Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1916-09-07
THE. WAR PRIMER
BY National Geographic Society

Roumania.-What weight ROumania
can throw into the scales of war in be
half of the Entente Allies is suggested
IN the following war geography bull
Ictin issued today by the National &C.
ographic Society on the resources of
this the largest Of the Balkan ma
tons:
with a field arm Of $4,000 men,
thoroughly trained and fully equipped,
and with a reserve force of at least
| 200,0 900 additional fighting men, Rou-
mania's late entrance upon the great
battlefield Of Europe would inevitably
| perhaps even greater Importance to-!
| the allies would be The fact that with
| this countryis declaration Of war
| against the Central Powers her high
ways and her railway systems could
! be used in moving an unlimited num-
| Der of Russian soldiers to the northern
| frontier OF Bulgaria and the south
| eastern gateWays into Hungary.
| I'm the present struggle it has been
| easier on many occasions to secure
| men for the firing line than TO con-
| troll the facilities for Transporting them
and to ind the necessary food for them
| after their arrival in the trenches.
| Roumania possesses the means to solve
/ in part both these problems.
:, with an area about equal to that
| of the State of Arkansas, but with a
| population nearly five times as great
| Roumania is essentially an agricultural
| country, producing vastly more Whea-
in 1915 than Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece
| and Montenegro combined. Its crop
| last year 5000, GEO buShelS) equalled
the joint production of our two fertile
| wheat states. Minnesota. and Iowa.
! The yield of barley, corn, oats and rye
! is also large. and during the two years
of war the country has waXed rich
| playing the role of an Egyptian Joseph
| to starving brother nauons-the we'll
paying Central Powers.
| Before the war the value of Rou-
mania's grain exports exceeded $780,
| zoe, 600 annually, and second in the list
of her international sales was petrole-
UNI, valued at nearly $4,000 900 a year.
Her forests. too, are a source of rev.
enue, for the well wooded slopes of the
Carpathians. which form the western
boundary between Rournania and Hun
gary, yield excellent oak, beech, pine
and fir, the exports being valued at
So 900 900.
''Rcumania is famous for its ealt
mines and could supply ali Europe
with this commodity for hundreds of
| years. In some mines the beds are
from GOO to $50 feet thick and at Sarat
there is a salt mountain whose sides
| are quarried with electric machines
which cut out blocks each a cubic yard
in size, while the fra gments are scooped
up in steam ShoVels.
The precedent of her success In
choosing the right moment to join in
the Balkan imbroglio of 1913 would
seem to have had considerable inf1u-
ence in prompting Roumania's waiting
policy in the present instance. This
country remained aloof in the First
Balkan War G912). During the Sec
ond War, when Bulgaria, Serbia, and
Greece were fighting over the spoils
which had been wrested from the
!, Turks in the previous struggle, Rou-
mania again remained an interested
bystander until the losing days of the
, conflict then she threw her weight
! with Greece and Serbia in time to de-
mand as her reward the valuable STRIP
of Bulgarian territory lying north and
east of a line drawn between Turtuka
and Baltchik, in the Dobrudja region
between the Danube and the Blacl
t Sea This prize added some 1890
r square miles to her area.
? 'If, as is reported. Russia has prom
ised the big Balkan state the inportan
| province of BOSSatabias which adjoin
it on the northeast, 1900 square milel
: will be added to Rounlanian domains
t together with two and a half million
a hundred people. In addition to thi
0 tempting spoil of diplomacy, it is high
~ probable that the Roumanians will
expect Bukowina as their share Of TIL
| parings' in the event the Contra
5 Powers are defeated, for this Austrian
crown-land was a part of the Rou
= manian province of Moldavia up to TT
o at which time it was appropriated b
the larger nation. Roumanians stil
comprise a large percentage Of Blu
q kowina's population.
1.-THE Roumarian war budget for tn
= fiscal year ending just prior to the out
y break Of the war was 100000 TIL
d infantry of the standing army
equipped with the Mannlicher maya
zine rifle Give, cartridges), named afte
n the Austrian inventor and much use
A in both Austria and Germany. Tb
~ horse and field batteries are arne
20 with Krupp quick-fiTing rs n1ilimetr
: guns.
'In the transportation of Russia
troops as well as in handling her ow
= forces to the Austro- Hun garian an
a Bulgarian borders Rournania's 2, $3.50
>, mile railway system, nearly 95 Pc
cent. of which is state-owned, woul
" play an extremely important role a
l. would also that great water highwa,
the Danube, which flows out OF Aus
tria-H Hungary at the Kazan Pass an
le in its eastward course to the B1ac
n Sea forms the navisaib1e souther
=, boundary of Rcumania for nearly s.
- miles. The 100000 miles Of nations
ie roads criss crossing the country wou1
a also greatly facilitate the despatch Z
troons."