The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1914-11-17
RUSSIA ONLY
STARTING FIGHT,
SAYS WRITER
Millions Still Flocking to Front
by Every Road In the
Empire
HALF WILD TRIBES ARE
PRESSED INTO SERVICE
Savage H0rsemen Find Pleasure
in Staying and Rob-
bling
(star Correspondent United Press.)

/ Ding
| (Star Correspondent United Pyess.)
PETROGRAD, Russia, Nov. IT,
The war Is really just starting in Rus
STA. The bear ID only now rising Il
the attack. Despite the millions al
the front, they are still fiocking to the
colors. tramping and galloping In BY
every road.
This has been going on for two
months. II probably will 60 on for 9
year and the never ending ranks will
be made up Of faces new to the fight
ing front.
On they -Circassians, Cos
sacks, Little Russians. Siberians, men
from the regions of the Altai and the
Urals, and. most terrifying Of all, the
wild eyed. confused, MohaHmedans
from Turkestan and the Kirghez
steppes-the stolid peasants to fight
for the little white father. the tribes
men to loot and slay!
would hate to be q German tight
ing man after what / have seen. And
that's no slur ON the German. For
even II q soldier of the kaiser van.
quish ten Of these fierce Russians ten
more will rise up to take the places OF
their slain fellows. Those are my i'm.
pressions after an eventful trip to
Warsaw.
Murder q Pleasure, Robbery q Boast.
But perhaps my opinions are sway
ed by visions of the unconQuered and
untamed BashiBazouks, q thousand
| motley bands of savage horsemen,
with whom murder Is a pleasure and
robbery q boast. In mob formation
the clatter along the abominable road,
ponies swapping and biting at each
other. their no less Vicious masters
grunting strange Moslem oaths--
"Mashallah" and 'Wullah" and "Bil
lahP.-which seems to start deep In
the throat and get no further than the
teeth.
The only uniformity in the half
crazed horsemen Is found In their red
riding boots, and I'm the broad knives
and wooden-butted pistols which are
stuck In their sashes. Five saddle
bags they carry.
"One for the rider, one for the
horse and three for gold Watches" the
interpreter will tell you with . smile.
Auu IL 10 tTue. no BOiu WdtCucb
are those the wild Bashi-Bazouks have
been told are carried by every German
soldier. Love OF the little white father
has not brought these Terrible men
into the war. 1t IL the gold watches
home with him after the war!
This discovered after half an hour
Of hard work on the part Of my inter.
prefer. He In young student, SON OF
a high oficial In the government, and
exempt from military service because
he is awaiting appointment to a diplo-
matte post as an undersecretary. He
had spent a year in England studying.
Through his fathers connections
was enabled to see Warsaw-or as
much Of 1t as they would permit me.
without an army officer az guardian.
I suppose this was partly because Rus
sia needs every officer she has and fur
ther because these Russians are ex-
tremely hospitable people,
Tho word hospitable may sound
strange after just describing the
Bashi- Bazouks. But these wild men
are by no means the Ivan Ivanovitch,
or ordinary soldier. of Russia. The
real Russians oCtnumber them 20 to 1.
My young interpreter didn't like the
idea OF their being In the war, but he
disposed OF 1t with shrug and ges-
ture.
THEY are Russians" he said. Let
them fight for their country"
Real Russians Are Irregular Guys"
The ordinary Russian. the man from
the small towns and farming country,
Is good-natured fellow who would
give you his shirt or make the chill
dren go to bed hungry In order that
the traveller could eat He IL stolid,
easy going and LAYOUT I like him.
4 have examined Ivan at close range
and find him what we would call I'm
America a regular guy.
But withal Ivan Is a queer cuss. De-
votio- to the emperor-they don't call
him car over here's not the only
thing that makes him 60 to war with
delight. He has another reason. IL
he goes to war he doesn't have to
work and Ivan shuns work with a con-
stancy that would put to shame the
American hobo.
For war Is merely getting shot.
sleeping In damp trenches and going
without food-an everyday expert
ence to the Russian peasant. That's
the violent devil-may-care life he
leads during peace except that the de-
lightful program 10 interrupted by
three days OF work every week.
Ivan Quits Drink; Works Now.
On Friday Ivan doesn't work because
it's near the end OF the week. Satur-
day IL the end Of the week; no labor
Sunday, naturally Is rest day. Mon.
day is too early to get started. On
Tuesday Ivan has good old Ameri-
can hangover and brown taste In his
mouth when he starts on to work and
perhaps he'll take the day or It's a
glorious system.
or course, the cars prohibition or
der. which really prohibits, has done
much to remedy this condition and
now II IL declared the factories are
running Ave and six days week and
the work In the fields Ia not shirked.
The little white father did daring
thing when he abolished the vodka
traffic. II cut 25 per cent or the ma
tons Income, as the government con-
trolled the output. But new system
Of taxation which hits the wealthier