Albuquerque morning journal., 1915-04-30
SHARP CONTRAST
BETWEEN GE ERMAN
AND RUSS AREAS
Difference Between TeutOnic
and MuScovite AdminiStra-
ton Shown in Marked Fash
ion by Towns Near Border,
ta4soelatea PRESS corrsspondenceD

I.yck. East Prussia. April i4.-The
devastation and destruction that have
been visited upon all OF eastern East
Prussia cannot De more sthkingly ape
preclnted than by a trip from this lit
tie town 20 Grajevo. few miles across
the border.
The trip supplies aA remarkable Sc
ries Of contrasts that are fundamental
and far-reaching. Black Is no more
like white than this part Of Germany
is like far western Russia from the
standpoint of population, customs and
the general appearance Of the coun-
try.
From Lyck TO the border every
house. without exception. il Is said,
has been rfled and partly or entirely
torn down The broad, well paved
road Is practically lined with the REM
nants Of substantial buildings that, in
some cases. particularly in the bor-
der town of Prosiken, were once at
1active.
Along the road, as along virtually
every road of its Kind In Germany, are
shade trees except where they have
been cut down to allow of artillery
fire. They are 80 universal that one
gets used TO them quite unconseiously,
and Immediately feels the lack when
they disappear.
Peasants Sclf-respecting.
The peasants largely of the Polish
type appear to be self lf-respecung and
pleasant They greet the casual pass
erby much as the farmer in America
says how do you do to the stranger
along the road but with the same
tinge of equality in the greeting.
The once pleasant aud prosperous
country side from Lyck TO the border
has been turned into desert waste.
In village after village there stand
only the firm, substantial chimneys
that even fire viii not level TO the
ground lmost without exception the
remnants Of the houses are Of brick,
No Devastation Across Line.
Then one comes to the line and al
most In the time IL takes to close ones
eyes and open them again the scene
changes so materially that one might
be q hundred miles away.
First of all the devastation has
ceased. Not a house has been levelled
ana not a building damaged. But in
their very character the houses pro
claim the marked contrast. The brick
has given way to matched huts, low,
one-story affairs that fairly reek with
With and CRIME
In the doorways stood, as an Asso
ciated Press correspondent made the
trip recently, smirking, grovelling
peasants, who bowed almost to the
ground again and again, as long as
the automobile was in sight, They
uhaUaH tbp uat,1o caf.vi1fty ia tho M aili-
tary everywhere in command of the
situation. and We're quite oblivious Of
the scornful reception of their abject
salutatiOns.
As quickly as the character of the
houses had changed. so had the trees
Vanished, and for thousands Of yards
stretched a bare Black road, ooZy and
treachcrous over which the automo-
biles made their way with difficulty.
PruSsian Towns Models in Comparison.
Lyck, Maggrabova and other little
towns on the German side OF the bor-
der but near the Russian line had left
much to be desired in the way of
cleanliness and general attractiveness,
but as compared to Graievo, when i'll
finally was reached, they were models
Of beauty and sanitation
The nearest approach TO similarity
mas tue lHfNlAtHlt iilttktA NAiudIff al
most as big i'm size as all the rest Of.
the town together. But in place Of
the familiar brick buildings often Of
handsome construction. there lined
The market nothing more pret2ntlous
than dirty novels
The desperateness with which the
Russians had combatted the Germans
for every foot Of the territory was
plainly evident In rows upon rows Of (
trenches, always when possible built
at the top of rising ground, covered /
over with evergreen or other branches ]
and made with cunningly constructed |
loopholcs. Rarely one saw n trench /
facing the other way-one that the |
Germans had had time TO build hastily !
IN the night For the most part the !
advance had been possible only by
storming each separate height and by I
driving the Russians out Of their /