Omaha daily bee., 1918-08-25


has his headquarters in tt
across the world to report
The Czecho-Slovaks are one of the
oppressed races that have been strug-
Cling for centuries against Germans
and Austrians and Magyars. When
this present war broke out, thousands
OF them escaped across the border
into Russia and took service agains,
Austria. Thousands more, drafted into
the Austrian armies, deserted across
the lines. There we're perhaps 100,-
900 OF them in Russia, when the Rus
sian army collapsed. And one army
OF $4,000 Of them under its own lead
ers still held its lines in the Ukraine
after the Ukrainians made peace with
Germany.
Refuse to Treat With Austria.
When the bolshevist government at
Moscow also signed the peace Of
Brest-Litovsk, this army was left to
the mercy OF the Germans. The Aus
trian emperor sent them an offer OF
amnesty if they would return to Aus
tria and promise of autonomy for
their people upon their return. They
refused to. treat with government
that had betrayed them too often.
They decided to fall back to the
Trans-Siberian railway, to negotiate
with the bolshcviki for passage
across Siberia to Viadivostok, and
there to obtain ships from the allies
to carry them to France. They had
no sooner come to this decision than
they learned that while the Austrians
were trying to hold them with of
fers OF amnesty, German army had
been sent to cut them off from the
railroad in the rear.
Look Like An Army Of Tramps.
They were we'll supplied with muni-,
tions Of war. They. had gathered to-
gether in their camp the equipment
of the Russian armies that had de-
serted their lines after the revolution.
But, like the Russians themselves,
they had no food, no shoes, no fod.
der for their horses, no proper cloth
ing, no camp kitchens. They looked
like an army of tramps, in tattcrs,
their feet bound in rags. They were,
in fact. an army of intelligent pat
riots, revolutionary idealists, of whom
80 per cent were university men.
Every company carried library Of
several hundred volumes. They pub-
iished every day, even crossing ST.
IBERIA, a daily newspaper of eight
pages.
II was their intelligence that saved
themthey outwittcd the Germans,
the Austrians, the bo1sheviki, over
came all their difficulties and ended
by dominating the continent through
which, at first, they asked only safe
passage.
Live on Dogs, Cats and Frogs. ).
Their horses were too weak to pull
fileir wagons. They pulled the
wagons themselves and ate the horse
meat. They lived on dogs. cats and
frogs.
When we came to pond" they
say, frogs greeted us with a chorus.
When we had passed, there was not
a frog to be heard
They roasted barley to make them
selves coffee, and rolled ii out with
bottles to crush it, and when they had
drunk the coffee they ate the grounds.
They did not try to loot the peasants.
Their intelligence saved them from
that disaster.
They knew they could not fight
their way through q hostile nation,
and when they came to 4 village and
the natives refused them food, they
gathered in the market place and
stood patiently, In silence, sometimes
from morning to nightfall, until the
villagers relented and took pity on
them. Then they paid for what was
brought them and went on with the
assurance that their comrades who
were following them would receive
good treatment. When they could
get grain they carried it with them
TIL they came to windmill, where
they ground il.
We did not need toothpaste," they
say. The millstones were so soft that
the -four came out half dirt. 1t kept
our teeth sharp"
Win Battle With Germans.
In that way, they approached the
railroad junction only to find a Ger
man army between them and any fur
ther progress. When their whole
force had come up, they attacked. The
battle lasted for four days. Then the
Germans asked for an armistice to
bury their dead. When the armistice
expired, they found that the German
army had retr.ated, leaving only q
rear guard that fell back before them.
They reached the railroad. They ad-
vanced along it toward Moscow and
opened negotiations with the boishe-
wiki for safe passage on the Trans
Siberian railroad to Vladivostok.
It was granted them on condition
that they surrender their arms and
munitions, which belonged to the
Russian government. They had 400
machine guns to each regiment, good
rifles. aeroplanes, large supplies of
hand grenades, and plenty of ammuni-
ton. They gave up everything but
their hand grenades and one rifle for
every ten men. Then they entrained
for the journey across Asia.
Ra'lroading Under Great Handicaps.
They had difficulties about getting
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