Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-03-23
OBy James O.DonnelI BennetN

(By James O'Donnell BennetD
Copyright: 1915. By The Chicago Tribune
Lowicz, Russia Feb. 2O.-The Ger
man officer in the auto with me, and
the three German officers in the auto
that was following ours, gave the
short crisp German "llurra." which
has different sound from our Amer
lean "Hurrah!"-as the cars swept
over the German frontier at the little
town of Stralkowo, Most of these bOr-
der towns, by the way, have at least
two spellings, and some maps Stral-
kowo becomes StrzalkowO.
The cheer, though, was good, plain
German. The officers always give it
when they pass through Stralkolo on
their way to the battle front in Rus
sia, and on their way back from the
front-if they are making the return
journey in their coffins-they repeat
the cheer. So both coming and going,
they are satisfied with life
Last of Good Roads.
As the stretch leading out of Stral-
k0WO was almost the last of good
roads, the soldier chauffeur took ad-
vantage of il and said how-doyou do
to Russia at fifty mile clip. and that
caused the cold to search out hither-
TO unsupported parts Of a mans in
wards. On a bleak hillside lust over
the border was a camp full of Rus
sian prisoners of war, a huge stock
AIDED inClosure with German sentries
moving at a slow pace around it.
once we had got we'll clear of the
frontier and out of the influence Of
the taut German system of ordering
life, every mile brought an object les
son in the differences between the
Teutonic and the Slavic way of doing
things.
Amazing Contrast.
The contrasts we're as amazing as
they were depressing Not five and
twenty miles back all had been trim
accurate, productive, prosperous;
houses well built and well lighted, cat
tie sleek, roads smooth, the people
with shoulders erect, heads up, eyes
candid. and the bearing Of them IN
dependent And now we were in re-
gion of waste, CRIME, misery and mud;
houses more like huts than ike cot
tages. the cattle undersi2ed, the roads
atrocious and getting. worse save
where the German soldiery were
mending them, and the people furuVe
and painfully obsequious All these
no system at all, were emphasized as
the signs in the Russian language be-
came more frequent and the tall as
trakhan caps more numerous.
Undersizcd Cattle.
The statement about the understood
Russian cattle over the frontier is not
fanciful A German farmer gave me
the facts. They are as follows:
Weight of Mature Milk Cows.
German Russian
l.JOO lbs. ...t.. ....,.....''. 'pVV us
l,200 lbs .....,........5 800 !os'
1000 lbs .......... 400 IDS.
The comparative weights tell thelr
own story. The human element ell
tered into the figures when the farmer
said that the cause OF the extraordl-
nary difference in weight lay more IN
scientific cattle feeding than in cattle
breeding. He added that in Germany
one would find practically no mature
mich cows weighing less than l,0VO
pounds
Baroness of Existence.
Here was a pteous sign of the bare
hess Of existence even in the western
provinces of Russia we halted by the
roadside for a bit of tinkering WIN
the auto and all of the officers lei'
the cars to restore Circulation ny
Stamping up and down the highway.
An old peasant woman, bent almost
double and helping herself along WIN
staff, drew near us. We Watcheu
her idly at first; then with interest,"
and sympathy when her old eyes spleu
piece of wood in the road-a piece
Of wood perhaps two feet long ana an
inch thick. Painfully she bent down
picked it up, tucked in under her arm;
and hobbed forward AS she passeu
us ono of the officers thrust nan "a
mark into her hand she haroly
seemed to know what the present
meant
Recalls sIillcts Picture.
All the tragedy OF Millets Ma Il
With the Hoe" was in that bent o'u
woman
On the German side of the irohtiet
we saw men, women ana girlS d.
Work mending the roads. WIN then'
was patriotic service, ana even
the pink checked girls wletdeu lile
plckaxes and piled the shovels iausn.
lngly and all the workers Went az az
The task as il there we're bit oil spolt
IN it, Across the frontier. Russlall
PEASANTS were doing the work under
me direction of German soldiers iHeS
100 worked cheerfully, but not W.T."