The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1920-09-10
POLAND PLAYS
NO new ROLE
Country Harassed by BoIsheviN
Was Once the Savior of
Europe.
STAYED MARCH OF THE TURK
In Size Poland Once Outranked Every
Nation of Continent and in Popu-
Iation Stood at the Forefront
of Europe.

WashingtOn.-Pol whose history
is tragedy, and whose people have
been called children of the Sun"
plays no new role when she seeks to
stop the onslaughts of the bolsheviki.
for it was she who once stayed the
march of the Turk across Europe
This fact is recalled in a commun1-
cation to the National Geographic So
ciety which sums up Polands sad
and eventful history as follows:
''In size she outranked nearly every
nation of the continent. Russia alone
of the European nations is larger than
Poland was at her greatest In popu-
Iation she stood at the forefront OF
Europe; only Russia and Germany
had greater populations before the
war than are to be found in the lands
that once were Poland; for unparti-
toned Poland had an area of 2S2,OOO
square miles, and the lands that once
lay within her boundaries support q
population of approximately 5O,OO0,-
600. In area she was as large as the
former German empire, Switzerland,
DclS1uu, dOIdHu anu DChiidih ~
gether; larger than Great Britain,
Italy and Greece combined; larger
than Austria-Hungary and Serbia in
one Within what were her boundaries
there dwells present population
larger than the combined populations
of Great Britain and Belgium; larger
than those of France, Belgium and
together; and matching that
of the old AustriaHungary.
Three Times Partitioned.
poland was three times partitioned, |
and these partitionings were readjust- |
ed between the partitioners by the
of Vienna in 1915. Where
the original partitions had given Rus
sia 1S1, 900 square miles, Prussia 54,-
700 square miles, and Austria $4,000
square miles, the reappOrtionment of
he Vienna congress gave Russia 22O,-
800, Prussia 10000, and Austria 35,-
100 square miles. Much of the land
which Russia secured, and particular
y Kiev, had been identified with Rus
ia generations before.
"Poland, in the days of her greatest
rea, extended from point within 90
niles of Berlin, on the west, to the
meridian of the Sea of Azov on the
asst; on the north it reached nearly
0 the Gulf of Finland and on the
outh down to the Khanate of Crimea.
"What we now know as Russian PO-
and is that neck Of territory stretch
lg westward between the Prussias
nd Galicia. This territory has an
rea almost exactly equal to that of l
lew York, yet, in spite of the fact Z
hat it's extreme southern boundary
es north of the latitude of Winnipeg
s population is as great as those of
ew York and New Jersey combined.
Russian Poland, in this limited {
ense, consists of a great plain, some
hat undulating, with an average ele- v
alton of about 400 feet, sloping up le
ard toward the highlands of Galicia
/ the south and toward the swelling
'Ound paralleling the Baltic on the 8
)rth. It joins the lowlands of west +
estern Russia. It's rivers are slow a
I'd sluggish with their mouths often l
1t a few dozen feet below their t
urces and seldom more than a few L
lndred feet below. Their basins in a
icately interpenetrate one another, =
ID the frequent inundations Of these :
sins have covered them with a very q
,h alluvial soil. p
Winter Like New England. lc.
Russian Poland usually has win tt
r somewhat similar to that of New tt
lgland. There is an even cold, with
t a great deal of snow, but often 8!
th razor-edged winds from the ~
rthward. The rivers of this region T.
ually freeze over about the middle II
December, and the Vistua is under &C
for approximately 80 days during, ps
; average winter. 81
In the eighteenth century, when 81
} city Of Warsaw, next to Paris, was
, most brilliant city in Europe, this
t plain was unusually rich in herds -,
j geese flocks, though almost bare W
manufactures" to