El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-04-09

. to pieces IN the big war, were an IN
Z necessary luxury in the Urals and
] white Infantry attacks were preceded
by the creeping barraEe that was IN
evitably a feature Of the offensives
on the front IN France. Both sides
force got a few from the British and
/ promptly lost them to the Bolshevilzs,
who in turn used them against Tude-
Mitch They also managed to manu-
faeture some at the Putilov works in
Petrograd.
IN the domain Of aviation the reds
are poorly of. The shortage IN
planes IS due to the absence OF mate
rial necessary for their repair. At
Tula they are trying to build air en-
Eines from several models captured
from the enemy, including. I was
told Liberty motor taken out OF
British bus that was forced to land
in the Bolshevik lines south OF Arch
angel saw only one airplane in
! Russia II was circling high over
Moscow and appeared TO be OF heavy
1 bombing type. Under its wings Il
] bore the red star OF the soviet army
l Flying in Russian winter time Is DIFF
] ficult because Of the Intense cold. Of
/ course. but was informed on good
I authority there were scores Of red
flyers IN action on the southern
front Gasoline shortage Is another
barrier TO aviation OF a large scale.
special Railroad Division
A noteworthy feature OF the red
army from a technical standpoint Is
the establishment o. a special rail-
road army charged with safeguard
Ing the lines Of communication by
rail- IN the front areas Il comprises
troops specially trained IN keeping
the foe from SEEKING or DESTROYING
railroads and engineers competent to
repair damaged lines and keen them
In operation Thus regular combat I
ant units are relieved OF all concern
about railroad communication.
It VIII have been noted that IN its I
purely military aspects the army OF 4
the soviet republic closely resembles /
the armies OF "capitalistic" states
This is true even OF its less important 4
inally abolished all ranks. titles. In j
sigma and decorations. All OF them 1
have been gradually reinstated- Red /
ofricers are not called officers, but 4
ieaeers OF units A company com i
mander Is addressed by his subordi- ]
mates as -comrade company leader"
which Is title and rank, too. On /
the le1C sleeve Of the oTercoat OF I
tunic the leader wears a red star and 4
below T. one OF two OF three small !
Eold squares, according as he may
ne a company. battalion or regi-
mental commander There are other /
insignia for higher ranks. A decora-
ton has been recently devised. more I
the Red Flag" which Is a decorative i
Dadge OF silver leaves engraved with /
me initials +. s. F. s. r fstandinE
Ior socialist federative republic OF /
soEleIs CT Russia.) and encircling a i
star ana nag In red enamel bearing
letters IN gold. workers Of world 4
unit" This medal IS awarded onIv
Tor acts OF conspicuous bravery IN Il
accordance with the French custom /
u mas been given to certain cities
notably PetroErad- Kameniev. COM
mander in chief OF the red army. has
received Il. but not Trotshv, although
kameniev urged that he accept an
nonor that had been frequently
offered him.
Duties OF Red Teachers
That fundamental Characteristic
which differentiates from all others
this impressive military Instrument
wrought by anti militarist idealists
amid circumstances OF violent chaos
= the social and political uplift
movement that IS one OF its essential
parts. There has been brief reference
above TO commissaries, those civilian
ernlssarles who share authority over
soldiers with officers. They are
merely one manifestation OF the
soviet government's astonishing pro-
gram Of enlightmeut in the red
army They and their fellow com
munists Of whom there were IN the
army front and rear. last December,
l.
sclous tools for prOpa cation not only
OF bolsneTlk theories. but OF intel
iectual and physical bettermentl
among the troops. These fanatics all
submit to two disciplines-that Of the
army which Is severe. and that Of
their party. which is severer stfll. AL
their head stands the political de-
lartment Of the red army under
which there are 5000 commissaries.
distributed among Is armies. and
ZONE 1900 other officials not con1f-
ng communists, OF whom there are at
east Two IN every company.
1tahoFshgs VINO was and doubtless
yin again be the chief Of the Ukraine
3ovleJs but Tor the moment IS that
apartments chief. outlined for mel
Is activities. Created in May, 1918.
{ IS divided into six sections sd
2. Information and prom
sanda. Z, education; 4. literature:
b inspection. s, social welfare The
irst problem Confronting he de-
'artme1t vas illiteracy. Sixty per -
enr OF the soldiers could neither read !
lor write In six months 450.OOO.OOO =
uDies were spent for education. Up .
2 lsst october $500 schools. three E
Universities and 1900 professors or :
eacners had been provided for the
rmy. In some units the percentage
= illiterates had been reduced TO 90 Z
I vas claimed that within two years, =
Z generalization did not intervene. =
here would not be a single unedu- y
:ated Red soldier. z
Educating soIdIerS- \
Dissemination Of all kinds Of. books O
vas undertaken on an enormous scale. i
IN six months 100000 copies Of 1000 q
Forks had been Observation-Disclosures b
ng some 500 volumes on sport. There c
we're books on music, drama and art. /
IS wei as fiction, history, poetry, a
iclence, etc Starting With practically ,
nothing on January 1. 1913, = the red Z
lrmy possessed nine months later 1915 s
clubs. $50 theaters, 800 motion pic Ii
-ure shows. 200 reading rooms and Z
1892 Libraries, many Of which were z
tinerant and followed the outfits
light up into the front line. Y
The political department also looked a
lfter the physical well being OF the {
ioldiers, much as our Red Cross and z
r u G A. did Canteens were or '