The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-10-15
ROUMANIA READY
 TO"CARRY ON" TO THE VERY END
Not One of Small Nations Beaten While U. s. Is In
 War;" Says Officer.
BETRAYED, BROKEN
 AND BLEEDING
People Are Not Dismayed And Will Re enter
 Fight.

Lieut.. vasile StoTca, vice president of the Roumanian National Council at Paris, who fought all through the in- vasion of Pennsylvania and the heart breaking retreat to the river Sereth, Is in America on a mission to win the ponsent of Congress for the orSaniza- tion of the Roumanion Legion to fight under the American High Command. Nh an interview with a Baltimore Sun reporter he has told the tragic story of Rournania's participation in the war,
 "The Foumanian nation will carry on to the end" he said. Not one of khe small nations is beaten so long as the United States Is in the war No matter how unhappy its plight, not one of them is disheartened.
 True, Rnumania lies for a moment prostrate, She is betrayed, broken bleeding, devastated. I wonder if you have, in the United States, any notion of the enormlty of Roumania's suffer- ing Imagine, if you can, what 1t would mean to you if all the railroads, bridges, factories, and shops in the United States, from the Atlantic sea- board to EI Paso, had been destroyed by an invader, if in part of your ter ritory ruled by the oppres1or, 360,0OO Of your brothers and parents had been condenmed to death and shot and hangedl Does this give you some un- derstanding of the situation of the Roumanlan nation today?"
 Lieut.. Stofoa was with the Rouma- nian forces which deserted from Tran Sylvania, because they refused to Night for their Austrian oppressors. He saw Ghe whole of the brief Rou- manian campaign. The Russians, then deep in the Hungarian Buko- wina, were to strike when the Rou- Snan1ans struck. The Allied army at Salonld was to advance against the Bulgars Russia promised 200,o re- Inducements to the Roumanians, and the rapid forwarding of large supplies sent to her by the Allies. Roumania was to strike for the mountain passes and to unlock the Hungarian plain for a common Standardization ad- vance into the heart of Central Eu- rope. But what happened?
 The Russians held up Roumania' s supplies. Stuermer's government sent 20,00O men instead of the promised goo, ,090 It was not possible to begin a sustained offensive from Salonik. And Brusiloff's Russians failed to budge an inch, although at the height of the Rioumantan invasion the troops of the little Kingdom actually stood behind the Austrian forces that were guard ang the passes of the Carpathiana against the Russians. It was a cruel disappointment.
 Rolled in the moment of their tri umph all along the line, exposed or the Pennsylvania plain to flank at tacks by the Bulgars and Germans ir tho south and by the Magyars ant Germans in the north, the Rouma. nians, abandoned to the overwhelm. ing enemy forces, began their retreat Back over the mountain passes they were forced, stubbornly fighting. They blew up the bridges, the railroads the tunnels. and dismantled the fac tories.
 Great reservoirs of petroleum whicH had been stored in Roumania, pend ing peace or an opening of the Oar danelles, were burned, and all the fai countryside assumed sooty, scorchet appearance. While the oil was burn ing, the smoke was so dense tEat i
 
 time. Everything which the Rouma nians left, the swarming enemy ruth lessly and thoroughly destroyed Thus one of the most prosperous and happ lands in the Balkans was turned int a hell of misery.
 When we reached the Sereth line, said Lieut.. Stoica, I've sent to Rus sia to learn the whereabouts of ou NOn worth of war supplies destined fc our armies were destroyed at Arct angel.
 Then, with the coming of the Bo shevist regime, the Russian armies d. serted. The Germans advanced 1 Kiev, then south to Odessa, and con pletely surrounded Roumania ard he army. The tragedy was complet There was lack of ammunition an medical supplies. The land was tor with disease. There was no way get fresh supplies from our allies, an Roumania was forced to accept tl bitter peace dictated by Germany.
 But when the news came tn; America had entered the war, tI Roumanians went wild with deligh They renewed their faith and the confidence, and today every Roumi nian beyond the reach of the Centr Powers is determined to carry on ul til g. new and enduring world peace won.
 "The other day a member of Il Roumanian Parliament that WI elected under the pressure of u Central Powers arose and exclaime If until today there were a few pr GernnanS annOnp 11s from ,,o,,r , there Is not a single man. Wh, Roumania is once more placed
 communication with the Allies, h soldiers will march again against t common enemy!"