Norwich bulletin., 1918-08-28
FACTS AND COMMENT

British expedition has reached the Caspian Sea and is at present de- lending the oil port of Baku. Right here where the Caucasus range runs into the sea is the most .TefnarKanie oil field in the entire world not even excluding Pennsylvania for within ten miles of the city of Baku is produced one4fifth of the worlds supply. The immense value of this region can be understood when it is considered that these few square miles of already de- veIoped oil territory furnish but tiny fraction of what Russia will eventu- ally produce The oil fields ot the whole region are estimated to cover 14000 square miles, part Of which lies under the Caspian Sea. These oil de- posits have been known for 2,5G0 years. On the Apsheron peninsular jutting out into the Caspian is the site of the ancient temple of the Fire Worship CTS Even as late as 1880 members of that cult were in the habit of making niIerima ges to the sacred spot from all parts of India. When the Russian government at last put stop to the entry of pilgrims. the priests must have felt righteously indignant at the interference with their business, but 1 the last of the devotees must have 'ex- perienced a rude shock to see a mod
 
 of their temple utilizing for industrial purposes the very fire that they had pieusly come 8 thousand miles to worship.
 The entire region about Baku fairly reel5s with oil and gas. For centuries the white variety of petroleum has ] been collected by the Persians and sent into the interior of Persia and | India where it has been used as a medicine both externally and inter11- 1 ally In some places the oil eXudes from the surface of the ground and solidifies into hills that have the con- sistency and appearance of asphalt. 1 The peasants make large use Of the gas to burn lime. Formerly gas could 1 be found at a depth of a few feet. but now it is necessary to dig fifty feet or more. When gas is reached the pit IS covered over and small surface canals
 rofed over with stone slabs and earth lead the gas to the heaps of limestone
 that have been stacked ready for
 burning. The ancient altar Of the Fire
 worshipers was similarly fed with uTl-
 metered gas to the enrichment of the
 priesthood and the deception of the pious devotees.
 It was this fabuIousIy rich region on which the Germans had their eyes
 when they arranged by the treaty ot Brest- -Litovsk that Russia must cede to Turkey not only all of Turkish and much of Russian Armenia but also the Black Sea port of Batum, by which 1 alone the oil of B8kU fields finds Il way into the outer world through a pipe line 800 miles long. The infam- ous treaty of Brest-Litovsk however is not accepted as final in all parts oi ! ID T int ID 1 brave .Armenians are making a stand against the Turks, who. not content
 with Baum and the Black Sea ittora
 were endeavoring to seize Baku. The only possible relief was from the Brit ish in Mesopotamia. Bagd3d lie foul hundred miles southwest of the Caspi' an Sea. and the route is through (
 wild and mountainous country. St
 urgent was the need however that tht
 British government secured q thouS and white men to volunteer for th' perilous undertaking. A thousand pounds apiece was guaranteed then
 together with perpetual care for thei families if they themselves neve came back These volunteers attach ed to their. force four thousand Indial } troops and, equipped with apparatu r and explosives for the destruction 0 ; every oil well in the Caspian region they started across northwestern Persia The story of their journey
 yet to be told. Suffice it to say tha they reached the Caspian at Enzel took ship 200 miles to Bakue, an ) found the defenders so well estab Eshed that instead of destroying tn
 region they joined forces with tn
 Armenians and now form one nor point on Britain's far flung battl | line.
 T Unlike the Germans who reeularl l let weeks elapse between suecessiN n strokes, General IFoch has kept evel e lastingly at it ever since he launche | his first blow July 18th. In those ear
 1 days of the allies advance their a . tack was viewed as a counterblow e: pecially organized to check the Gel . man advance beyond Chateau Thierl ,r by cutting into their rear along u Ourcq. But six weeks have passed al n as the strokes continue now here ar S now there, it is dawning on the wor = that the preparations necessary fl t so sustained an effort must have bet a planned weeks before July 18th. IT if drive into the flank of the Marne s; ,f lient, would have occurred or schet = ule time regardless of what the Ge e mans might do. As matters turnt e ou. 1t was most fortunate for the a It lies that the Germans had launcht y their blow southward before Fot l. struck into them from the west. IS took tine to change the direction al 70 style Of southward offensive nov
 ment to that of westward defensi
 operation. Hence the Germans cou
 not oppose Foch's thrust as stut
 as if they had over extended. ther
 l rI ha IF that they received was so staggeril
 and other blows have followed so ia
 that they have never been able to T y cover themselves.
 'S A week ago the Germans he
 counting from the north, Albert, Bra 1t Chaulnes Rove. Lassigny and. arou r. the turn toward the eastward. NoyC ih Already the British have retc-ken A
 bert and Bray and are all arou Ia she'll shattered Bapaume. In four da . they have come nearer to the toy than they were able to do in fl V months in the first battle of the Sor
 me. By most valiant fighting { l. French have succeeded in taking ne the high ground about La4signy a at forcing the evacuation of that pla
 so that the fighting is fast closing about Noyon. The fall of tliis vi
 point can hardly be long delay 'n as the French are well to the sout ID east of it on their victorious progre 3! up the valley of the Oise
 H. American forces have been static st ary this week as far as is known. Tn III still hold the line of the Vesle betwe al. Soissens and eRheims ready Lo spri he forth at the word of command a ,- drive the enemy back of the Ais +o Meantime American artillery keep t 1o enemy back areas under constant f T. making enforcement and retrt
 equally difficult. The latest extensi