The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-11

An Jour passed n there was no more
firing. Two hours passed and then-a
crash. TIL artillery duel recommended.
From that day on" said the Countess
in relating her experiences. I'VE could
almost tell time by the cessation and
renewal Of the fighting every evening.
Promptly at 8 o'clock. as though BY
some p~rearranged signal. the Smelling
wuld cease and our ears would get a
rest. We would go about getting supper
quite in a leisurely way. We knew in
stinctively that we had two hours OF
safety. At s o'clock We would all
listen for the first shot, and when IL
came. as 1t always did within a few min
utes. We would rush for the cellar and
listen to the din"
For the last three days OF the battle
Countess Potulicka and her mother. un-
able longer to bear the horrors of the
rowde cellar. openly defied death by
sleeping In their own apartments while
the artillery roaring went on and the
shells were still bursting at regular in
tervals in the gardens and the adjacent
fields. Strangely. the P%ruszkow man.
sion was not seriously damaged, al
though in the very centre OF the bat
tlefeld. Several of the peasants were
wounded. A Red Cross doctor who had
taken refuge in a barn near by-one of
the buildings belonging to the estate
looked out of a window for a fleeing
moment His head was cut from his
body.
On a side table in the library n, tho
warsaw home of Countess Potulicka al
Alicia Roc. 6. there stands a vase" II
was filled with flowers on the day that
the above story was related by the
countess. 1t Is the casing of a German
smell about fourteen inches In length
Il found that In the garden after the
went away" said the Countess
fecice. the estate adjoining Prusz-
ROW.. did not fare so well. There ia
nothinS left of 1t to-day except the land !:
that could not be burned. The houses
are gone all fired by the Germans as
they retreated to the west. But tho
destruction of the houses is a mere in.
cident to the drama, the near tragedy. n,
which Pecice was the stage.
Saved ThemseIves.
Anthony Marylski is the owner y,
what is left of "Peclce." He was there
when the Germans came" and. along
VII about sixty men and boys-the
women among the servants had been
sent away-he took to the cellars when
the hell broke loose. His house wa
struck a number of times, but NOT seri-
ously damaged. and NJ. Marylski and
those about him took advantage OF tbo
evening lull in each days fighting TO
get sufficient food to keep from starv-
ing.
Then. on the sixth day, came the
Siberians-not many of them, but a
noisy, %riotous. determined lot-and the
Germans. who had by that time crossed
the "Pecice' domain, slowly retreated.
on this retreat they sacked the Marylski
mansion n In so doing discovered
the proprietor and his peasant en-
ployees in the cellars. The Germans were
not in an amiable mood there can be
no question as to that. NJ. Marylski
and the others were ordered out and
were accused of being spies--of having
fired upon the Germans. There was no
delay, a command was given that they
be lined up n executed. A number
OF machine guns were swung into line
by the Germans these were to be the
Instrument of death.
According to the most coherent ac-
counts CT the affair, two young boys
among the sixty were responsible for
the movement which saved the lives
Of the whole party. These youngsters
terrorized to the point of hysteria
screamed and flung themselves upon the
ground. Inspiration or panic seized
the OtHtTS dIu lItN IoIl'Wtu the tA-
ample. During the confusion which en-
sued there came an onrush of the
Siberians and the Germans fled, leaving
Marylskl and his body of followers
alive.
Some of them remained prone upon
the ground. Others attempted to run
! The house had been set aiire and was
already burning iercely, The very
%Srangeness of finding "A body Of mer
lying on the ground alive and unhurt
and other men running away caused
the Siberian troops to fire upon AM
wound some OF the Marylski party, The
Siberians would in all probability hav
killed them all had not a Polish soldier
come to their rescue In the nick OF
time.
No set OF dino novel characters eve
had more experiences crowded into on'
day, no more close escapes from death
thar did the men of 'Pecice."
The estate Ia a black ruin. TIL
peasants are living in burrows, Polant
is dotted with such evidences Of VIVA
happened when the Germans came"