The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1919-12-04
FATlMA COUPONS
PASS FOR MONEY
Russian Women Prefer Cigarette
Advertisements to American
Bills.
BARNEY A. HOFFMAN is HOME
Returns After Spending Over a
Year With Colors IN Far
off Siberia.

tfs his credit and chest full aof expert
: - ces almost entirely foreign to the
"a erican soldier who served on the
estern front in the great war, Bar
= meg Hoffman, a former Sank Center
! boy, is back in the old town on fur
aough to remain for thirty days.
Barney took on for another
hitch" and will. in the future do ser
vice with the coast artillery, heavy
coughs" at Fort Miley, San Francisco
The true situation in Siberia is of
varying interest to the American pub
Tic. First hand Information on the
4 subject is scarce, and according to
\ Mr.. Hoffman, many of the reports COM
ing out of the vast stretches of frozen
!, country ruled over by all factions of
military power, are vague and highly
colored.
The Sank Centre lad served with a
fed hopital unit attached to the 9th
fanfry and was among the first
loops to enter Siberia. He arrived
! A IA Vladivostok in September, 1918, and
FLOR better than a year served on out
post duty along the various railroad
points of the Trans-Siberian railroad,
a road largely controlled by American
'interests.
American troops in southern Siberia
SEqre few, according to Mr. Hoffman,
and their duties lay wholly in the pro-
tecting of American interests.
VI Besides America, Japan has sent
II troops into this country, exceeding her
limit by many thousand men. Japan
twas only entitled to 1900 troops in
Siberia under the treaty and agree
J Fment with the Allies, but did and still
maintains an army of about $4,000
men in Siberia. -. ELL.
M Judging from the story told by the
Sank Centre soldier the common peo-
pie as whole, favor the government
of the Bolsheviki troops. 'tTn most
every instance said Mr.. Hoffman,
towns controlled by the Bolsheviki
were more prosperous than those con-
trolled and ruled by the Cossacks or
Menchivik troops.
"The Menchivik or Cossacks rep
resent the capitalists of Russia and
Siberia" said he. "They are on a
pr with the old regime of the Car,
i'd greatly adverse to the presence of
Allied troops in Siberia. On several
occasions we would undoubtedly have
been attacked by the Cossacks had
it not been for the presence in our
sector of numerous Japanese troops.
"On the other hand, the Bolsheviki
Y soldiers, representing the common
.t classes of Russia and Siberia, well
BOD
BILE with them, and in many cases
they permitted American supplies to
pass through their lines when they
would not allow the supplies of the
other Allied armies to pass. This sit
nation was very noticeable in the vi
entity of Archangle.
"The Japanese and American troops
did not fraternalize. We had several
run-ins with Jap troops, but one Amer
ican was usually good for a regiment
or two, so that did not bother us
much"
- Speaking of the people. Mr.. Hoff-
man said: ''The people of Siberia are
of the old order of Russian peasant
They are ignorant, filthy and brutal
The men spend most of their time
Knocking and drinking tea (which they
sumo in large uuantities), and the
linen do the work Womanhood in
-.5iberia is on par with the days of
Caesar, and is merely considered by
the Siberian as a beast of burden. Of
ten Russian women who had been
seen with American soldiers, were
logged by the Cossack troops, but
they considered it all in days work, ,
and of no consequence"
An effort on the mart of the Vanls
to introduce the "Shimmie" and the
turkey-trot into Russian society met
with fiat failure "They haven't got
the pep, the inclination nor the am
bition." said Hoffman. "They are al
so adverse to whistling in the house,
and I got in dutch right off the bat
when I attempted to whistle It's a
Long Way to Berlin-But Well Get
There while attending Siberian din
ner party. Either the host didn't be-
Heye in our theory or it went cross
grained with his religion anyhow,
was politely invited to tabo my musl-
zeal program for the present
What the natives live on is a mys-
ry. They have ration of fish and
I'D and tea which would knock the
htions cut of the stomach of most
fny human, but they get away with
and linger on. The German and
.t