The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-11-26
VISIT ID FRONT WITH THE RUSSIANS Remarkable Contrast With Morale of Year Ago MEN ARE NOW HAPPY Remarkable Strides Made By Or ganization Which Looks to
 Provisioning Forces at
 Front

At the Front with the Tenth Rus sian Army, October 21--CCorrespond- ence of the Associated Press Ut is enly at the active front well removed from the inaction ad pessimism which poisons the outlook from the large cities in Russia, that one Is able to form fair estimate of what Russia has accomplished during the past year in transforming poorly equipped, in- adequately muntioned and consequent ly dispirited army into well ordered machine from which every trace Of disorder and inefficiency has disap- peared.
 It is at first almost impossible to realize that the present organization, which compares favorably with that of any army in the field, has been built out of the wreck of last summers dis aster and that the same commanders who were then occupied with the diff ficult task of leading their crippled forces into a position of safety, are nov confidently and eagerly speaking ot an advance into the territory lost to them in last summers campaign. A general who took part In the retreat from Warsaw and who commanded one of tho divisions which heroically strove to delay the German advance, was asked by an Associated Press corre- spondent to compare the conditions which prevailed in the army year ago with those of today
 NO COMPARISON WITH PAST
 There is no comparison" answered the general. Last year we had no am munition, and we were in no condi- ton to withstand the powerful and well organized offensive of the enemy Only a small part of my division sur vived the continuous shell fire of r enemy. But today we are their equals It is the difference between chaos anc order"
 On the broad lawn which flanked the divisional headquarters reserve regi- ment, which had been given half holiday, were expending their excess energy in games of leapfrog, blir mans bulf, three-legged races and biazarre Russian dancing, done to the music of an impromptu soldiers chorus who sang the strange, half barbaric chants of their race. Although this regiment had just been relieved from work in the trenches the day before, the men were all in fine physical con dition and were we'll clothed and well fed, and showed no trace of having experienced any greater hardship than that of living in the open air and eat ing three wholesome meals a day, A short distance from headquarters one could see the white tents of tho soldiers gleaming through the open spaces cleared in the pine forest which covered a knoll which had been chosen as the best drained and most health full spot for the sleeping quarters of the army. Faint streaks of smoke curled upward from the outdoor kitch- ems where dinner was being prepared On returning from the trenches each soldier had been given a bath and fresh linen. while the clothes he had been wearing were put through dis injecting machine and laundered. The Russian soldier lives better, eats more and enjoys a much more contented frame of mind than before the war.
 PROVIDE FOR COMFORTS
 The army owes the great part of tn, comforts which have been provided for 1t to the Zemsky Soyuz, or union town councils, which has been the chier manufacturer and distributing agent of all military supplies. Through the gi- gantic strides in organization and out put which this union has made since the beginning of the war 1t has been able not only to assist materially i the manufacture and purchase of guns and munitions, but to see that every part of the army is plentifully supplied with hospitals and medical apparatus, bath houses, clean linen and all of the com forts of life which now surround the