The Detroit times., 1915-04-03

az for centuries. hut we got proof,
not only that the uniformed man
looted and raped and murdered. but
that he did so by the consent and
order OF his superiors- There are
no better troops In the Russian army
than those commanded by General
Boganoff, who held Ttlsit for a time.
Tilsit Is q town OF $4,000 II fairly
drips with richness. Not a roof nor
a woman was touched IN Tiiset Not
a soldier dared appear on the streets
after nightfalI. Bogdanoff would
have the flesh fiayed from his shouE
ders But
Every Russian told the people OF
Tilsit that "the time was coming"
They promised this with lustful grins
10 the women. They wandered
through the shops. coveting--to tell
the clerks as they left "the time
would come One night the time
did come. Bogdanoff told his men
that at 6 o'clock the following morn
ing they might loot and then burn
the town. The German army was
getting too near. Tilsit was 70 be-
evacuated. The word spread among
the townspeople. That night the
roads out OF Tilsit were 1ammed
with fleeing people. And at 4 o'clock
n the morning the Germans came.
and Tilsit was saved.
what Bogdanor could do IN main.
tanning order other Russian officers
could have done. n they had willed
What they permitted In burning and
pIllasing and violating women he
would also have permitted II the Ger.
mans had not come.
In no case were We forced 10
search for the sufferers ~ the Slav.
ish hands. II was only q matter OF
stopping the automobile In what had
been the street OF what had been a
pretty village. There was no need to
ask II the Russian had been there. A
Jagged line OF roofiess walls against
the sky. heaps OF crumbling bricks
that had been homes told the story.
Somewhere In that desert sf ashes
and calcined stone and echoing
silence would be q man or a wo-
man.
did the Russians iniure any one
herer'
The question was always answer
ed with a storm OF detail. This wo-
man. that girl. had been violated by
them. This pretty i5-yearoid had
been taken In the Cossack train 10
Russia. That husband had been tied
against wall and forced to wit.
ness his wife's violation. In no case
did we take one Of these stories rs
hearsay. In every case we piled up
proofs that would convince any judge
IN Christendor:.
IL Is impose sEie to estimate the
property damage. Take the map.
Block out the third OF East Pr.ssia
nearest Russia Consider that al
most every building In that territory
had been destroyed. that every bit
OF property has been stolen or ruin
ed. and you have an untold total Of
Millions These Russian soldiers be- |
hsved like drunken apes. possessed
by bestial mania for destruction.
They ripped paper on the walls.
They tore up floors In the house that
would not burn. They hacked pianos
10 pieces. But their greatest crime
wss the wholesale ravishing OF Prus-
sian women. II is the olackest item
TO the debit Of this var.
There II one thing that I profess
myself unable TO understand. II Is
very obvious that these heavy.
brutal, dulLeyed Russian soldiers
remember that we saw thousands OF
them plodding slowly toward Ger
many as prisoners OF war--are on
the mental level Of rice-held Negro.
Give the Negro a dash OF gin. and
We in America know what sometimes
happens. Give the license OF war TO
this animallike peasant--infame his
passion BY opportunity--remove
every form OF control-and what has
happened In Eastern Prussia will al
ways happen. His under-officsrs are
as himself His upper officers are
careless. brutal. and ine1icient One
who had been very pretty girl told
US Of staggering 70 the headquarters
Of Russian division She told her
story 10 general He shrugged his
What would your" he asked. This
Is war"
But what I cannot understand II