Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-20
TELLS SHOW THE CZECHO-S LOVAKS.
/ KEPT ORDER IN VLADIVOSTOK
Jaromir Spacek Graphically Portrays
Conditions in City After Arrival Of the
Troops Bloody Fighting in Hills.

From v1adivostok comes a Czecho-
Slovak soldier. Jaromir Spacek by
name, with many strange stories to
tell of the OCCUPATION by the Czecho-
Slovaks of that city.
Their vanguard arrived on May 20,
but 1t was a number of weeks before
their full strength of $4,000 reached
the terminal of the Transsiberfan
railway. When a sufficient number
had come the little army solemnly
held a patriotic mass meeting. This
ceremony was observed whenever
they reached and occupied an i'm
poftant Siberian city. There we're
speeches. parades and gymnastic dis
plays by the "okolS," or atfletic-lit-
erary societies. Apparently the citi-
zenry of Vladivostok att nded en-
masse and went home vastly impress
ed with the high degree of culture
possessed by the ne \ corners. The sing
ing especially pl,ased them. Within
a short time the Czecho-Slovaks were
thoroughly popular.
Yet they kept order in the streets
And they did it in perfectly I'M
partial fashion. The CT -cho-Siovak
patrols adopted the set rule OF dis
perSing each and every street gath
ering that assumed large proportions
They wasted no words about IL. Inc
terse command. "Razchodis!" mean
ing Adjourn. loo. ed through the
highways of NladivoStok at all hours
of the day and nirht. And it was
strictly needed by tie populace. When
they were told to 'razchodiS' they
obediently went home.
Crowds Enjoy Oratory.
The Vladivostok mobs seem to have
been not unlike the old Roman holt
day crowds. They liked to listen to
speeches and they always applauded
the speaker who held the platform,
no matter what he was advocating
An orator with energy and louu
voice could persuade them to DO al
most anything. 1t was this volatile
quality of the VladivostoklanS which
made the city authorities positively
forbid open-air gatherings. Pubilc
assemblages must me only in a hail.
and then not without special perinlS-
sion from the mayor. ana the
Czecho-Slovak military patrols en-
forced this order. On one occasion
patrol of four soldiers put to Hight
a mob of wore than 40" d rsonS.
Apparently the townspeople do not
resent being ordered about by the MIL
ftary police Occasionally they grum-
BILE at not being allowed TO nSht
an,o - ,be-.spj @ " o., r;,ey CO :
but for the most part they are passive
and well behaved. One citizen spoke
admiringly to Private Spacek or the
efficiency of the CZecho-Slovak SOL
diers.
you are great fellows"' he said
you have so much vigor. We respect
you. When you came here the order
in the streets was not bad But now
It still is better. You know best OF all
how to keep ORDER.
on the sidewalk a peevish old lady,
who stopped him and gave utterance
to her grievances.
where is our liberty now" she
whined 1--WE thought we were to get
freedom, and now you come and order
us about Where is our liberty, l ask
you?"
Private Spacek says he put his
hand very gently on the old woman'S
shoulder and replied: "Auntie. you
surrendered your liberty to the Ger
man emperor a good many months
ago. Don't you know that?
This seemed to convince her, for she
sighed deeply and said: "Ah. yes, you
are right. And if it were not for you,
we might all have been destroyed
long ago.
Other Cities Ask for Aid.
News of the peace and order pre-
vailing in Vladivostok spread to other
Siberian cities and a number of them
sent delegations to the CZecho-Siovak
officers, requesting them to send
squads of so d!ers for patrol duty The
officers objected that they had not
enough men to be able to detach them
for such duties. One city'S delegation
came back and said they would be
satisfied with from two to five men.
Another city offered to pay Is rou-
bleS per month per man for all SOL
diers that should be turned over to
them for police service.
But the labors of the Czecho-Slovak
army in eastern Siberia have not been
confined to keeping the civil popula-
ton of the cities in good order. There
has been sharp and bloody fighting in
the hills and on the plains and
marshes. Not long ago a small force
of Czecho-SlovakS was sent out to de-
fend a portion of the Eastern Chinese
railway against the attacks of hostile
troops. They had only one gun, while
tho enemy had seventeen. They did
not IRE a single shot, but crept up
with bayonets and surprised the de-
tachment of the enemy which was
holding the seventeen guns. The
enemy surrenered after a short fight,