New-York tribune., 1915-03-22

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9Th Ave. at goth st. 3S1-5th Ave.
peasant men and women are kneelins
in the snow. As the column approaches
they lift their eyes and peer through
the palings of the churchyard. then re-
sumo their prayers. If you pause and
listen sharply you can hear the muir
mur of their voices. The scuf-scuH
OF the passing column makes back
ground for the voices, and it seemed
to me. as I stood there. that in that
tired monotone of sound history was
in some manner trying TO make itself
vocal to me telling me what all this
trouble and travail meant. Then a
cultural command, uttered in German,
rang out. the column swung little
more to one side of the hlghroad to
make way for stream of German
motor wagons, and the voice OF his
tory rose from murmuring to a sharp
challenge. A shudder-not of cold
struck me, and | passed on. was
afraid. Such things we shall see and
hear on the ride to Lowicz. ! call 1t
ride worth taking
Arc you ready, then?
The German soldier at the auto wheel
leans forward and throws everything
wide. The other German soldier by his
side plays warning tura-loo on his
horn. The German lieutenant on the
back seat with you shifts his body
deeper into the sacklike fur rug which
comes up to his armpits.
Early as it is frosty, Poser is al
ready belching forth wagon trains,
automobiles and occasional detach
ments Of troops. All are bound for
Russia LODI, Lowicz, Bolimow, Mlawa
and dozen other towns that are only
names to the American reader. They
stream through the great Warsaw gate
and out over the wide, white, in
trenched plains lying to the east of the
city. The fog envelops them and they
are lost to view. All the auto head /
lights are blazing, throwing a yellow
glare far along the narrow streets of
the black town, and the hooting of
motor horns is incessant.
The Fog That Mantles Death.
We glide into the white fog, and in |
the fog lies the secret of the cold-a
curious and most damnable cold that |
strikes to the vitals. Every tree on the |
wide plain is etched in frost against /
the sad sky. Fifteen minutes after the /,
start you look at your coat and dis /
cover that the frost has turned 1t
white. The cold is as clammy as death. /.
I'm America | never felt anything just
like it, II makes kilometres seem
leagues, and the strange part is that
the roofs on the stone cottages are
covered with bright green moss and the
roads are for long stretches quite soft
SO soft, an officer tells you, that on
some DAYS it is impossible to move the
heavy guns.
In this wild Lowicz ride there were
escapes that | shudder to remember. |
Once when we were far beyond the !
German frontier we rushed up high !
hill and cleared the brow of il at a !
swift pace. Just over the brow half
dozen German military autos had halt |
ed for slight repairs, and they blocked !
the road as effectively as overturned |
carts used to in Paris uprising.
Hurdling bitches In a Motor.
Every man in our car took a short |
breath and made his mind ready for
the worst-everybody too startled TO |
be frightened, except the soldier-chauf-
feur, who was neither startled nor !
frightened What he did nobody ever |
precisely learned, but he must have |
wrenched his onrushing car into
sharp turn, for the next thing We /
knew the car. right side up and every
body in IL safe, was plunging over the I
burrows Of Russian wheat field. The !
car had swerved abruptly from the |
middle of the blocked road, leaped
ditch and landed in the field. The |
chauffeur made circle in the field, |
jumped the car across the ditch again |
and, without coming TO halt during |
one instant of the manPuvre, took US
sailing down the hill.
| never saw prettier feat outside
a circus. The German officer in the |
back seat. who had not spoken a |
word for twenty kilometres, shouted /
"Bravo!" and leaped forward and gave /
the soldier one pat on the back. As |
for the soldier, he had never spoken |
a word during the whole business, and !
at the officers pat he only made a |
swift salute. In the rush of depart |
ure from the blockaders there was /
an explosion Of the German language !
from the sergeant who sat by the sol ,
chauffeur. As for the captain and /
me, we agreed that we should never /,
ind more fitting occasion for drink /
from the mask OF port VINE.
Our goodby to Germany on the trip |
to Lowicz was a breakfast in Yery !
chill, very stately residence-they |
called it "the schloss." but it was part |
chateau and part csstle-which stands |
in a great park few miles on the !
German side of the frontier. Living |
there are an old Polish German count, |
very feeble, who is retired officer of .
the German army; a count in middle
life; a third count, also ali officer, |
who is past the first flush of youtf. /
and a fourth counter count-to-be-
" no is the heir of them all. very /
polite. gentle, winning little boy. Four ,
under one roof, as ! fig /
ured it out, and all four OF the family |
very highly individuslized persons. | !
don't give the name of the family. be-
cause | don't wish to connect a tragic |
tale with people who were kind to
me. though everybody in Poland knows
the tale.
A Suppressed Tragedy.
II was only last spring that Count
4. l. t-f