New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-06-11
II RUSSIAN AMAZON.
In Male attire She Forgets She Is a
WOmdn.

The attention of the crowd Of people thronglns
the railway station at Hardin was attracted re-
Gently by Cossack with rosy cheeks and whose
beardless face and womans voice told clearly
that the soldiers garb was being worn by
woman writes the ST. Petersburg correspondent
of 1.-The London Globe" The Russian amazon
was a Mile. Smolka, and member of the staff
of the Messenger de Hardin" has gathered from
her lips and from of the inhabitants
the following highly interesting details concern
ing the life of the heroine:
Helene Mikhailovna Smolka. the daughter OF
Jewish soldier of the days Of Nicholas !. was
young girl of seventeen years of age, when.
during the disorders in China, she resolved to
enlist in the ranks of The frontier guards. As she
had lived from her childhood at Nikolsk-Us-
surisk in the company of Chinese and Coreans,
she had a perfect knowledge both of Chinese
and of Corean, and she hoped that she could
be of use during the trouble with China HaV-
ing clothed herself as man, and having taken
the name of Michel Nicolaievitch Smolka. this
eccentric and brave girl passed with great dis
tinction the examination interpreter held at
the School Of Interpreters at Vladivostok
Toward the end of 1900 the girl serving as
interpreter and frontier guard at the station OF
Ninguta, in Manchuria. She had taken part IN
all the scouting and skirmishes and had learned
how to handle her rife and sword In 19Ol
SmoIla was sent at the head of about hun
dred frontier guards to reconnoItre at Kaiga-
Overcome by hard days work, the men went
to sleep in the peasants house The Chunchuses
not far off, and the traitorous Chinese told
them that the Russians were resting for the
night. The Chunchuses resolved to profit from
the night and their greater numbers, and to
attack the house in which the Russians were
sleeping However they had overlooked Smolka's
In he Chinese
had got wind Of the plot. she aroused the from
tier guards in time to let the Chunchuses APP
proach the house. then, as the latter came near,
the Russians rushed out and fired upon them
and put them to flight During that little
skirnlsh Smolka received her first wound, which
was on the right close to the shoulder.
AS reward for all the services rendered by
her during the campaign in China, Smolka re-
ceived a silver medal. and sword with a silver
Eilt ana bearing the inscription, TO the inter
prefer, Smolka for courage displayed at kaiga.
Immediately after the outbreak of with
Japan, Smolka sent request to the commander
of the forces to ask him to allow her to be en-
rolled among the volunteers. without waiting
for reply, Smolka went to Hardin, with view
of supporting her request at the hands Of Cen
eral Volkoff but she did not receive the desired
permission. Then this brave woman disguised
herself as a man, hung her medal around her
neck and sought a favorable opportunity for
undergoing all the risks and perils involved in
serving with the army in Southern Manchuria.
At that time railway tickets were given only to
by rail. Still, Smolka undaunted and she
resolved to reach Lio-Yang at all costs So she
slipped into cattle truck and in that way she
reached the headquarters OF the army. where
she met many of her former comrades Thanks
to their aid she managed to get enrolled in the
scouting detachment of the I'd Cossack Regi-
ment, of Nerchinsk, under Lieutenant Vfchnia-
koh. and once more she was able to bestride her
charger. She ACCOMPANIED the detachment when
1t was sent out to reconnoitre the outskirts of
the town of Kuan- Gen-San. Again. owing to
her knowledge both of the Chinese language and
Of Chinese customs. she able to find out in
good time the approach of considerable body
OF Japanese and to her comrades thereof.
with the result that the detachment had to de-
fend itself while rejoining the main body. After
that expedition report of the affair was drawn
up and handed to General R. and this led to
smolka being enrolled in the I'd Regiment of
Nerchinsk volunteer interpreter under the
name of Michel Nicolaievitch Smolka. Thence
forward she took part in many dangerous pieces
of scouting, but she was wounded only once
slightly in the foot.
During all the time that she has been on ac-
tive service Smolka has shared the privations
and hardshtps of her comrades in arms. She
used to go TO sleep without taking off her
clothes; wearing the same uniform as her COM
rades. she rode her horse like q man. she ate her
rations with the rest standing around the Cos
sacks huge kettle; she sang their soldiers songs
with them; she wrote letters for those who Were
unable TO write them. and all she asked was
that they should treat her as If she were a man.
But the young and intrepid Smolka in spite OF
all her seriousness, has not been able to prevent
certain OF her comrades. and even some of her
superior officers. from seeing in her a charming
woman. However, the majority of the officers
treated her with the greatest respect. The Cos
sacks and the ordinary soldiers were very fond
of her and they used to cali her "Makaile
Nikolaievitch." In short she became quite ac-
customed to her position. and sometimes she
forgot even that she a Smolka
has arrived at Hardin TO look after some BUSH
ness connected with her regiment and she has
shown very practical business spirit in dealing
with it. She has also to make some important
purchases. As she possesses no female attire
she has been the butt of certain ladies HaT
bin However. she pays no attention 10 their
remarks Quite recently she appeared at the
theatre at Hardin She was wearing her ordi-
nary uniform During Of the intervals
Smolka' walked deliberately into the ladies' re-
firing room, and, of course the presence of a
soldier caused great deal of bother for the
- a 70, he 1nffin