The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-09-30

COnyuuCQOu WILL CIl0 r TeICIl tEOOpo III the basin of the Sanga- The Belgians sent there a contingent of infantry with artillery, and an armed boat which supported the action of the troops in the navigfble part of the river. The press communiques have described the operations in this re- zion. Each combat was another success for the Blegians. the black troops, led rby few Belgian officers, covering themselves with glory. After 16 months of marching and incessant struggles in forests and swamps, in a region vojd of resources and defended at each step by a tenacious adversary, the Belgian troops. on July 28, 1916, effected their triumphal entry, with the British and French troops. into Yaunde, war capital of the German colony of Kamerun. more than 1000 kilometers from their point of de- parture at the Belgian Congo from tier.
 While the Belgian column sent against the Kameruns was doing glor- ious ework in the west" continued M. Renkins, "the troops of the East re- sisted heroically the vain attempts to violate our frontier by troops of Ger man East Africa and by bands of nA- tives thieves employed by them.
 'The military forces of Belgian Congo consisted solely of infantry, or ganized in companies of varying strength spread over the whole of the territory and having the one and es- sential mission to maintain order in the interior. Mention might be made of a few pieces of artillery of low calibre and the existence of so-called artillery and engineers, charged with the guard and occupation of the forti- fled work which had been built there.
 Tt was not an army. but rather an organized police force justly called the Public Force. This shows more than any argument the confidence that the Belgian government placed in the treaties, and it's resolution to conform strictly to the spirit of the Act of Berlin of 1885.
 'The theatre of war was 2,000 kilo- meters from the ocean, right in the center of Africa Therefore for the carrying out of this campaign. many months were necessary. Tine pro- gram was first to assure the defence, of the frontier so as to allow the Bell gian troops to be organised. But the defensive offered occasion to these troops of distinguishing themselves in many combats. From the Rhode sian frontier to the south of Lake Tam ganika, up to the borders of Uganda at the north of Lake Kivu, the Ger man troops multiplied the attacks; these troops were numerous and of ex-- cellent formation, comprising @ large proportion of Europeans. The latter consisted, In the first place. of a con- tingent sent from Germanq on the oc- casion of the exhibition at Dar-Es- Salam and of the inauguration of the railway from the Indian ocean to Tanganika, who found themselves in the colony when war was declared. In tho second place, the cruiser 'Koenigs- berg had been sunk by the British navy in the river Rufdji, and her crew joined the European troops held up at Dar-Es-Salam and the numer- ous reservists who composed the Euro pean units. The larger part of the forces were formed with the aid of black troops, well-armed and we'll provisfoned.
 "None other of Germany's African colonies was So we'll prepared for the undertaking of long war,
 f'From September. 1914. by means of taking away men from the strong holds of the interior while still leaving there a sufficient number of men to meet any eventuaiity, the Belgians concentrated strong forces on the eastern frontier of the Congo, and un- til April, 1916, or for twenty months, all the activity of the colony was de- voted te the organization of the East ern Troops:
 sThink of the effort it must have cost to effect the transport, all car ried on mems backs, along caravan routes, starting from the terminus of the navigable part of the Congo for all goods arriving by the west coast, or taking the paths of the Uganda from Lake Victoria for the goods sent by the east coast; of the trouble to bring to the scene of action the war material, and foods, for an army in the midst of it's organization. right at the of its lines of communica- ton, 600 kilometers from its base. 'These brief indications will suffice to show the superhuman effort impos- ed upon the Belgians by the German aggression in Africa
 ""The artisans of this gigantic work have contri'uted to demonstrate once more Belgian energy and tenacity.