The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-04-13

wide stream. over which there was n
wooden bridge which neither side wished
TO destroy. both figuring on using Ii some
day. almost nightly there occurred a
strange entertainment. Sometimes II
was only a monolcgue In which Boil
shevik orator on one side OF the stream
would loudly harangue the Americans.
Sometimes 1t was a sort of a duet, In
" hich the American would reply with
Can that stun 20 whats eating your"
and other similar American expressions.
Once when the Bosheviki were feeling
particularly lively they gave propa-
ganda vaudeville show, following tlieir
English speaking orators plea to come
over and join them, with an accordion
solo. the tune of which was yankee
Doodle"
There were formal occasions when a
Bolshevik officer would cry out from tho
dark that he wanted to talk to an Amer
lean officer. A Lieutenant or a Captain
would go down to the middle or the
bridge to meet him. The American off,
Ger would take his Interpreter with him
and the three would stand out in the
cold arguing. These conferences usually
began with mutual inquiries about the
state OF health of prisoners held by the
respective forces and ended with the Boil
shevik officers kindly requesting that an
armload Of Bolshevik printed propa-
ganda matter be handed to the American
troops.
Perhaps this was against ell rules OF
warfare. but the American officers gem
orally speaking could see no objection to
ii. as they were much in need of paper
and the propaganda helped keep the
troops happy. The Yanks would laugh
all night at It and then go out and fight
in better humor the next day.
Try to SIR Discomfort.
It was on this same sector that the
Bolsheviki, thinking that II might stir
up discomfort among the Americans IL
they knew that the war in France was
ended decided to advertise the fact. This
the Bolsheviki did in the night, hang
ing large red banners, printed in Eng
lish. TO trees. These banners blaZoned
forth in the great white letters on their
red backgrounds that "the workingmen
of France and England and Germany
had made peace' and urged the Ameri-
cans TO come and do likewise.
In the printed propaganda, most of
which by the way either bears the sig
nature of an English journalist. who has
Joined the Bolshevik administration in
Moscow, or shows the handiwork of
some Russian journalist who once
worked in New York, great stress is put
upon the claim that the Bolshevixi are
wo;E!ngmen, fighting against the capt.
tallsts CT the world, and inviting the
Americans to come and join the happy
proIetariat
The Americans, so they declare, have
not yet figured out for themselves why
they are up here after the war with
Germany Is finished, but they also de-
clare that they take no stock in the
'downtrodden workingmen stun" Of the
Bolsheviki.
'Workingmen." one of the Yanks re-
marked disdainfully they never did
work: they're a lot OF long haired never
works"
The Bolsheviki in this propaganda
tried to convince their foes that they
were not as bad as they were painted,
particularly with reference to treatment
OF prisoners. AS the Yanks up here have
got it, the Bolshevik kills prisoners, and
because of what they know about this
they call him the "Bolo." That name
for him has crept into most of the off,
cial dispatches from the front to Gen
eral Headquarters, and 1t is the officially
accepted synonym.
The Americans have seen some of this
brutality. There were five mutilated
bodies OF Americans down Ust Vaga
way. In the Shenkursk sector, that out
argued all the Bolshevik propaganda.
But on the other hand one day down on
the kadish line the Bosheviki sought
al excuse to trot out and show our SOL
diers how well they treated their prison.
ers. They brought out one American
who had been missing a long time. and
also Scot in view OF a party of officers
and men. The two appeared well fed.
Then the Bolsheviki whisked the pair
away into the woods and invited all the
fanks TO come over and get fattened
up"
Perhaps the truth of it all may be that
the Bolsheviki sometimes kill prisoners
and sometimes try to make Bolsheviki
out of them, all depending on the ca
price of the officer commanding or the
sector in which the prisoner is taken.