Republican farmer., 1919-08-29
ROISheVik
 MSSSaCrod
 D0llgflbOyS
Twenty From Hartford and Other Connecticut Cities
 Were Killed.
ONLY DEFENSE FIVE
 AUTOMATIC RIFLES

San Francisco. Aug. 27-Twenty- three doUghboys of the A. F. F. in Siberia were killed by BoIsheviki at Romanovska on June 25, in a surprise attack that was little short of a mass acre. The American soldiers be- longed to Company A of the Thirty first U. s. Infantry and all that stood between them and death were five au- tCmatic rifles. Out Of the twenty three dead, twenty are reported 10 be from Hartford, and other cities in Connecticut.
 Their bodies were brought to San Francisco on Friday on the trans port Sheridan and are held here awaiting word from relatives. If no specific instructions arrive they arc to be buried in the National cemetery at the Presidio. Seven of the men listed on the records as from Hartford were shot in their cots while sleep ing.
 As the result of strict army regu- lation9 the addresses are not availa- ble here at present. It is said the names will be included in casualty lists sent out in the regular chan nels of official information. Officers here say that the men came from IIdILIpEu, OT rom the VlClnlIy.
 Out of American infantrymen in the ROmanovska attack 45 were list cd as casualty the next morning and B killed and the others wounded. Fivo automatic rifles were all that stood between the American party and death for every man, as officers who viewed the situation later' were agreed that without these automatic rifes-in realty small machine guns the records would ave carried the engagement as a massacre.
 About midnight, June 25, 500 Bol- sheviki soldiers approached Romanov- ska, where this particular detachment of Company 4 was guarding the trans Siberian railroad. Scouts were sent ahead and without a shot being fired they captured several sentries and then silently crept to the crest of the hill overlooking the American camp below.
 The first intimation these AmeTi- cans had that they were being at tackled, for the first time since they had been in Siberia, came when a volIey from the Bolsheviki rifles crashed through the silent night. The warning tones of the bugle sounded the alarm and the men grabbed their
 
 as far flung a line of defense as their numbers would permit. It was like the old days of Indian fighting over again. Whenever a Bolshevik head showed itself against the sky line a half dozen Yankee rifles would crack. Several times the radicals tried to rush the American line, but the galIing fire from the automatic rifles and the persistent bravery of the Americans held them and they were forced back, taking their dead and wounded with them.
 The next day the frantic wireless calls for help. brought endorsements. An entire battalion of the Thirty First arrived a few miles away and it was arranged to have them creep in to the camp under cover of darkness the next night. The Bolshevilli had boasted that they would return the next night and finish the job, little thinking that endorsements could arrive in time, but American trucks ma de a new speed record that day that exceeded by a great deal the guarantee of the manufacturers and astonished the motor transport of ficcrs themselves.
 The tired defenders were relieved at nightsall and sent back to the regi- mental base, while the frash troops took up the vigil, using every means to indicate to observers that the en- tire command had retired for the night The ruse worked, for at the | same hour the BOlsheviki attacked again and this time they met with a i different reception than they had an ticipated, and after the first skirmish | they turned in headlong flight. When ! the count began the Americans found | eighty-six dead bodies and 150 pris- i oners in their hands. These were not [ the total casualties of the Bolsheviki i as many were carried away by their 1 comrades The American loss was none killed and a half a dozen slightly | wounded.