The Washington times., 1920-06-04
Mental Apathy A.tss.sisx.

got one more soidler ana one hoie
..soldierette."
Mentai Apathy AstssssisE.
The Ignorance. the mental apathy,
the irresponsibility OF those men Is
something astounding, They hght
each other and they kill each other
without the slightest idea OF why
they are doing II. Meanwhile the
newspapers, in the pay OF the gem
erals, write pompously OF the EN-.
thusiastic troops of the revolution
and the sacred principles Tor whleb
they are offering their lives"
There was moment during the
second period OF the great revolution
when Villa was fighting on one SIDE,
| Carranza on another, and the govern
ment emanating from the pact or
| Aguas Caiicntes on still a third. Some
| OF the troops got mixed up as TO
whom they were hghtinS for. and
they were not sure which viva 10
shout as they began their battle. The
point was this. If they cried viva
| the wrong person"--and the political
| situation kept changing from hour to
hour--they might get volley from
| the troops beside or behind them.
Say. who the devil are we for :?
one soldier. asked of the man next 10
him as they hred their first shots.
How should ] know" was the an
swer. Better ask the captain.
| And wasn't sure myself said
that officer to me, as he told me the
story in Mexico few weeks ago
Ind.rect "RecruitiaE."
When a man fails to jbin an insur-
rection out of fondness for hrearms
or out of fatalistic Indifference SAere
are indirect ways of persuading MIN
! to become a soldier.
know a Mexican general who en-
Joys a great reputation among his ad-
| mirers for his skill in raising troops.
He takes to the mountains, they
told me. with one attendant and a
few rifles. He turns up at the end OF
the month with five hundred men.
| Give him two months and he VIII
have Ave thousand: and so on till he
| gets his army. One evening, when j
| was dining with the general IN oues-
ton. he confided some of his trade
! secrets as ap organizer to me. re-
me mber one of his feats in particular.
He had come to. a mining district 10
raise some troops. 1t was busy
place, with everybody working, and
wages were good. Nobody wanted to
be A. soldier. SO, on. the prs toxt thaf
| the operators were "enemics or the
common people, the general had the
entrances "a the mines blown lpp. He
enlisted three hundred men the fol-
lowing day, and thousand before the
| end of the week. He told the story,
moreover, with a show OF real pride.
Fired All Thes Quit.
At times those improviscd soldiers
| exi bit a heart-winning Ingenious
mes One of them, during a battle,
was crouching with ono knee on the
groL nd and firing away into the Air
with the conscientious regularity OF
an honest factory hand kicking
foot-press. He started with a hundred
| cartridges. Every now and then he
would look at his bandolccrs. That's
| forty" Now that's fifty-five!" When
they were all gone. he got up and
sta ed, for tho, rear. Meeting his cap
tain. he e.said ."Here, boss, hcre's your
gun" The! captain look cd at him, but
did not understand. MY jobs done. i
burned the whole hundred of them.
| Give the next batch to somebody else.
| Equality sou understand, boss. That's
what revolution means" And he was
| off to look, up the 'old woman"
Such,a concept Of war is. OF course.
ridiculous one; and 1t is only fair
| to add, that the Mexican soldier kills
| and diss.with absolute indifference
The "soldierettes," poor beasts oil Durf
den that they are, or, incubators for
the soldiers and "soldierettes' OF fu-
ture REVOLUTIONS. also develop heroic
courage Under certain circumstances:
| They csrc, as best they can. for the
wounded falling on the field, ana
when their "man'tis killed, they take
up his gun,.and' carry on the fusilade.
| They have been known to work
| stratagc in battle worthy OF the
hcroincs of antiquity.
Women Work Ruse.
| .- Once i'm an action. where the regi-
| mcnt Of mon was advancing along a
| road, ! was told that the soldier
cites" and all their children marched
along a parallel road. AS the women
proceeded. they began to brush the
sun-parched trail with branches they
had cut from the trees. a great cloud
OF dust arose, and the opposing gen.
eral was completely deceived. They
have cavalry - probably artillery"
| And he ordered retreat.
: The generals of the revolution feel
that same hankering for home life