New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-04-18
Hoping to Freeze Foes,
Russians Smash Windows
Simple Peasants, Arguing from History OF Napoleon
Invasion, Destroy All Glass Before They
Fvacuate Town.

A couple Of column horses had been
having their dinner under the WINDOWS
and had shaken some grain from the
nosebags. An old peasant was gather
/ ing up the grain, scraping 1t into niue
piles with the edge Of his hand ana
/ then scooping the piles into his coat
pocket. ! daresay he missed not one
grain, and he was the best part OF haii
an hour at his work.
Many Presents Undelivered.
That was pitiful-that old man bent
double in the muddy road for hand
full of grain-but more pitiful than that
was the saving going on In one OF inc
long. cold freight houses the other day.
Four soldiers were picking over TWO
piles OF liebesgabeh that had been Sent
Into Russia at Christmas time ana thaV'
after weeks Of travel hither and yon IN
the field post wagons. had been re-
turned here as not deliverable. There
were boxes of sweetmeats tied win gay
ribbons and packages Of tea and choco-
late and bundles Of knitted garments
tippets and dainty little sets OF shaV-
ing soap and tooth powder and toilet
waterfall tho packages legiely au-
dressed, though some OF the bundIes
had burst open.
The soldiers we're sorting the pack
aces of sweetmeats from the packages
OF wearing apparel preparatory to dls-
tributing these Christmas liebesgaoen
70 living men, since il was no use send
ing the gifts back TO Germany.
For YOU must understand that all
these packages and | suppose each
: pile was at least ten feet long and four
feet high-were intended for men who
are now dead; no finding them any
more. no placing in their hands the
Christmas gifts OF love.
A Russian News Tree.
In a field a few miles east OF this
little Polish town is an altogether e1-
ceptional tree.
Early in the morning, say, once or
twice a week, it produces leaves oil
news. These leaves are really pro-
duced in the night and are inscribed
with German words by Russian hands.
Some call it "The Letter Tree OF
Mlawa."
No Russian in the trenches near by
shoots at the German soldier who
comes TO pluck the leaves.
Not much store Is set on the authen-
ticity Of the news gathered from this
tree. As news it is just about as
trustworthy as the news you get from
Iine-tenths Of the newspapers the world
over these days. But as indicating a
state of mind the leaves have their
value, and no German general in this
zone of operation Is above being IN
terested in them.
So at dinner once or twice week
you are likely to hear a staff officer say
l.,
from the letter tree to-day. Herr Cen
eral."
"Sol" says the general, and listens
not at all superciliously when a copy
Of the news letter is read TO him.
Most of the letters from the tree
are Russian answers to German let
tiers.
The German letters may have been
dropped from aeroplanes or sent to the
Russian trenches a day or two before
by children. A specimen Of these reads
thus:
Come over to us. The Gar does
not want war Only Nicholas Nico-
laivitch. So, If YOU would best serve
your Car, come to US and end this war.
Pring your rife. Ten rubles we give
you for it and 100 rubles for machine
. gun By the way, do you know that
TIE Germans are in Warsaw? Come over
to us and be well treated"
Epistolary War Repartee.
I heard a story to tie effect that
Russian prisoners said that soldiers
who picked up these letters were shot
by order Of their officers | don't be-
lieve i. Anyway, q GeI nan did tell
me that sometimes the letters were
sent over 10 the Russian lines and de-
iyered TO the men by chi dren, so that
the soldiers would not be shot
However that may be, here is one
of the answers that a Russian soldier
fastened 20 the tree last night and
that German soldier found this
morning:
"Do you think Russian soldier
would sell his gun to Germany for 10
ubles? No! And you tell US the Ger
mans are in Warsaw We know that.
/ They are there as prisoners. BY the
way. have you heard that the Russians
have taken a whole Turkish army
CORPSE"
Both sides are said-so the prison
era report to do much chuckling over
/ the letters and 10 like both the com
posing and the receiving Of them. And
the glst of the matter would seem 10
be that under all circumstances man
il a conversational animal and must
trade talk with somebody.