Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-07-30

London, July 29.-Thc desperate
fighting now going on around Va
saw and throughout the eastern zone
of operations centers attention ION thu
colossal tragedy Of Poland, the sec
ond that unhappy country mas endur,
ed, the first having stirred !Amerlc;
to its depths when Kos:!nsko Went
there to tell Poland's own story and
left its memories in tho statue Of tht
Polish l%iberator in n Of the public
squares OF Washington.
E'ut that first tragedy was rs moth
ing compared with what Poland is
now undergoing, the entire theater Of
eastern fighting 'beins within The ter
ritory Of the old kingdom Of Poland
with Russian armies tramping over
north and west, all COMPRISING Pc
land as in a double vice from fou
sides, marching and fighting on a
scale Of unprecedented magniture
and leaving a train Of wreck and DIES
olation even greater than that OF
Belgium or Serbia. This is the tcsti
mony Of disinterested eye witnesses
Polish, English and American, who
have recently traversed the stricken
regions, including G. G. Gibson Of the
Rockefeller Foundation, who declared
on his return that this was one of
the greatest tragedies the world had
known, the devastation of Belgium
Sinking IN comparison.
Such Geographic news as tricklss
through from Poland, except the Of.
fetal reports of military operation!
from the three sides, is censored and
garbled and gives only the picture Of
fighting, without that Of the PROSTATE
country under the heels Of The fight,
ers pressing from four sides. Bu'
from eye.witnesses returning, from
Polish student refugees from the
scourged district, and from letters TO
those who have sought asylum .lere,
there is a mass Of information on the
real conditions at the scene of these
gigantic eastern operations. Much OF
this information flows into the ha ads
Of Miss Laurence Alma-Tadema,
daughter of the great English artist,
who for three months has been wo:k.
ing day and night as the secretary
and directing genius of the Polish re-
lief committee, whose officers and pa
irons embrace about every name Of
note in England-pecrs. cabinet mem.
hers, ambassadors, artists and au.
thors.
think of the magnitude Of tlis ap-
paling Polish tragedy" said Miss Al
ma-Tadema to a representative Of tho
Associated Press. ut is difficult for
us in England or America. with con-
ditions serene, to cast the minds eye
across Europe and grasp the fact that
all the titanic eastern battles are be-
ing fought on Polish soil. And it Is
not only a gigantic struggle Of invad-
ing armies from without, n follow
ing another with oil tieir train of
ruin and desOlation, but it partakes
almost of civil conflict, with Pole
fighting Pole.
There are" she went on, about
$4,000, 900 Russian Poles, and about
the same number of Austrian and
Prussian Poles. All of them have
that intense longing to see Poland
rise again as a unified kingdom. And
yet of these 100000 Poles, 1000, 900
Polish soldiers are fighting in the
Russian ranks, and another 1000. 900
are fighting in the Austrian and Ger
man Enthusiastically brother against
brother. One Of the reports reaching
me tells of a body Of Polish infantry
on tie Russian side charging at a
body of the enemy, with bayonets
raised and the battle cries ringing
from both sides-only to distinguish
as they come to grips that both were
shouting the cry. of Poland-aEd on
that instant, as if inspired by a COM
mon impulse, every bayonet was low
cred and every mar in the facing
ranks fell on his knees and in their
common language breathed the Lords
Prayer. That was Poland's prayer
on the battlefield Of this terrible east
ern conflict.
Here is another thoroughly au-
t.lenticated case,' said Miss Alma
Tadema: "A Polish infantryman rails.
cd his rifle and fired point blank at
an advancing foe, only to see him
pitch forward and hear him cry out
in Polish, MY God, I leave a wife
and three children And this agon'
izing dying cry in Polish rang in the
ears of the brother Pole WHO had fir
ed the shot, torturing him night and
day, until he literally went mad and
was taken from the ranks Il raving
maniac.
at was natural that the Russian
Pole should cast his lot with Prussia,
and this loyalty has been rewarded
by the inspired proclamation Of Grand
Duke Nicholas promising freedom Tor
Poland, a pledge which every Rus sian
Pole accepts in good faith as fore'
shadowing Che Identification Of the
Polish nation. On the other hand,
the Galician Poles showed a perfect
ly natural first movement of allegi-
ance to Austria, which had given
them the right of their W faith and
language and some semblance Of
freedom. This and the laws Of COIN
pulsory military service brought al
most a million Poles into the Austro.
German ranks to fight against their
brothers in the Russian ranks. And
yet in both Austria and Prussia the
overwhelming majority Of the Poles
are at heart solidly with the king.
dom of Poland"
When Mr. Gibson of the Rockefel-
Ter Foundation returned from Poland
he told Miss Alma-Tadema of the ter
rible scenes he had witnessed in the
stricken regions. Together they plan.
ned for extensive measures of relief.
to be sent through Germany with
the approval Of the British foreign
office. Germany consented, but the
| officials here doubted the good faith
80 rnvroory'c ~lotfiuu largo cnnD.:oc