part
in supplying the German Empire with
its untold tons of gooseflesh and its
acres of goose-feathered bedding-are
found in countless white and grayish-
white herds throughout Lomzha. Bee
keeping is also profitable in part of
Lomzha farming.
The country in the Lomzha govern
ment is mostly fiat, monotonous or
slightly undulated, except in stretches
in the north and southwest. Except
for river crossings and forest belts, it
is open for the passage of troops. Its
roads, as are all roads in Poland and
in Russia, are very bad. In the east
of the government and stretching
away to the fortress of Osowiec in
the government of Grodno are heavy
forest tracts. There are no rail COM
munications in the government. ex-
cept that which connects the fortress
Ostrolenka with the main line be-
tween Warsaw, Grondo and Wilma
Kovno, the key to the railway Sys-
tenn of the northwestern Russia. be-
hind which the Germans are endeav-
oring to strike the great interior lines,
is the central fortress in the Russian
northwestern chain of frontier strong
holds. 1t stands as the confluence of
the Nieman and the Villiya Rivers,
east of Central East Prussia. Petro-
grad lies $50 miles by railroad to the
northwest, while behind Kovno, and
between this fortress and Petrograd,
the Russian plain is strewn as thickly
with lakes as fallow meadow lands
with July and August daises. Miltau
Kovno, Grodno and Lemberg lie
nearly in the same line, north and
south, and Kovno forms the northern
termination of the line of the Bug, to
which the Russians may retreat, and
of which Brest Litovsk forms the
central fortress.
The railway from Eydtkuhnen, in
East Prussia, to Wilma runs through
Kovno, and, at its TERMINUS, joins the
trunkline between Warsaw and Petro-
grad, which the Germans are en-
deavoring to sever. Kovno is a fort
ress of the first class and has been
considerably strengthened in recent
years. Its main defense consists of
girdle of eleven forts, surrounding the
town in an arc with radius of about
2H miles The work of the river
junction is an important feature of the
city's strength. Here, it is guarded
by three forts in the direction of
Wilma, one of which commands the
Wilma bridge. The fortress is IS
miles from the East Prussian border.
Kovno has shared in the expansion
caused by the demands of the present
generation of Russians for home in
dustry of sufficient development to
hasten the supply OF the young nation
with the material elements of modern
civilization. 1t has developed several
important metal industries, and has
large factories producing nails, wire,
barbed wire and machines. 1t has
also developed large commission
business and was an important enter
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