Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1918-03-29


For eighteen days l was Quartered In the first
line Of trenches with $500 Of these Russian
warriors. / studied them at close Quarters-there
are no more intrepid soldiers in all this world than
were those women of q divided and bewildered
nation.
The Battalion Of Death IL no more. They were
wiped out by German shells and German bayonets.
and only four wounded survivors remain Of 200
who fought through hell fire to shame the men Of
Russia Into sense of patriotic duty. To lack Of
training and Of officers Is ascrbed the humiliation
OF this first battalion of women warriors in the
modern world. They failed In their Object-the
stimulating Of cOmpatriots to defense of their
country.
That free Russia fears the power of women ia
indicated by the fact that those who were connect.
eo with the imperial circle Of the former court are
connned In the prison Of Peter and Paul, guarded
oy barriers OF water as well as by walls Of stone
while minor offenders have been banished from
Petrograd
Inc Russian woman warrior is the product of
outdoor life and simple. wholesome food. In the
ranks one finds the majority Of soldiers from the
upper class Of Russian society. and By their sides
are serfs and peasants accustomed to working in
the FIELDS Of Siberia and Russia with the men Of
their household
Ladies OF Russia are noted for their proficiency
In outdoor games and sports; they are great walk.
ers. skaters. horseback riders and devotees to
element. and to their summer and winter carni-
walls and pageants, which occur several times a
year. At these times 1t Is their pleasure to In
dulge In native folk dances. and dancing on the
Ice IL pastime to which they are devoted and to
which. believe. they owe much Of their muscular
development and rapidly and ease Of action The
life Of the Russian woman has bred her to wars
service; she does not care for afternoon teas or
any form Of indoor amusement during the daytime
Instead you will find her engaged In active sports
on the frozen Neva. beside the trolley tracks that
link icebound towns In a chain Of gay activity
even more bustling than when boats ply the river
in summer and fetch and carry between Russia's
capital and the Neva's outlying villages.
And now you will find women at the switches
along the shining miles Of icefoored single track
OF the Neva's winter trolley lines.
In singular contrast to the sturdy, muscular build
Of Russian women. stocky Of form and short Of
stature, are Russian men Of the upper class, who,
when they acquire refinement and highbreeding.
seem, also, to become weak and effeminate.
Not only In trench work. but In the ordinary avo-
cations Of men one now finds Russian women.
Street-car conductors and motorwomen handle the
trafac with efficiency. Conductors call out the
streets. and from the second belt the mans coat
that tops their blue skirts they draw checks Of
varying cOors and hand them out In receipt of
fares These cOlors represent from one to FIVE
fares, and also indicate the distance q passenger
expects to travel. One fare now costs fifteen kO-
pecks or two and a half cents. Under ordinary
conditions fifteen kopecks were worth five cents.
But two and half cents Is lot Of money In Rus.
STA today. On the other hand. while women fill
places railroads and street cars there still
to be found many men driving motortrucks
Another avOcation Of women is the driving Of
draskeys-Russian dumpcarts-a fiat, twO-wheeed
wagon drawn by one or two horses. In the latter
case one horse Is always harnessed outside the
shafts. leaving the burden to be borne by the ami
NAL inside Of them.
This peculiar method Of Harvesting Is even car
ried out In ambuances at the front. and wound
ed man transported in this fashion usually has the
life bounced out Of him his way to the hospital.
Sometimes. indeed such makeshft ambuances are
drawn by men. for life is accounted SO cheap In
Russia that the Russian will not use horses when
men can serve the purpose Of draft animals.
Not only men. but women, take the place of
horses. They often draw their field kitchens
about and bvOuac to cook their good bread, made
of wheat and rye flour; their soup. horse meat and
vegetables. Russian horse meat is not half bad,
and that is their principal army meat Horses are
plentiful but very small. and they do not furnish
much beef. so that numbers are slaughtered to