I PAGE TWELVE THE DAILY TUESDAY, JULY 13, 1915. "LIFE IN PET ROGRAD ~ ALMOST UNRUFFLED Fr Grim. Determination to Conguer at: Any Cost Underlies Seeming Apathy of Russian Capital --A Danish Woman's 'Ob- servations of War-time Conditions i. * Writing in a Copenhagen paper the well kngwn Danish authoress Karen Bramsen gave the following descrip- tion of Petrograd in war time: You really feel the war very little here at Petrograd. Nobody speaks of it. It has become a fact with which everybody reckons a habit which it is of no interest to discuss. The firgt day's enthusinsm has turned into a firp and calm determination to go on regardless of cost, and the endless re- sources of the giganti¢ enipire appear everywhere sufficient So 'satisfy the immense demand for men, as well aa for food and materials of war. . The stranger who arrives here does not get into touch with the war at all. The thousand versts lying between Petro grad and the front prevent even the swell of the struggle from reaching you, One occasional glimpse here and there unexpectedly gives you an idea of the dreadful and {inconceivable | drama that is L-ing played in the dis- tance.{ ¥ f It was on the day that I arrived at Petrograd. The streets were full of lite. The horses danced in front of the light carriags4 and the promenad- ing crowds were smiling. "A small group of officers came down the stairs of my hotel. They did not appear to have been touched by the war, but were chatting and laughing aloud. In| the middle was an officer, whose face was smiling, but his brows were strangely convulsed and the eyelids half closed (a blinded hero). The other officers were addressing him in a peculiarly cordial and respectful manner. As he reached the bottom step of the stair, he felt about with his foot to discover if there were any more steps. He came near stumbling but was immediately assisted by half a dozen sympethizing hands. Ha was blind! He thanked them with a sad embarraksed smile, almost as if he wanted to apologize, and went through the hall and out of the door. And outside the sun was shining! The blind officer stopped short, almost as if he had received a blow in the face, What did he fee!? The sun that he had forgotten! Tb» sun that he was never to sea again. With an inarticu- late low cry he opened his arms in the direction from which he felt the warm: (ing rays coming. His comrades ten: derly assisted him into the carriage waiting for him. His head fell down and his chin was resting on his breast a8 he drove away. - In the Alexandra Museum there are some small paintings by Verestchagin. One of them, 'called "The Victor," { Found in Over the Vistula bridge at 'Warsaw, which leads from the Moscow depot --"the finest bridge in Europe"--up the Jerusalem alley, thence to the Vienna depot for the front, march bat. talions of warriors from Asia. It seems they will never end. You get the im- pression that after half Europe is out fighting for Mother Russia, half of {Asia is on the walk. In the new troops you see more and more Asiatic types; sometimes Asiatics from Europe such as Volga Tartars; sometimes Caucasus Asiatics;; sometimes Kirghizes and Turcomans from Asia proper; some- times Siberians who, ough Euro- peans by race, have a physical type of their own. But in this war all are Russians. Two hundred thousand men of Russia's big army in peace time are men from Asia or from the Caucasus. Now in war there are at least half a million Asiatics in the fleld. Had fit not been for the Siberians Warsaw to- day would be in German hands. The Asiatic troops are the best officered and have the biggest proportion of welltrained men. They came late, have had fewest losses, and their corps are still intact. A correspondent writes of seeing-a big, water-filled hole, made by a Ger man 134nch shell and in the middle > HEN | they "walk ag i | East Prussia. shows a heap of mulatto-colored bodies of soldiers in front of a sun-baked wall. In the middle of the heap lies a body of an almost gay, life-like position, but the whole forehead is crushed by a bullet and the blood,- still red and warm, runs down both cheeks. A few steps away from this heap of human flesh stands "The Vietor," a white sol- dier, looking with an expresison o! ab solute indifference towards the hori zon, while he calmly lights his well carned pipe with his blood-stained hands. While | was looking at this picture a group of wounded soldiers came through the hall. It is custom-. ary here, as soon as the wounded are well enough, to show them the sights of the city in little groups, conducted by a Sister of Mercy. You see all kinds of faces among these groups, in- different or surprised, troubled or thoughtful. But silent and obedient in their lomg grey mantles, reminding you of mediaeval crusaders. War's Awful Realism One of the soldiers stopped in front of Verestchagin's painting. His eyes, until now indifferent and without ex- pression, suddenly opened wide and, turning as pale as a ghost, he caught hold of his neighbor's arm. The other shook him off and the soldier re- mained standing in front of the paint- ing with eyes wide open and hanging jaw. He recognized it all. It was all there--the unspeakable horror of war. One of the strongest evidences is the dress in the Marinsky Theatre. All gala is banished. And what do the many empty seats mean? Cer- tainly not that Petrograd soclety has lost interest in its favorite corps de ballet. The old general in whose box 1 was sitting explained it to me. "We all know one another here," he sald. "We know who has each box, which has been in the possession of the same family - for generations. Number 4, which is empty, belongs to Prince P., who was taken a prisoner in The one next to it be- longs to Prince W---y, Whothad both legs crushed by a shell. Number 18 belonged to Count, the aviator, who was brought down at Lemberg. Num- ber 23 is Colobel I--'s. He is paralyz- ed with a bullet through his spine. Yes, it costs and costs- But you think perhaps we are tired? No, we are only just. beginning. Who of you knows Russia? None know Russia's greatness! The war has cost us two million and a half men, but if it costs us five times as many we would not stop. We shall not stop until we have accomplished what we set out to do." { Strange Human Types Czar's Army from the Volga. They worship the sun, and in Poland in winter when the sun is mostly absent, they light a fire and worship it. The fire wor- shipper solder carries, sewn in his uniform, a ball of yellow silk. This symbolizes the sun. In a Siberian corps which is part of one of the Southern armies are pagan yakhuts, Buriats from Mon- golia, and Japanesee (Russian sub- jects) Sintoists. SURVIVED BLOW OF SHELL nc-- Irish Fusilier Had Bullet Pouches Torn Off But Was Unhurt Private P. McKenna of the Royal Fusiliers in a'letter to friends told of being struck by a German shell and escaping in' a remarkable manner. "We held t- 2 lines of German trench- es in the Festubert district all Satur day night and all day Bunday," he board when the war started and Cadets on the bridge of thé former Belgian school-ship 1 Avenir, which has entered the turns over all profits to the Belgian Governinent for war purposes. are serving without pay The youngsters were The training ship also is shown. merchant service and all studenis on air British Soldiers Amazingly Cheerful Under the Most Adverse Conditions Khaki-clad Sons of England Joke and Sing in Face of German Gas -clouds, and on the March When Every Tired Muscle Calls For Rest--Filled Witk Joy When They Get Into A special rorrespondent with DBrit- sh Headquarters in the Field, com- menting on the cheerfulness of the British soldiers, wrote: "The more | see of the British army in the field the more .1 am impressed by its cheery optimism and unquenchable good spir- fts. It works and plays with the same good-humored zest; nothing can dishearten it. Until the gas-poisoners began their work it wad an army that regarded the foe facing it impersonal ly. Killing was the business in hand, but killing without malice: flower: covered graves for dead enemies and cigarettes for live prisoners. Now the business of killing is full of bit- terness, and there are no flowers. Yet even the menace of the new death has not checked the spirit of cheerful ness. Men take their turn in the gas zone with a grim resolve to swell the enemy's casualty list with their own, but they can jest even when they are gasping for breath. 'Another pea- soup fog,' said a North Someret lad to a comrade in the trenches, when he saw the wall of gas vapor stealing to- wards him. 'It isn't safe to be out in the night air.' "It's a bad day fo: the Lord Mayor's procession,' said a London rifieman when the fog swept over his trench. He lay in a dug-out for an hour, his face buried in a respirator, and then staggered into the open air, dizzy but practically unhurt. 'Reminded me of the Thames Embankment on a Novem- ber morning,' he said to me when I saw him in hospital, 'except that it was much safer. No trams. "Another gassed soldier I saw was breathing painfully, but able to talk. "Takes all your lung power to keep alive,' he gasped. 'Haven't breath enough even to curse the Kaiser pro- perly. A man ought to be given ex- tra lungs for 'rench work.' A Boy Full of Gas "The chaplain attached to this clear- ing station was going among the new arrivals as they lay on stretchers in the open air, after having their wounds dressed, and giving each man a regu- lation postcard--one of the sort which is prepargd for the post by scratching out some printed sentences and leav- ing others. He came to a victim of gas--a mere boy who stared at the card suspiciously. "'Would you like to send your peo- ple a postcard, my boy? sald the chaplain, and went on to the next stretcher, 'Does--does this mean that 1 am going to die? asked the lad, as he tried to scrawl a name across the front of the card. " 'Nonsense,' retorted an orderly who was passing." 'Youll be as right as rain in a week.' "Then I'll wait before I write,' said the soldier. 'There's no use wasting ito the conversation. them to the coast. One of our aero-| planes was sighted overhead, sailing | back from the German lines with ene- | my's shrapnel. bursting in its wake, and every man who could do so hoist ed himself upright in order to watch the battle. Artillery Critics " 'Rotten sholts,' said a Durham min. er, whose left arm was bound to his side, 'they never hit anything.' "'It's a sinful waste of ammunition,' said the Cameronian, 'but they hit you.' " 'They mustive aimed at something else,' growled the miner. 'I could shoot better with my eyes shut. "Two men beside him paid no heed They were eag- erly turning over the tattered leaves of an old copy of a London illustrated paper. Three hours before jhey were struck down by shrapnel, which kill- ed men around them. Now, with their wounds dressed, they were intent on photographs of 'K's' battalions and scenes from a new London play. "Cheerful in the trenches; cheerful under fire; cheerful on the march! "My motor-car halted at a cross- roads to let a famous battalion of in- fantry pass. Big men they were--some of the pick of England's manhood, They had been tramping for hours through a blinding cloud of dust, and faces, uniforms, caps, were thickly powdered with it. They sang, cough- ingly, a weird song about being very dry--dry--dry--how dry--how dry! Tunics were unbottoned and thrown back, perspiration streamed in rivu- lets down their grey cheeks, and they were tired--dog tired. Yet they sang. "The column halted beside me. A sergeant-major came out.of a cottage with a magpie sitting solemnly on his thumb. Instantly a volley of outcries, 'Oo's your friend, Billy? 'Mind your pockets, boys, there's a black thief around.' 'Does he talk French? 'That's a German magpie; watch him.' Crude jests, maybe, but they served their purpose. "How losg have you been on the march? I asked one grey apparition. "'A thousand sanguinary years,' said a hoarse voice. 'We do this for fun, Got a match? "The battalion moved on and disap- peared in a whirling cloud, while the magpie, cocking his head wisely, list- ened to the dying chant: 'Still dry;; still dry; still dry.' - Back For a Rest "l saw another famous battalion, shorn to a t-ird of its original strength by German shells--march in. to billets in a village near my quar ters. For a fortnight these men had endured all imaginable horrors in the salient of the British line beyond Ypres. Scarecrows they were, men with the shadow of ddath still across their set faces, but as they came into the narrow street, where friendly villagers smiled at them from 'their 'cottages, you could see the old spirit coming uppermost again. Bi HIN : it Billets in Village Whero Tobacco and Eatables May be Obtained for the ambulance- that would take at home), sitting with two comrades near my gate, dugouts, what! going back.' "'Don't care,' said his companion. 'It's all in a liftime." SPIES CAUSE STRIKES Admiralty Finds Germans in England at Old Tricks No more remarkable illustration of the thoroughness, in every detail, of the German system of espionage has been afforded (han by the admission of the Intelligence Division of the Ad miralty that there is an extensive con- spiracy being carried out by German agents in Great Britain to foment strikes among workmen in order to hamper the fulfilling of war contracts. The methods adopted in the industrial 'This place beats our Wonder when we're Lcentres appear to be the employment of paid agitators who, carefully con- cealing their true motives and origin, mingle with workmen in public-houses and other places adjoining the docks or workshops, and seek to persuade them of grievances with a view to en- couraging, them to strike, or at least waste time. These agents are also actuated by the further motive of ac. quiring, when the workmen have be- come their dupes, information as to war work which would be of value to the enemy. Plentifully supplied with money, these originators of strikes are very liberal in the gifts they make to workmen, and there is distinct evi- dence that the strikes which have broken out since the war began have been formented in a great measure by German spies, Those acquainted with the extraor® dinary ramifications of the German spy system are not surprised at this admission on the part of the Admiral ty, for it is remembered how they have undermined the industrial and economic conditions in France, and led to the disastrous labor upheavals of late years. It has been revealed how in France, German spies found em- ployment in municipal offices, on the railways, and in the great industrial areas, while others posed as Socialist agitators, always endeavoring to stir up discord among the working classes. The French authorities have proof that the organization of thé disastrous strikes which have occurred of late years in France were the direct result of German machinations. = GALLIPOLI LANDING WAS GLORIOUS F EAT COST OF GUN FIRE To fire a single shot from Britain's { biggest guns costs $5,000, and some | idea of the expenditure of naval fir- | ing can be gathered from the fact that one famous battleship could use up | about $100,000 worth of ammunition | per minute if she worked all her guns | at full blast, a she would do if neces- sary. And to this huge outlay must be added th. cost of the gun, remem- bering that the largest weapon has a very short life, and is soon worn out. The most expensive gun is the 16-inch, though other big guns run up heavy ammunition bills. The guns which expend £1,000 | worth of ammunition every time they are fired are really wonderful pieces | of artillery. They can heave a ton weight of explosive shell over a dis- tance of thirty miles with tho certainty of hitting any spot they aim at." The power and velocity of the shot is such that on leaving the gun it has force enough to go straight through 67% inches of wrought iron. The 12-inch guns can eat up well over $500 worth of ammunition per minute. For a 9.2. inch it is a trifle under $150; for a 75-inch, under $100, and for a 6-inch, under $60. REGAINED HIS NERVE Shame and Second Chance Made Dis- graced Tommy a Hero The true story of a soldier who was afraid, yet afterwards proved himself to be a hero, was related by Professqp J. H. Morgan, on his experience with the British Expeditionary Force. sergeant in the Expeditionary Force, the lecturer said, "lost his nerve, and ran away." He was tried by court penal servitude. But in the interval between the sentence and its confirma- tion the famous attempt of the Prus- sian Guard to break through the Brit- ish line was made, and every available man was rushed up in support. ~ They included the prisoner's guard, and the prisoner, of course, followed suit. He had recovered his nerve, and not only fought well, but performed an act which in ordinary circum- stances would certainly have brought him a medgl for gallant conduct, and probably. the V.C. As a result, ithe man's sentence was quashed, the re- cord expunged, and he got back his stripes and an absolutely clean record. "That sergeant," added Professor Mé6rgan, "was responsible for an Act of Parliament, for it occurred to the authorities that if there was one such case there might be others. The re- sult was that the Attorney-General rushed through the House a special Act applying to courts-martial the prin- ciple of the First Offenders (Proba- tion) Act." WATER FOR CHARGERS Elaborate Care in Armies to Protect Horses and Men Suitable drinking water is of vital importance to an army, and this is only ome of a multitude of problems that must be studied carefully by those who conduct a successful campaign. Only running water is used. In the German army the upstream water is used for drinking purposes and the downstream water for watering horses and for bathing. Suitable signs notify the men which water is safe to drink and which may be used only for bath- ing. In shallow or narrow streams basins are dug, or small dams built so as to form a reservoir of ample dimensions. Stepping stones are pro- vided to keép the water clean, as well as board protection to prevent the banks from crumbling. Basins are dug for watering horses; troughs are provided only in case of necessity and are then propped on posts and filled by means of pumps. There are over ten thousand islands in the British Empire. Lee martial, and sentenced to five years' | TY sana) Burning Eagerness and Pefbont¥ Initiative 'of - Australasians Up- set German Strategy and Turks Fled--Fighting Was Very Stuff, -- © According to-a correspondent of the Daily Express who is serving in the Dardanelles with the Royal Naval Division, every officer and man in the first landing parties of the colonial {force earned the V.C. over and over again. He says: "Only those who have had to fight their way up the pre- cipitous sand cliffs of Gallipoli, to dash through veritable death-trap gullies and gorges and beat down the strong- est natural defences in the world can properly realize the overwhelming magnitude of the initial task under taken with such amasing boldness and success by the sons of Australia and New Zealand. They forced a landing on an 'impregnable' cohtinent at a spot immediately oppdsite- the one objec tive of all the invading forces and the | key to Constantinople--viz., the forts of the Narrows. 'Even we who have endeavored to help them retain and to increase the area of the land so gal- lantly seized, cannot quite pemprehend the burning flames of patriotism and self-sacrifice which -- fanned rather than smothered by eight weary months of waiting in training centres.and in Egypt---alone enabled the 'Kangaroos' and the 'Kiwis' to send the German- led Turks scampering in a frenzy of terror from the beach up the face of the cliffs and right away into the coms parative security of their distant ens trenchments. . ' Daredevils vs. Red Tape ~ i "True, the enemy's positions were {shelled with great deliberation and exactitude beforehand by the allled A|fleet, but there were hidden machine | guns, mobile batteries and natural ! hiding places for troops that no artil- jlery from the sea could destroy, how- ever well Cirected by aeronautical ob- {servation. Red tape methods of land- ing and attack under such conditions would have been utterly disastrous. It was the personal initiative, extraordin- ary dash, virility and reckless dare- {devilism of each individual invader that completely shattered the elabor- {ately devised schemes of defence. 'Come on, you Australian kangaroos; we have been waiting for you for two | months!' shouted some. German offi {cers to the occupants of one of the | boatgp but whatever forms of attack | heyghad expected and prepared for, | they "certainly had not expected the {invaders to throw off all their equip {| ment, and even their tunics, under a | hail of lead and shrapnel, to wade or swim ashore with little but their rifles and bayonets, to make a mad rush in their shirt sleeves at machine guns and lines of infantry, to chase the be- wildered Turks up the face of the treacherous cliffs with their primitive weapons such as sticks and stones, and to engage in hand-to-hand strug- gles which were bound to result in both combatants hurling through space together to destruction. These des- perate and superbly heroic measures could certainly not have been antici pated by the German strategists, and it can hardly be wondered at that the Turks were utterly demoralized from the very outset. One Australian alone shot or bayoneted an enlire machine gun section on the beach and 'outed' the Maxim. He was shot through the jaw the next day. - ""The fact is we had been our heads off in Egypt, and had/been called "popular tourists" and/ other complimentary names, and when at last we got a real chance to do some- thing we couldn't hold ourselves in,' explained an Australian I met in the trenches. I have actually known a colonial to stroll calmly over the open ground in front of his trench apd se- cure part of one of his victims' equip ment as a trophy. We 'Nelsons' went {nto action just as the Kangaroos were taking a ridge. It seems incredible, but they took it at the point of the bayonet, singing 'Tipperary' all the way. Their magnificent spirit thrilled us all, but we are quite as much im- pressed by the cool self-reliance of the New Zealanders whose trenches we are now helping to fill. Of course the majority of the men comstituting the colonial forces are quite sccustom- ed to overcoming the natural obstacles presented by their particular kind of country. Still, it 1s not so in all cases, and many of those in the first landing party were town youths not out of their teens. Yet they fought as gallantly as the muscular as the latter eagerly testify. Turks Fine Snipers 3 "The art of sniping Fas been brough to the highest pitol of : the Turks under the of their German masters. Many of the snipe ers have man