Evening star., 1915-03-28

When Kosciusko. the illustrious
Polish-American patriot. fell pierced
by lance wounds
A Polish Nation on the field of
pos.;h1. Maciejowiee (Octo-
'1'As' ber 4. 1890. his
desparing cry. ''Finis Poloniae."-"This
is tho end Of Poland'@found echo in
sympathetic hearts the world over.
But after a century and a quarter
Poland emerges from the mists of
political events and acknowledgements
and may take her place once more
among the nations Of the earth.
II Poland shall come out of the
crucible of hre and blood to which she
has been subjected by the armies on
her soil contending for supremacy. 1t
VIII not be without sad evidence Of tho
havoc and devastation wrought A
dispatch dated London, March 20. re-
ports the devastation inflicted by the
that inflicted by the Russian and Aus
trian armies. The dispatch says that
tne losses to property in Russian
Poland as a result of the German in
vasion. according to statistics forward
give the total number of towns and
larger villages destroyed at ninety-five
4'ooo 41'ooo sma!i villages were devastated.
These I;Ses of a,1nsn them having been burned.
at more than $500. ooo. 600"
When the devastations Of the other
armies are placed in the scale Poland
only may say whether the end may
Justify the means. the end being the
autonomous nation which the Grand
DUKE Nicholas promised Poland in his
ma,nitesto OF August, 1914. The grand
The hour has sounded when the sa
cred dream of your fathers may be
realized. A hundred and ffty wears
ago the living body Of Poland was
and she lived in hope that for the
Polish people would come an hour OF
Russia"
We recall that Poland's resuscitatIon
back as December. 1908, when the Pol
ish patriots Dofrotvorski and Lednitzki
appeared in the zemstvos asking for
reconciliation
II is simple Justice to recall this vol
untary act Of Poland in asking resus-
citation and reconciliation in 1905. be
cause 1t has been frequently charged
that the grand dukes overtures OF re-
conctlfation and promise of autonomy
In 1914 was because Of Russia's selfish
The renaissance of Poland is in the
air. and the promise of the grand duke
to render Poland au-
EnecL OF rail- tonomous is perhaps
of Przemysl. Tbs Tp@ 70 a,se.,sSss ee 1edeemed d,
March 22 announced the capitulation Of
pYU IAA
of Poland.
A correspondent writes: THE Rus
slams. moving south from Poland, early
in September occupied Lemberg. and
then. turning west. sixty miles distant
was Przemysl. with Cracow as their
real objective. forty miles farther to
the northwest. Having occupied Lem
berg. they had a good railroad under
their control. Under the command Of
Gen. Dimitrieff. they moved slowly
upon the strongly defended town"
This operation" says military cor
respondent. resembled the siege Of
Richmond in the civil war"
Przemysl. the unpronounceable name
perhaps. more than the place, exercises
over public and press a peculiar attrac-
tion and much speculation and discus
SION Larousse writes the name Prze-
mysl. or Premysl. derived from Pre-
myslaw, or Premislas I. a legendary
sovereign Of Poland. supposed to have
retgned in the eighth century. The
city and fortress is under the Austro-
Hungarian government in Galicia, situ-
ated on the River San. affiuent Of the
with beautiful churches.
Premislas III was Duke Of Posen, King
Of Poland. and died in 1896. The name,
it is remarked. is modified after lapse
of five centuries. Przemysl having been
found difficult to pronounce. perhaps.
by the public and the press of Poland
or Galicia.
Galicia. whose capital is Lemberg,
contains a population Of 100000 in
habitants. composed of two
Austrian elements: in the west
Poland Poles. in the east Ruthe-
mains. in equal numbers.
Besides. there are 100000 Jews and
100000 Germans. Galicia fell to the lot
of Austria in the partition of 1772-17s5.
The. language Of Galicia resembles
closely the Portuguese
Gen. Radko Dmitrieff, the command
erin-chief of the Russian army which
besieged and captured Przemysl, was
born in Bulgaria in 1889. He served
with distinction in the Turco-Bulgarian n
war. His genius for war and his sue
cess won for him the soubriquet of
Napoleon" In personal appearance he
bears striking resemblance to the lit
tie corporal" The capture of Przemysl
releases the Russian besieging force of
10000. and with these perhaps the
Russian commander will march upon
Cracow.
Cracow. situated on the Vistula. con-
tains population Of $4,000. 1t was
Poland. 1t is a university city. pos
sesses very old cathedral in which
are the tombs of the kings of Poland.
1163-1733 Also there are the remains
of Sobieski, Poniatowskf and Kosci
usko. The fortress has been taken in
turn by Czechs, Hungartans and Tar
tars. It appears that the pronuncia
the Galician tongue. is something sim
liar to "craquer,' meaning to lie. There
is familiar expression among Cali
clans when reproaching ono for doubt
full speech or lying: Go to Cracovia."
This expression was formerly we'll
known in Paris at the time of tho
troubles in Poland and when the news
the Palais Royal was named "Arbor de
Cracovie," favorite rendezvous of "fu-
mists" or persons addicted to the dis
sem:nation of false news. AS in Ga
1icia, so in Paris. such persons were
told when suspected of spreading sus-
picious news: GO to the Cracovia
tree"
The Pole exhibits the greatest contra
dictions and versatility in character. He
is both tickle and inconstant, faithful
and constant Among the faithful and
brave, above all other Poles. were So