Show GERMAN DRIVE TOWARD KIEFF HAS BLACK I SEA RAILWAYS FOR OBJECT I n 1 Military melt r s see e ein In In the determined determined determined deter deter- mined Austrian drive in eastern Galicia Galicia Ga- Ga licia ucla and in the tho German advance southeastward from the tho Polish frontier frontier fron fron- tier an actual threatening of the all Important Russian ail center of Kieff Kieft Any movement in the direction direction direction tion of Kieff KIeU it is declared is fraught with danger to the great railroad lines which connect Moscow and Petrograd with tho the Black sea It would be nothing short of a disaster disaster dis dis- dis aster of the Ohio first magnitude to Russia Russia Rus Rus- sia t if by any chance the German German- Austrian armies armies' succeeded In getting getting getting get get- ting astride of the trunk railways leading up from the Crimea and Black sea ports The stupendous struggle now be le Io ing waged at the Dardanelles has for its principal object the opening of a way by which Russia can communicate communicate com with the outside world and by means of w which munitions of war and supplies can be sent to herTo her To reach Russia by way of the Dardan Dardanelles Dar Dar- dan and the tho is to enter the tho Black sea traverse that body of water and strike the railway railway rail rati- way lines hines leading heading into the west of Russia from Odessa Sevastopol Sevastopol Se Se- or sea of ports Unless Unless Unless Un Un- less the railway lines Jines are in Russian Russian Russian Rus Rus- sian control any victory at the Dardanelles Dardanelles Dar Dar- It Is feared will be an empty one With German Austrian armies between the tho Crimea and Moscow Moscow Mos Mos- cow communication will be cut off with the heart of Russia Kieff Kien is the key to the main trunk I lines Jines leading south from Moscow The strategic importance of the place c cannot not be overestimated Military Military Mil Mil- men say that with Kieff Kleff Inthe in inthe inthe I the hands of the enemy there would be bo afforded opportunity to paralyze the railways farther east and copet espe cope I t t. t daIly the UlC line Black Sea Routes The lines Unes leading southward from Moscow comprise Route 1 k railway Route 2 2 railway Route 3 3 Odessa Kleff dessa raila rail- rail way a y R Route ute 4 4 Kieff T Metro Metro- Sebastopol pol-Sebastopol railway n Route Wi 4 line branches aU off at in the Crimea running thence ence to and from the latter v. v place continues on to on n the strait of the same I name nS The strait connects the I Black 8 sea with TV a. a the sea Bea of ol The I principal ports in the iho Black sea Bea are OdEssa h i and Sebastopol Se- Se On the sea of ov there are a number of important places which Include the ports of Berd Berd- and RosI Ros- Ros I tow These Places are all on tho the w north shore line On the east easT side of df r the tho sea is the port of The last named port has railway connection con con- with Moscow via Zai but the route is a one and the longest of all the lets sea out out- The ports of tow and ana Ros- Ros are connected up with each other by a railway and the two ports are accessible from Moscow via The rhe two ports ot of and to T Moscow r via are aa opened By the railway the distan distance distante e be between between be- be tween Petrograd and J this route is 1441 miles Odessa over V the same distance aa as between between op or or roughly New M York and Missouri river points pit Th The shortest route to the Black sea from Moscow 1 is that by way of Vilna and The Kieff Kieft line however is probably the most important of all the southern thoroughfares All of the Black sea and sea of ports are connected up with railways railway which lead directly north It is still sUlI possible to make ones one's way out of at the Black sea by way of the Trans Trans Caucasus Caucasus railway which connects connect up the Black sea with Baku on the Caspian sea There is a Juncture point at from which branch lines run to Poti and Batum A Rich Grain Country The country directly y east of Kieff is is probably the richest in the agricultural agricultural agri agri- cultural sense In all of western Rus Rus- sia When crops fail fall in Russia everywhere they still do not fail in inthe inthe inthe the district This is pro- pro tava district is reached by a line running direct from Kieff Kieft into that region It is in the country that one finds the rich black earth belt which characterizes river bottom bot hot tom torn lands While the climate at Kieff Kieft is colder in winter and there Is much snow the regions lying more to the southward are not so rigorous British British Brit Brit- ish and French troops conducted a winter campaign in the Crimea and although the English forces suffered suffered suffered suf suf- much it was due to lack of foresight in not properly providing for the men Southern Russia does not present the camp campaigning difficulties difficulties difficulties of the north country in the winter time and it is this knowledge which military men say may be a further motive for the German Aus trian advance toward Kieff Kieft It is regarded as a certainty that if the German German-A AUstrian German forces are trong strong enough to get astride the railways railways railways rail rail- ways leading up from the Crimea they will be able to force an entrance entrance en en- trance into the Crimea itself in which case on the straits would surely fall Possession Possession Posses Posses- sion of would mean an effectual effectual ef ef- ef blocking of the passage into the tho sea of and the consequent cutting off of and com with the Black sea The straits do not afford more than nineteen and a half feet of water and the passageway is absolutely absolutely absolutely dominated by the guns at atthe atthe the tho Battery de Paul Abreast of Battery de Paul the navigable width of strait is but little more than yards The entire distance through the strait that strait that is isto isto isto to say from the Black sea to the Azoy sea sea is is approximately twenty miles In the sea the greatest depth is not more than seven and a half fathoms s and for the most part the depths run from five to six Ix fathoms The water Js is thick and turbid but the Don freshens it so much that at ata a distance of twenty miles from It is drinkable The navigation navigation navi navi- gation gatlon of the is la open only from the latter part of May to early in October After Atter the middle of October Oc Oc- Oc tober ice renders navigation sible Good Railway Connections During Durins the Crimean war Russia suffered a reverse due largely to Inability to get troops through in insufficient insufficient insufficient sufficient numbers In quick time The lesson which Russia learned learnd then has not been neglected and today to to- day the railway connections with Black sea soa ports are unexcelled elsewhere elsewhere elsewhere else else- where in all Russia Prince who as a young man worked in a Philadelphia machine shop and who learned locomotive building from a machinists machinist's helper up to actually running locomotives and who later became minister of railways in Russia Russia Rus Rus- sia sla is largely responsible for the present efficient state of tho the Crimean Cri Cri- mean roads Aside from the fact that German possession of Kieff would threaten all the Crimean and Black sea port trunk lines there would still be an an- other great prize which it has been feared may of itself Itsel prove a strong J underlying motive of the Teutonic southeastern drive and which motive mo me- tive is ascribed to a desire to seize the naval port of ot This This' port is the great naval rendezvous and construction center of Russia for foe forthe forthe the upkeep of the Black sea fleet neet Odessa possesses shipbuilding facilities facilities facilities facil facil- but is the main point for naval construction and repair work Submarine craft can be built at the yards and with railway connections open to Germany Germany Ger Ger- many it would be possible to bring forward Diesel engines from Nuremberg berg-Nuremberg and Kiel Kid The re result re- re suIt sult would be to emphasize the ability ability abil abil- ity to control the entrance to the sea of Back of the country is rich in minerals so much so that this region is almost a counterpart counterpart counterpart coun coun- I of some portions of Belgium and northeastern France The Moscow railway was opened in 1884 |