The Washington times., 1936-10-01
BY H. r. KNICKERBOCKER

correspondent " AHLo' HUttOtUt
NetDS SerUice.
BY H. r. KNICKERBOCKER
Ell PUENTE DEL ARZOBISPO,
Oct. l. 0N.S0.-After watching
his Moroccans capture the hamlet
of Alcolea De Tajo, we went to
the headquarters of Lieut.. Colonel
Asensio, chief of the first column
OF Lieut.. Colonel Vague operating
against Madrid.
He was asleep when We arrived
at the front door of the modest
village house where he had taken
his billet for the day, but he
Immediately sent word for us to
come in when we sent him our
card. It was still daylight so he
had closed all the blinds. He
opened one q quarter way, and
in the haf-light we sat and
talked.
Three on a Match"
Handing us cigarettes, we pass
ed the light around but the
colonel blew it out at the third.
This old war custom is absolutely
unival in the legion and II
you want completely to ALLEVIATE
a legionnaire try to light thlro
cigarette from the same match.
The lieutenant colonel was tall,
gray-haired, lean and hard-bltten
and most cordial. He said:
I'VE took the place this morn
ing about 10 o'clock. First we
came within two or three kilO-
meters before the enemy be-
gan firing. Then we got on
those hills out there where you
see the regulars, and shelled
the town"
From the church tower I had
seen the collapsed roofs of several
buildings, evidently hit by shells.
He continued:
"SOme of the reds escaped to
Talavera, while others mined
Gudb TOu OCC VOS S"NASS
but they ran away before they
set off the explosives. We found
10 boxes Of dynamite and 7 Mt
underneath the bridge when we
got there. The reds had also
stretched a high tension electric
wire across the bridge. / don't
know what they did that for.
It was still charged when we
reached it, but, of course, it was
no trouble to cut"
I asked him what he had found
when he arrived, and he said:
ooh, we only found five whites
killed by the reds. There were
two priests, one banker and his
son and another fellow. Very
small murder list as a matter Of
fact. Usually find many more.
Back there in AlmendralejO when
we finally got in l saw AZ in
cinerated cOrpSeS of whites, some
Of them in the jail, some in the
church and some in the con-
vent"
WATER IS BAD
The lieutenant colonel asked us
to have a beer, but we begged for
water. They say the water around
these parts is not too good for
drinking but I have drunk not
less than two gallons today and
am still thirsty.
About this time five big shin
ing new French bombing air
planes came over and gave us a
message. They had broad red
band, the first clear insignia Of
the Madrid party that had seen.
Their bombs struck somewhere
over by Oropesa.
We bade goodby to Lieutenant
Colonel Asensio, promising to be
back soon. and set out for Oro-
peSa to get there before dark. 1t
is distinctly inadvisable to travel
in the war zone after dark. We
ran into one good proof of that
just up the road where we met
two automobiles full Of officers
Of the legion, very, very angry.
They had just been fired upon by
their own outposts because they
11du 4dl1Cu W SOOP Ad0G CAAOOSAA
when challenged on the road. No
body was hurst, but we took the
lesson and stopped very quickly
whenever a sentry raised his
hand.
LegiOnnaireS Guard
We had two legionnaireS with
us and whenever we passed any
peasants our legionnaires jumped
out to interrogate them. The peas
ants have difficult time for they
don't quite know yet which salute
to give, the Fascist salute of the
upraiSed open right hand, or the
red salute of the clenched left fist.
Along came one little family
group Of father, mother and two
children aged about 10 to IL. The
father and mother gave the proper
Fascist salute, but the children,
who had not been appraised of the
fact that politics had changed
within the last twelve hours in
their part of the country, naively
gave us the clenched fist.
Father and mother jumped off
their mules and classified the be-
wildered children while the legion
naires chuckled. They know per
fectly well what the value of the
Fascist salute is from a population
which just a few hours ago was
giving the red salute with the