i EVENING PUBLIC LEDGEll PHILADELPHIA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH a, lDlD' 9 i ' ( h r ,- hi" .- 1 MARIA BOTCHKAREVA SA VES 50 LIVES AND WINS ORDER OF THE FOURTH DEGREE Climbs Out of Her Trench, j;Goes Into No Mail's Land ' and Carries Her Com rades to Safety WJtilc V rider Fire fC0WlM. til), lu rrtitrltlt A Slokts to.J (thl try. told by Maria liotchkureMi atiJ tran.la.trd and transcribed by tunc Ion I.vlr,e. 1 published bv rmlrr'rk A 'loket Company under the till or "Yaahka. ) THIS STAHTS THE STORV In 1317 tho announcement of the formation by Maria Hotchkareva of tho Battalion of Death, a oman'H fllhtlng unit In tho Russian army thrilled the world, and an obscuro Russian peasant girl entered the In ternational hall ot fame. Tho earlier Installments told of her childhood. Forced to leave her husband on uc count of his Jealousy, she resolves to Join tho army and by special per mission of tho Czar enlists In an In fantry regiment. AND HERE IT CONTINUES T WAS an apt student and learned .il- most to anticipate tho orders of tho Instructor. When tho days labors would bo completed and the soldiers gathered Into Knots to while away an hour or two in games or slorv-tclltnc I wa3 always sourM after to partici pate. I came to like tho soldiers who were good-natured boys, and to enjoy their sports. Tho group which Yashka Joined would usually prove, tho most popular In tho barracks, and It was sufficient to securo my co-operation In some entorprlso to mako It a success. There wasn't much tlmo for relax ation, though, as we went through an Intensive training course of only three months before we wcro sent to the front. Once a week, every Sunday, I would leave tho barracks and spend the day at home, my mother having' reconciled herself to my holdlcring. On ' holidays I would bo visited by friends' or relatives. On ono such occasion , my sister and her husband called. I i had been detailed for guard duty In tho barrack that day. While on such ' duty a soldier Is forbidden to sit down or to engage in conversation. I wasl entertaining my Usttors when the company commander passed. ( "Do you know tho rules, Botch kareva"" he asked. "Yes, Your Excellency," I answered. What aro thcyV" "A soldier on guard duty is not al lowed to sit down or engage In con versation," I replied. He ordered me ' to stand for two hours at attention at : tho completion of my guard duty, which took twenty-four hours. Stand ing at attention, In full military equip ment, for two hours Is severe task 3turQ IU3K, as one has to remain absolutely motionless under the eyes of a guard,1 nn,l t.t It ! o nmrnnr, n,,nlvhTrri ...- JW- ... W....t.U.. ,.H... .... Durlnc mv tralnintr 1 was nunished In this manner three times. The second time it was really not my fault. One night I recognized my squad com-, mander in a soldier who annoyed me. ' , nnd I dealt him ns hard a blow as I I would have given to any other man. In the morning he placed me at atten tion for two hours, claiming that lie had. accidentally brushed against me. At first there waa some difficulty in arranging for my bathing. The bath house was used by the men, and so I was allowed one day to visit a public bathhouse. I found It a splendid op portunity for some fun. I came Into the women's room, fully dressed, and there was a tremendous outbreak as soon as 1 appeared. I was taken for .1 man. However, the fun did not last long. In an Instant I was under a bombardment from every- corner, and ,onIy narrowly escaped serious Injury by crying out that I was a woman. In the last month of our training we engaged in almost continuous riflo practice. I applied myself zealously to the acquisition of skill In handling a rifle and won a mention of escellcnco for good marksmanship. This con siderably enhanced my standing with the soldiers and strengthened our rela tions of iComradery. TheSlate of our departure was set Wo, received complete new outfits. I was permitted to go homo to spend the last night, and it was a night of tears and sobs and earnings. The three months I had spent in Tomsk as a soldier were, after all, remote from war. But now I felt so near tit that irreat exnerlenee anH tt nw.l me. I prayed to God to give me cour- crowu aml thcy catne to nd out age for the new trials that were be- what the excitement was about They fore me, courage to live and die like reported me to the commandant of tha a man station, who Immediately sent for Colo- . ' . nel Grlshaninov, demanding an expla- There was great excitement In the 1 nation. Hut the colonel could not sat barracks the following morning. It'isfs the commandant's doubts and was waa the last that we were to spend instructed not to send me along with (hern In foil martini .mitnm.n o we marched to the Cathedral, where we were sworn In again. There was a sol emn service. The church waa filled With people, and there was an enor mous crowd outside. The Bishop ad dressed us. He spoke of how the conn try was attacked by an enemy who MUght to destroy Russia, and ap pealed to us to defend gloriously the Osar and the motherland. lie prayed fer victory for our arms and blessed u. There was a spiritual linheaval antonr the men. AVe were all ho buoyant, so happy, so forgetful of our own lives ana interests, a no wnoie otty poured out to accompany us to ' ; tfc .UUon. an we were cheered and MMftea au a.ong- xiw route, i au 'me yt acn a boJy of men In auch ,mv" ; , . . ' ornmg. Woe to the Germans ( at k rAwK iiinr L.'nxin.- mignt nave encountercu us hwv Such was Russia, going to war Wt "rf Tl " , ,1 ''"' the Klfth Corps. He re Hunditds Of regiments like our own viewed us m the morning and was I .. . . were streaming- from east, north and sUth to .the battlefields. It was an hMh-Ing, elevating- Imperishable sped. . mother felt none of fhe ex - r that moved me, 'She.walked tth treet. beJ4a ny line, wcep- 9 4m MiK(fii' at" .aaMiCa. iW lxXWWWW aaaaaVaaWaaMaK$t7!i,aaVKflFHiaWfci--. -;: aaaaHK; mWmlfwmM i I aaaFSiaSrW' - TvhHB I KiLa- .eaaaaaaaaaaLaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaBt ref ' ;f -JHMBSilHHLHHBiliLLLLLLLHH Maria Ilolclikaroa wearinp some of all the ,airrl of t'r tliui-h t- rax c her daughter. "W.ike up, MnuiM.i "What an ou doing .' elm cried, But it was too late. The ardoi of war held ni j securely In its rnibr.u- Somewhere deep In my heart my beloved mother's walls found an echo, but m eyc. were dimmed with te.ir.s ot joy. And only when I bade my mother good by, hug ging and kissing Imt for what she felt was the last time, and boarded tho train, leading her on the platform In a heap frantic with grief, did my heart quiver In my breast and a tremor shake me from head to foot. My rcsoluti'nchs was on the point of melting as tho train pulled out of tho btatiun. I was going to war Introduced to iVo .1tm's Land Our train was composed of a number' of box cars and one passenger car. A D" car. Having two nunKS 011 cacn ..,.,,.., , ,, , ... ', ,,.. .v Them .,-,. nn win ' dows in a teplushk.i, as it Is eullv,'"K Hreplace-, repairing the caved In olllv a rnlHerleil frnlirllt c.ll Till- IMS- - - ..... ...... .- - I wngcr car was occupied uy the four olllcers of our regiment, including our new company commander. Orishanl- nov. He was a short, jolly fellow and t-00" on his men's love and lo. ilty ''aii niuch empty space , , passenger car ami the otllcei-s be. thought theinsehes to invite m to 'share it Willi them. When the Invi tation came the soldiers nil shook then- heads in disapproval. They suspected the motives of the otlicers and thought that Yashka could faro as well among them as among their superiors. "Hotchkareva," sJid Commander Orl shaninov. when I entered his car. "would 1011 prefer to be stationed in this carriage'' There Is plenty of , room." "No, Tour Excellency." T replied, saluting. "I am a plain soldier and it is my duty to travel as a soldier." "Veiy well," declaied the com mander, chagrined And I returned to my tcplushka "Yashka is back' Uood fellow, yashka' the bovs welcomed me en ,...- ,.w..w,, ,.r vii-1 Hinging somo itrons 1 illlcers. They wcro Im- thusidstlcally, epithets at the olll mqnsely pleased at the Idea that Tashka preferred their company in a teplushka to that of the odlceis In a . spacious passenger coach, and made a comfortable place for me in a corner , We were assigned to tins Second Anns then commanded bv General Clurko with hcadnuartets at Polotsk. I It took us two weeks to get there from Tomsk. General Gurko reviewed us at airnv headquarters and compli mented the officers upon the regiment's titness. We wero then assigned to the Fifth Corps lieforo we started the 1 word went out that there was a woman in our regiment. There was 110 lack of curiosity teekers Knots of soldiers gathered about m 'epliishka, peeped through the door and cracks In the sides to verify with their own eyes the 1 Incredlblo news. Then thy would 1 swear, emnhaslzing by spitting the In ' explicable phenomenon of a baba going 1 ' tho trenches to The attention of iinmA rsfllji)ici i"io ci 1 1 1" nlarl )t tlin "' '"" '" "'" "!'"". "" "l'ou can't go to the trenches. Uou-lv kaieva." my commander addressed me upon his lelurn from tne commana- uawii w-c wnuin miie me uuensive. ' ant "The general won't allow It Ho I addressed us with words of encour was much wi ought up over you and'agemeut and was heartily checicd. could not understand how a, woman 'The artillery had been thundering all could b a soldier" Kor a moment I wus shocked. Then the happy thought occurred to me that no general had the authority to over rule nn order of the Czar. "Your Excellency." I exclaimed to Colonel Grlshaninov. "I was enlisted by the grace of the Czar as a regular soldier. You can look up His Ma jesty's telegram In my record." . This settled the mutter and the com mandant withdrew his objections. There were about twenty versts to corns headuu-irters to be walked. The road was In a rriguttui conuuion.siicay and full of mudholes. We were so , ?- JaX" Stt! althoug-h fatlffued, made a dry seat ' for me with their overcoats, e then il-suiiicu uui luitt lii. J hi n u- , per at headquarters, and were billeted 1 ror he mgju ,n a stauie, We slept' nue dead, on straw spreau over tne floor. f!nnivil IIIIIV'AIF Vk U U fltII III extremely batlsfled. assigning us to the Seventh Division, which was sit uated several versts distant. The com mander of the division, by the name I of Walter, was of German blood and 1 a rascal of first rank. We were placed I during tne nig u .11 u.e ous - eommand of the- reserves was a I t'ploncl imtned Stube the many ilccoration the lias earned in.. n blnnci lmi .1 decent and popular olllcer When informed thai a woman w.ls In the l.inK.s of the muly arrived regiment he was amazed. 1 "A woman!" he cried out, "he can't be peiiulttcd to remain. This leglment Is going into battle mjoii, und women were not made for wai." Thcro was .1 heated dcussion be tween htm and Commander (Jiishani- nov. which ended in an order for my 1 appearance before them. 1 lecelvcd a thorough test and passed It well. I Asked if I wanted to take part In the light. 1 replied atllrmatlvely Mutter ing his wonderment. Colonel Ktuben dorf allowed me to remain till he looked Into the matter furtner A big battle was rnging at tho tune . on that section of the front. We were ' told to be uady for an order to move at any moment to the front Hue. .Meanwhile we were sheltered In dug outs Ms company occupied ten of esr;- '',' nomoprooi, "iusn not In lirst class condition. They were ,""" "" ,, , , " I !f,nn hk Ilin itnv hrnke wn busied 0111 helves with cutting windows, build- ceilings Ol limner Una nana .II1U BCI1 eral housecleanlng. The dugouts were constructed In rows, the companies of odd numbers being assigned to the row on the tight, white moo or even numbers went to the left. Signs were posted on tho streets and each com pany had a sentinel on duty. Our position was eight vcrsts behind tho flr.st line of trenches. Tin- boom-1 Ing of tho guns rould be lieaid In the ui.-Hrtiice. ireailis ui nuunui'u, nuiuc- , ion vehicles and others trekking along, on foot, Iloeil along the road. We drilled most of the time, the second I day watched 1 Colonel Stubcndorf, j He must have kept a close eye on me, 1 'for at the end of the drilling he called me, praised my efficiency and granted me permission to stay in the ranks On tho third day came the older to I move to tho trench lines Through' mud and under shells we marched for-1 wind. It was still light when we ar-1 rived at the firing line. We had twol killed and Ilvo wounded. As the Ger man positions were on a hill, they were I enabled to observe all our movements. . cnaDieu to oijserve an our movements. . We were, therefore, instructed by field telephone not to occupy the trenches till after daik , "o this is war," I thought. My , pulse quickened and I caught the bpirlt of excitement that pervaded tho regi ment We were all expectant, as if in I the presence of a solemn revelation. We were eager to get Into the fray to show (he Germans what wc. the bovn of the I-'lfth Regiment, could do. W ero we nervous" Undoubtedly Hut it was not tho nervousness of cowardice, rather was It the restlessness of young blood. Our haudH were sleiul.v. our bayonets fixed We exulted In our ad. ventuie Night uimp. The Germans ucie re leasing a gas wave at us Perhaps they noticed an unusual movement no hind the lines nnd wished to anni hilate us before we entered the battle Hut they failed Over the wire came the order to put on our masks Thus I were wo baptued In this most Inhuman 1 of all German war inventions Our I masks were not perfect. The deadly gas penetrated somo und made our eyes smart and water. Hut we were soldiers of Mother Russia, whose sons are not unaccustomed to lulf-suffouat-ing air. and so wo withstood the irri tating fumes The midnight hour passed. The com mander went through our lanks to In form us that the hour had come to 1 move Into the tienches and that before 'night, the fiie growing more and more Intense everv hour. In smglc file wo moved alon? a communication trench to the front line Some of us weie) wounded, but we remained dauntless. All our fatlguo seemed to have van ished. The front trench was a plain ditch, and as we lined up uloug It our shoul ders touched. The positions of the enemy were less than one verst away, and the space between was filled with groans and swept by bullets. It was a scene full of horrors. Sometimes an enemy shell would land In the midst of our men. killing several and wound ing many. Then we would be sprinkled; with the blood of our comrades and spattered by the mud. At 2 in the morning the commander appeared In our midst. He was seem- Ingly nervous. The other officers came with him and took their positions at the head of the men. With drawn sabers they prepared to lead the charge. The commander had a rifle. Skin Troubles Soothed With Cuticura All draggfottl Soap a Ointment 21 fc 60, Tilraa II. -.-..., .-.. ... W1 ...-,, mrwym, s mm." Soldiers See Evidences of German Treachery Among Their Own Offi cers in an Advance Where Barbed Wires Are Uncut "VIlteznT" (climb outl hit oke tang out I crossed myself. My heart whs filled with pain for the bleeding men around me and stirred by an Impulse of Havngs revenge toward the Ger man. My mind wa n kaleidoscope of many thoughts and pictures. My mother, death, mutilation, various petty Incidents of my life filled it. But there wag no time for thinking. 1 climbed out with tho rest .of the lioy, to be met by a hall of machine gun bullets. For a moment there wat. confusion, Bo many dropped around us, Ilkn ripe wheat cut down by a gigantic scythe wielded by the Invisible itrm of Satan himself. Fresh blood was chipping on the cold corpses that hud lain there for hours or days. And the moans, they were so heartrending, so piercing! Amid the confusion the voice of our company commander wo raised: "Korwardl" And forward we went The- enemy had petceived us go over the lop and he let loose hell. As we ran ahead wo tliwl Then the order came to lie down, The Iximbordmont grew even mom concentrated, Alternately run- Miss Perry, Fell in love The wall by There stood Its a hot chase for a man When a woman wants him 8 Radiant Stories 55 Articles 4 Full-Color War Pictures nlng for some dlstnnco and then lying down for n while, we Teached the cnemy'H barbed wire entanglements. ' U'n I . ii .1 r.t n1 t r fln.f fl.n... rlnmnl. l" 111,11 VA'IIIH 1" llllll l,l.ill lUHII'l- Ished by our artillery, but, ulasl tliry were untouched. Thiro were only about seventy of our company of 200 left. Whoso fault was It? This was an offensive 011 a twenty-verst line, rled out by three army corps. And lug in the night in expectation of res the barbed wire was uncut! Perhaps cue. tho deathly pallor of their coun our artillery was defective! Perhaps tenanccs. Could I remain indifferent It wns the fault of some ono higher to their pleas? Wasn't It my bounden up' Anyhow, there wo were, seventy iduty ns a soldier, us Important as that out or 2B0, And every fraction of n of fighting the enemy, to render aid to second was precious. Were wo doomed , stricken comrades'' to die here In a heap w-tthoitt tiven T clmbed out of the trench nnd coming to grips with the enonn 7 crnnIcd mulcr our r,. entanglements. Wereour bodes to dangle on this wire Thpre V1 u con,ttrntlve talm, Inter tomorrow, and the day after, to provide , rul)(e(1 onlv I)V occasional rillc shots. IUOU tor me crow-! imu sumo imui Int.. Ilin liani-lu rif the f I i-nll .nldlPfft who would take our places In a fewm hours? As these thoughts ilasnea tlirOUgU ntir mimic nn order came to retreat. dime io rcin-ui. Tim enemy let , .. . , Dnrragu uowii hi front of us. Tho worse than (he adancc. By the time we got back to our trenches there were onlv forty-eight of our company left alive. About a third of the 260 were dtad The larger part of the wounded were In No Man's Land, and their cries of pain and prnyera 101 help or death gae us no peace. The remnant of our company crouched In the trench, exhausted, dazed, incredulous, of their escape from Injury. We were hungry nnd thirsty and would have welcomed a dry and safe place to recover our poise. But theie we were. Mnartlng under the de feat by the enemy's barbed wire bar rier, with the heart-tearing appeals for t-uccor coming from our comrades. Deeper and deeper they cut Into my soul They were mi plaintive, like the voices of hurt children. In the dark It seemed to me that I saw their faces, the familiar faces of There are 8 radiant stories, cfetch absolutely different from the others, with Grace Richmond's new novel, too, the first part, tvan and Peter and Serge! and Mltla, the good fellows who had taken such tender enre of mc, making n comfort able place for me In that crowded te plushka or taking off their overcoats In cold weather and sprcmyng them on tho muddy road to provldi- n Cry sent for Yashka. They called me. J could sec their -hands ouinircicnra in my car-.direction, their wide open eyes strain . ,., t ,,i lip ,inwn nnd remain motionless, imitating a corpse. Within few roet or our line mere were wounded. I carried them one by one I. ,. rlrrn if Illlf- frT,Ill 4f,liait-i lllllV- ' . . ." . , . . ., ,..i.-i .... .,.i ,.i.. . i... , WCI13 IIIUKCU U, Mil 14 l-i I It-M 11, Vll 13 lHt. T,)e Bavil)B of one nlHtl stlmulatod me i to continue my labora till I reaohed Into tho far side of tho Held. Here 1 had several narrow escapes. A wound, 'made linoluntnrlly. was 'ttulllclent to attract several bullets, and only my anttcliiatlng that by flattening myself against the ground Husetl me. When dawn broko In the east, putting an end to my expeditions through No Man's Land, 1 had accounted for about fifty llxes. 1 had no Idea at the time of what I ' had accomplished, But when the sol diers whom I had picked up were brought to the relief station and asked who rescued them, about fifty replied, "Yahhka." This was communicated to the commander, who recommended me for an Order of tho l'uurth Degree "for distinguished valor shown in the saIng of manj llex under lire." (CONTINUED TOMOli'lOW) of New and got That was all right. But the Perrys were of a very exclusive set. Old family, and all that. And Schuyler's father was "in rope" out West. That jolted the Perrys terribly, to have "Daughter marry into trade." And the young people would insist on getting married. Then things began to happen, and Josephine Daskam Bacon shows us the effete East and the red-blooded West in full tilt, and you get a story that certainly moves 1 his bed opened a beautiful girl Take that, with a drugged dinner, a flight down a secret passage with the girl and a dark lantern, a wild horseback ride, a night in the woods, a duel in the morning, and you are carried breathlessly with knaves and knights and silks and swords through the golden book of romance that leaves you. wish it would go on and on and on. That's what Doughboy Whittaker experienced when he came back home from France. The town made him its hero: so did the town's most promi nent girl. And when she let him look into her heart, well, it beat the trenches! And he beat it on the midnight express, only to meet Girl and Adventure Number 2. She didn't let him look into her heart. In the glare of a shop window she lifted her dark glasses and bade him "Look at my eyes," and what he saw he could hardly believe. "He stood point-blank." 15 CENTS NONA McADOO'S HUSBAND WES I'. tic iMohrctiscliil(lt, Ktissintt, Succumbs Widow in Hopital ISeir YorU, March 5. Ferdinand do Molirenschlldt. who was for some tlmo second secretary of the Itussian em bassy In Washington, until the Itolshe vlkl revolution In November, 191", tiled of pneumonia 3,ei;lenJay at his home here, st the age of thirty-threo years. In 1017 ho married Mis Nona McAtloo, dauglrter of the then Hecretiiry of ttie Treasury, nnd sho Is III in a hospital In this city. Dependable Watches for Men I lie assortment v is large, offering an unusual oppor tunity for personal selection. The thin models arc most popular, particularly one of 14 kt. gold with an excellent Grucn movement radium numerals and hands $75. S. Kind & Sons, mo chestnut st.t DIAMOND MERCHANTS JEWELERS SILVERSMITHS v brk, engaged The 'Highest-in The Biggest in The Lowest in ' Mr. Mohrenschtldt was born In .Rev eal, Itussta, and was educated nt Alex ander l.jccum. n law school hi 1'ctrJ trad, and lti 11)07 lie ttok a position In the Russian Foreign Ofllce, rising to tho post of secretary of the Itussian em bassy at Constantinople In 1911, Three yenrs later ho was transferred ,to tho Russian legation at Athens, and In 1P15 ho went to Washington. Upon his res ignation In 1917 Mr. MohrcnHChlldt en tered tho service of tho United Stales shipping board, having charge vt tho Itussian bureau In Washington. Soon after the signing' of tha armistice he came to New York to Jive. A D Quality Size 156 pages Price 'if. '.. " "jPffsFV .-- jr ,i". V . ft "S.f i-V H
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