Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-04-26
Won BATOCK| IN CHARGE
OF GREAT RELIEF WORK
Directs Aid for Hundreds OF Thous-
ands of Homeless People in
East Prussia.
NOT MIsLED BY WILD REPORTS
10 Accomplish Care OF Vast Multi
tude Typical German System" Is
Resorted To-Task Accomplished
With Wonderful Thoroughness.

|
| kONIGSBERG, April o5.-Just as
Field Marshal Won Hinden!urg has he
come dominating figure throughout
| All Germany, so. in the Province of East
! PRUSSIA, Adoiph Won Batocki. the ODER
/ Praesidcnt, has become the most promt-
| nent character because of his indie
| iati"iblc efforts in behalf IF the hun
dreds of thousands of persons made
homeless by the inroads OF the Rus
| SLAMS.
Won Batocki began his work ms soon
as he was called frcm private life to
| ms nigh office last fall. for much had
! by that time been destroyed ard de-
| NaStatcd. With the more recent raid
! on Mcneil. aud the destruction Of a ma
| Jorit% of the district of which il is the
! center. he once more took to the field
! II was At Tilsit. onc-tiinc prey Of the
Russians. that nn Associated Press cor
! respondent met him, fresh from the
ccuntryside teeming with the wagons
OF the fuSitives. He had just com
pleted an investigation Of the work OF
| the Russians, which had been surpris-
! ingly thorough and dispassionate
! AhEercd ut the vast amount OF de-
\ strnction he WAS. but he had not in
| the least been mislcd by wild reports
and CONSIDERATIONS. lie was intensely
! fair-minded toward the Russians and
! quickly gave them credit for decent
! actions.
BY thorough sitting process he got
10 the bottom of the tales of the fugi-
ives and disproved much Of what had
| been told him under the stress of wild
| excitement. Moreover. he had seen the
! humor i'm many OF the situations me had
| encountered and was not wholly de-
pressed by what he had been through
1hree hundred thousand inhabitants
/ OF his province. lie estimated, had fed
| from their homes OF the remains Of
! tn ha ri FL, In
Gus parts OF Germany. TO accomplish
| their care, typical German system
! mas hoen resorted to- so that about 800
| tugitircs from each section were taken
care or together, apport!oncd off to
| districts all over Germany.
FLEE: FOR DISTRICTS
ALONG RUSSIAN BOHDEIi
Ihese 100000 persons. older aud very
young people I'm the majority, have
| He'd from the agricultural districts all
| along the curvinS Russian border. from
! Il district 800 kilometcrS or more in
length. and extending inward into the
; German empire anywhere from ten To
| scvcniy-hve millimctcrs.
For the most part, these fugitives are
! St'li absent from their homes nor are
| they As vet being urged to return 4
Few districts notably Loetzcu, Oar
Ncmen AnGerburg and Gumbimcn.
which arc only partially DESTROYED. have
tan;s. who are struggling back slowly.
Won faiockt found that about 100
"oo horses have been driven off by the
Russians, some $4,000 of which have
: bcch recovered by German offensive
movements The loss is very kc,nlv
| felt. nevertheless, for horse breeding
! is one Of East Prussia's main Industries
| The war has told heavily upon the
province in this respect, for thousa nds
OF the choicest animals early in The
! war We're drafted for military pur-
! poses. Won RatoCli and others ALREADY
are considering ways and means for
| rc-"stablishinc the breeding industry
with government aid, AZ soon as the
! war ends.
The number of cattle taken 10y the
Russians exceeded the number OF
horses. Won Batocki has found bu, no
also has the number recaptured been
greatly in excess Of the horses. Fully
10000 have been retakcn by the Ger
mans. but most Of the animals were in
weakened condition that required a.
most Immediate slauchtcring
In his tour throughout his province
The Dbcr-PracSidcnt said he found
traces Of many peculiaritics on the part
or the Russians, none stranger than
their almost surerstitious fear OF
espionage. Electric licht plants had
been demolished. great meats had been
dug about hospitals to countcract the
| supposed influence OF the Roentcen
ray. ana nurses and inhabitants sus-
pected of spying had been carried
off By the hundred TO Russia
FATE OF THOSE CARRIED
AWAY STILL. UNKNOWN
The fate of these is still, in major
/ iiy of cases, unknown TO their friends
and relatives. Some, it is known, have
! been taken as far as Nladivostok in
! Eastern Siberia. Others, especially tho
nurses. went only 10 PetroSrad where
they immediately continued hospital
work, and where with few exceptions
they were decently and cSrefuIly
! treated.
Won Batocki and all the others who
have investigated conditions in East
Prussia are utterly AT a loss however
TO understand the Russians motives i'm
, carrying off aged women and months
| old children.
I If the Russian fear of Prussian spy
ing has been great, they themselves
have done their share. In addition to
| having had some few agents in the
towns along the border they made ex.
'cellent use of the windmills that abound
all over the province as signal stations
| Patrols. or agents, were able to COM
municate with the columns behind quite
! effectively by turning the arms of the
windmill in prearranged manner.
! To this same purpose also the Rus
slams found the hay stacks very use
/ ful, and would set one atire to give one.
signal two for another. and so on. How
many tons of hay have been burned
! for this purpose it is impossible to esti-
mate. but the number is very large.
/ The worst Of the plundering and loot
/ ing, the Ober- Pra esident found, has been
committed by Russian soldiers who
/ have come into the province lately The
| frst troops to enter, last fall, were. for
the most part we'll disciplined and re-
spectacle, soldiers rather than lOoters
| During all the time that the Russians
occupied Tilsit and Grand Duke Nikola
| NikOlaivitch made II his headquarters
there was scarcely any violence or
trouble. But ms the frst-line Russians
were defeated and decimated, their
ranks were taken by less disciplined
men who have carried their deeds OF
violence farther and farther until East
Prussia to-day Is but a wreck OF it's
! former self
I Won Batocki is unusually young for
~