Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-09-14
RESOURCES OF ROUMAN|A
Cnn Raise Army of over 100000 Wen
\ Country of Valuable Agriculture
al Resources and salt Mines.


What weight Rouman'a can 'hr"" nv"
the scales of war in behalf OF the entente
allies is suggested In the following wal
geography bulletin Just issued by the Na-
tional Geographic society on the resources
of this the largest of the Balkan nations.
with n field arm of 800" men, thor
ouEly trained and fully equipped ana
with reserve force of at least 10000 aG-
ditional fighting men, Roumanias late
entrance upon the great battlefield of tu-
rope will inevitably have great weight
But of equal or perhaps even greater I'M
portance to the allies VIII he the 1a't
that with this countrys declaration of
war against the central powers her high
ways and her railway systems can he
used in moving an unlimited number of
Russian soldiers to the northern frontier
of Bulgaria and the southeastern gate
ways into Hungary.
I'm the present struggle it has been
easier ON many occasions to secure men
for the firing line than to control the IA
ciliticS for Transporting them and to ma
the necessary food for them after their
arrival in the trenches. Roumania pos
sesses the means to solve in part both
these problems.
Of Arkansas, but with population near
~ five times as great, Roumania is es-
sentialy an agricultural country, produc-
ing vastly more wheat in 1915 than Bull
garia. Serbia, Greece and Montenegro
combined. Its crop last year H9,orVJ
bushels, epualled the joint production Of
our two fertile wheat States, Minnesota
and Iowa. The yield of barley, corn, oats
&c a1 la Il 10 -
years of war the country has WaXei rich
playing the role OF an Egyptian Joseph
to starving brother uations-the Weli-pay-
ing central powers.
Before the war the value Of Roumania'
grain exports exceeded S'Nn0p,"o annual
lv, and second in The list of her interna-
tonal sales was petroleum. valued at
nearly 100000 a Year. Her forests, too
are source Of revenue for the we'll
wooded slopes of the Carpathans, which
form the western boundary between Rou-
mania and Hungary, yield excellent oak,
beech, pine and fir, the exports being
valued at S5,v"ooH.
"Roumana is famous for its salt mines
and coulG supply all Europe with tins
commodity for hundreds of years. In
some mines the beds are from ""' to 900
| feet thick ana at Sarat mere IL = SAT-
mountain whose sides are puarrled win
electric machines which cut out CLOCKS
each a cubic ward in SIZE while the rag
| mentS are scN"red Up IN s'eam ShoNe'S'
! The precedent OF h"r success IN cho"S-
| ing the right moment u" Jon IN the halN-
an imhrogh" OF !"'" would seem To nave
/ had considerable Influence in prompting
! Eoumana's waiting policy IN the present
I instance. This country renamed aIoof
! In the first I'dINan war N'l-)' during the
second war when RUlSaria, Serbia. and
Greece were lighting Over the Spois which
! had been Wr"sted from the Turks IN the
previous struggle, Koumanla again re-
manned an interested hNstander until the
| closing days of the conflict; then she
threw her weight with Greece and Serbia
In time to demand as her reward the valu-
able strip of bulgarian territory lying
! north and east OF line drawn between
| Turtukai and Baltchik' in the Dobrudja
region between the Danube and the Black
sea. This prize added some 1900 square
miles to her area.
| IF. AZ is reported, Russia has prom
Used the big Balkan state the important
province of Bossaraba, which adioins it
on the northeast, 1900 square miles will
be added to Roumanian domains, together
with 100000 people. In addition to this
tempting spoil of diplomacy. it is highly
probable that the Roumanians win eX-
poet Bukowina as their share of the par
ings' in the event the central powers are
defeated, for this Austrian crown-land
Moldavia ND TO III at which time il was
appropriated by the larger nation. Rou-