Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-05-07
Carried Months Food,

The American Red Cross mission left
on the third Of six trains which carried
the allied missions from Jassy. The
first train left at noon March 8 and the
other trains followed At intervals Of two
or three hours.
Each train was provided with food for
o. month. There was no dining car and
the food was cooked in two military
food kitchens abandoned by the Russian
troops, which were carried on a freight
other freight cars loaded with rails. ties
and railway iron also were carried 80
that the road could be repaired quickly
In case Of accident or II the Germans
had torn up the line.
The train on which the Americans
Travelled was one Of the most extraordi-
mary combinations Of railway rolling
stock ever seen. American doctors and
of1Ners had a third-c1ass sleeping car
while the nurses had a sscond-elass
sian vintage and without water supply
Tor heating facilities.
Tho French Officers had sleeping ears
some Russian and some Rumanian, but
the private. were conpelled to use or
and two or three passenger cars
Engine and Engineer "Relies."
The engine dated back to 1878 and
burned wool which was picked up
along the wav. The engineer matched
tho erkins. He was an elderly Russian
Of bo,rhevik opinion. and hsd to he
fed with rubles and cognac almost az
frequently AZ the engine REQUIRED wood
He carried his family with him in a
box car next to the engine and when
ever meals or other domestic affairs
REQUIRED his attention he stopned the
train and went home" to his box car
Just outside Odessa the engineer he=
came dissatisfied with the flow Of ruhles
ana Eranc c5snar os and . vent on strike The
him. but he was obdurate and departed
with the engine and the box car, leav-
ing the remainder Of the train etand-
ing on the main line. He had chosen
current that the Germans were likely
to reach the railway at any moment
After some delay the French succeedesl
in finding another engineer and engine
and the train proceeded.
As matter Of fact. German bat
talions entered Odessa only thirty-six
hours after the Americans passed
through the city. and 1t IL probable
ready were in tho suburbs at the time
the engineer went on strike.
Another Russian Change Of Heart.
The striker apparently suffered a
change Of heart soon after he left the
train. for the next day, when the train
Odessa, he. with his engine and "home,"
caught up~with tho train. He begged
the French officers to take him back on
their own terms. The French declined
last seen Of him he was taking his en-
gine and box car backward on the return
trip to south Russia.
For the first hundred miles or so out
Of Odessa the trains carrying tho al
lied missions from Rumania Travelled
over a new railway. which had been
completed only a short time before by
Russian military engineers. It was
rather a circuitous route, but II was
believed the Germans were ignorant of
tho old lines.
On tho second day. whom the train
bearing the Americans was about 400
miles north Of Odessa, one Of the doc
horizon. It was followed quickly by a
loud explosion, and q great geyser OF
earth and rocks as q shell burst in
field about half 4 mile from the moving
train. The first shell was followed by
many others. the bombardment CONTINUE
ing for i've minutes.
Nobody knew what was going on.
but the general belief was that the
train had come within sight of q dis
was trying to direct the firs Of Its
batteries on the railway track. Mill
tary men on board declared the shells
were 6.s-inch or larger. The shells ap.
peared to fall In q regular line. as II
registered. The range was a little too
great for the German guns, however.
and all the shells fell short.
Laughed at Danger.
Several of the cooler-headed Amer
leans were inclined to laugh at the
whole affair. In the belief that the firing
probably was the accompaniment to a
battle between the Germans and the
bolsheviki some distance away. At
any rate. ths engineer and hremen
efforts
Arriving ut the station Of Doinskaya,
the Americans were informed by the
bolshevik authorities that . battle was
in progress. to the north: The train
then turned from Its schedule route
and proceeded southeast. returning to
its northward route after q lengthy de-
tour. For the next forty.eight hours
hardly an hour passed without rumors
of danger from Germans or guerrilla
bands.
At Kursk the Americans were greeted
enthusiastically by several thousand
Bohemian troops. who originally had
been prisoners captured from the Ger
mans. but lately had been fighting with
the Russians against the central pow.
from a severe battle with the Germans
them were wounded. They boasted
that this action ON their part had saved
the American mission. ~ otherwise the |
Germans would have been in Kursk |
Most Of these Bohemian troops had Of
fered themselves for service In France. |
The mission arrived In Moscow ON |
March 16. The trip northward to the