The daily progressive-miner., 1918-06-29

a Battauon ot lteatn-Womeu SoiulerS with poison phials in their blouses, sworn never to surrender. Bohemia, the enslaved and downtrodden, the
 mere historical remnant of nation. has produced the first Division of Death.
 It has been known flor some time tha; there were about 10000 Czecho- Slovak troops in a singiv sroup with the Italian Army-first in training near Perugia and later at the battle | front itself It is not commonly known. however, that these soldiers viii never be used on the defensive except in the last extremity, and are being held by the high Italian com mand to be flung across No Mans Land when Italy strikes her next great ! blow.
 The reason for this is simple These men will be hanged if they are cap- tured by the Austrians, Four hundred and seventy Czecho-Slovaks since the ! war started have been hanged in { Trieste alone-over 1 per cent of the population-for offenses much more venial ill Austrian eyes than that of serving in the ranks of the enemy. An army loses most prisoners when it | stands on the defensive. When it strikes. its casualties in killed and wounded are higher. but the wounded can be cared for in the rear of the
 advancing forces. Therefore the Czecho-Slovak division will be thrown forward only when the Austrians are reeling backward,
 To Fight for a Dream
 And yet these Bohem'ans. with the possibility of the Austrian moose always ahead Of them. are the hap piest men in Italy. They are in arms. 10 realize dream-to stablish new republic upon the ancient coast of Bohemia and in the very heart of the present. Austro-Hungarian state.
 Throughout Italy they have excited the greatest enthusiasm. They are in stantly recognizable for though they wear the grey-green Italian uniform they carry on their collars stripes oi .heir national colors-red and white .%.ll another touch of red and white in their Alpine caps. Unlike the Ital- ians. they are mostly big and blond, and as they pass along through the cheering crowds of the towns and towns and villages near the front with and as they pass along through the cheering crowds of the towns and villages near the front with flowers behind their ears or stuck in their coats they seem always to be laugh Ing or singing.
 They have been assembled from all quarters. Many of them are deserters from the Austrian armies. Others were taken prisoners-most willingly in successful Italian drives. The Italians repeatedly found Czecho-Slo- yak machine gunners in the moun- tains attached to their weapons by stout chains forged upon ankle brace lets Victims of such a practice, of course. furnished ready material for the Bohemian division. Others came from Russia, seeping through one out ot-the-way channel or another into Italy. Still others volunteered for this foreign service in the United States.
 This spring and summer as the Bo- 1emian movement for independence has grown within Austria itself, re- cruiting for the Bohemian armies has received tremedous impetus. In addition 70 the division already on the front in Italy. another complete divi- sion is being organized in France. From Russia 3o000 more Czecho- S,ovaks are now on their way to Italy over a safe though little known route The Czecho-Slovaks in Russia. tens O. thousands O. them deserters from the Austrian armies in the early years Of the war, and wholly unim- pressed by the Bolshevik antinational doctrines. are especially restless. It B believed 1hat eventually large pro- portion ol these will find their way to
 /. Italian Lattle front
 But sro1a tne Austrian lines few re coming over now. Bohemians in -1a Austrian Army aJ present are
 ed ia teh interior as far as possible. When they are required on the fight Ing iron: they are sandwiched in be- tveen Maygars. their bitterest ene mics. and Cerman-Austrians, and watched like conyicts.
 Bohemia in Ferment
 The Bohemian division consists of Czechs. ALoravians, and Siiesians, 1 ng!ed without discrimination. Most of them are peasants and small work i 1en-the latter highly skilled artis- 1 ans, as Bohemia is the very industrial heart of Austro-Hugary. Practically i nc propa ganda on the part Of the Ital- ! fans was necessary to enlist them, as they are intelligent and reasonably ] vel! educated. And in Bohemia, per i haps, more than in any subject State i