6 JANUARY 1917, Page 9

The news from Rumania is decidedly not cheerful reading. But

in reading it we should remember that unless the Germans can dispose of the Rumanian and Russian Armies, which they have not yet done, or can fill their depleted granaries and their half- empty oil reservoirs, their rapid extension of territory will bring them no purely military benefit. The latest information as we go to press on Thursday shows that the Germans and Bulgarians have practically cleared the Dobrudja. They have taken the Macin bridgehead, and thus they are looking at the coveted granary. town of Braila across the Danube and its wide marshes.