Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1917)
MEDF01W MATL TRTRTTNTT, i MTTDlTORfl, ORECi ON', ' TTI UR ftT A Y; ' frKPf KMBTCR 2(V 1917 vxav, three SLAV iVIOUJIKS BRAINS SAYS RUSSELL Russiarj Peasants Described Inti mate Lives of Muscovitee Masses Influence of Long Sub-Arctic flights How They Learn Prohib Ited Political Facts Secretly. This is nnothcr of the series of ar ticles by Charles Kdwnrd Russell, who has just returned from Russia, where ho spent three months as u iii"inlicr of the official United States commission to the now Russian gov eminent. (By Chariot Edward KursoU.) (Copyright 1917 by the Newspaper En terprise Association.) The peasant is the baekbono of liussin also the amis, hands, heart and a lot of the brain. Wo think of him as a queer erca- Tfrure with tousled hair growing low over his eyes, a thick tangled jungle of a beard ,a blouse with a belt around it high boots nnd an air of foolish, doddering good nature. We think of him this way, if at all, lic oauso this is the way he always bns been pictured for us and we stick to tradition, every time. Also, we think ho is very ignorant. Why notf There are no schools in Russia, you know, and the whole population is illiterate. It is a very barbarous country. A few persons of the better order arc nice, but the moujik, or peasant, is the human limit, lie used to be drunk all the time. Perhaps now that vodka is abolished, or said to be abolished, he lias'nis sober intervals, but nil the travelers nnd nil the writers agree that the moujik is the human limit and what is the use of having liter ature if it gives us always the wrong ' steer? Piii.iuiits Can Read. If this notion about the peasant, winch is still held by many of us that ought to know better, were cor :. root, you could say good night to Russia. It would be all off there and . jpthc correspondents that belong to the i "C Amalgnmnted Hons of Gloom would linvo good reason for their low-pres- bin o stuff. Eighty per cent of the S $ people of Russia arc peasants, nnd 5 a if Iheso arc besotted and ignorant we y might as well give up Imping for her .. and think about something else. - s. Hut it isn't true; it isn't anything near the truth. The typicnl Russian .i peasant isn't a Harvard graduate, if that fact gives you grief, and he doesn't know anything about differ ential calculus or Greek roots, lie never enrried a cane with n big bulg ing end and was never under the en lightening influences of the Eulii JPiecc of l'io fraternity. Hut as a j. gci.tral rule now be can read or has someone in hisTainily that can, and he always bus a good mind and very often an amazing stock of good com mon sense. .f There are other ways of training the mind besides learning (and speedily forgetting) bow to rend the Anubasisy, or wenrtng on your coat lapel the pin of a Greek letter soci . etv. 'J'lin Russian long winters nnd the VjHMisHnt's mode of life have combined 4nlo educate htm without many books - or learned professors. 1 Ho lives in a village, always. There is no such thing, so fur as I know, as a fanner that lives remotely on his V. farm. Village life bents isolated . farm house life all to bits. Loneli lrrvs atrophies the average human . mind; association with your fellows :? keeps it in motion nnd being. II J thoro are only 10 persons in your j village that is 10 times better than communing always wun yourscii. Influence of Climate. Russia is a very northerly country. A lot of it lies close to the Arctii circle, or within. In the summer at I'ctrograd the light is never out of tho northwestern sky before the new day begins in the northeast. In June nnd July there are a few weeks when no artificial light is used in tin streets nil night, nnd none is needed in the houses that have good win dows. But the oilier, way about, a winter day in Russin is shorter than your V mother's pie crust. It is over before it bns well begun. It has Wuitticr's description in "Snow Hound'' hentcn off the mnp. "The sun that brief December day," savs Whitticr, and in Russia there usually isn't am' sun to it. A gray light wnrms up about 10 a. m. and quits in a weary, di trusted fashion at 2 p. m., und Unit's nil. Duyliihl hn gone off the job until the nest, morning at 10. Of course, in these conditions farm work praeticnlly censes in September nnd doesn't get started again until March or April. The farmer has close to his house in the village hi.- horse, cows and piirs. Wlien be has fed those and put the wood handv to be thrown into the big brick oven that heats the whole house he has nothing else to do. Heating the house, bv tho way, is easier than you miirlit think, consid ering the fiendish climate. The house is n li i it nt logs curciuiiy inmnicn anil fitted together and every clunk caulked airtight with moss and ulas ter, so that not a breath of cold air can penetrate. The windows are dou ble and enulked like tho timbers. The .house is small nnd Hip room in" it scanty. Tho brent brick oven easily keeps the temperature nt 70 or above. And T may say that no na tional yearning for fresh air in win ter complicates tho heating problem in any way. Peasant' Industries. It is to these long nights of idle ness that Russia owes two develop ments that have been invaluable to her the spread of information among the peasants and '.ho perfect ing of what are called the pcensants' industries. There is nothing to do but to tnllf, to enrve thin"-. t" ""' nd to knit. So the pcasnnts do all these at tin same time. They sit in a row, talking and working. Everv scrap of knowledge possessed by one becomes the com mon property. In tho old days of the poisonous czar every effort was made to keep the people from knowing anything that might stir them to revolt. For a long time the policy was absolute ig norance of everything except how to plant, reap and serve the czar. After the revolution of 1005 and the insti tution of the dunui a change was forced and schools became common The great object of government then was to supervise and control this ed ucation nnd to that end no books, magazines or newspapers were allow ed in the country except such as the government approved Story of Revolution. A peasant that could read secret ed prohibited literature and rend it by stealth to hjs working compan inexpeniWpackaqe-all the value i7m the cigarette ft i 1 1 1 ML ., '. , , j. the bigget iillmq high grade cigarette m the world ions. A peasant that beard prohib ited doctrine in one village repeated it in another. The men and women sat and carved and wove nnd knitted and absorbed day after day the phil osophy of freedom. To givo but one illustration, a chapter in history that the czar nar ticularly desired to have kept from his peole was the American revolu tion. Tho story of it spread over an Russin. The soil was pood. The natural instincts of the Russians are all dem ocratic. For centuries their land was a collection of small republics. Every timo they heard of n struggle for lib erty iinywhero the lesson e.iine home to them and slowly under tho watch ful eyes of the nolieo the revolution ripened. The long nights nnd the vil lage gatherings miulo their school house and tuition. Without them there might bnvo been no revolt. The czar and tho police spy might have reigned on indefinitely. F AMERICAN HEADQUARTERS IN FRANCE, Sept. 19. (By the Associ ated Press.) Brigadier General George B. Duncan and Major Camp bell King are the first American of ficers to receive the war cross in the French awards growing out ot Ameri can participation in the rocont Verdun offensive, when they acted as observa tion oficers in forward artillery posts. Whether tho officers will be permit ted to accept the decoration Is not known. The citation for Gonoral Duncan reads: "He assisted our forces under cir cumstances of extreme danger during a very violent bombardment at Ver dun." A piece of shrapnel struck tho steel hat of the officer. , Major King also visited the forward 1 dressing stations. RENCH WAR CROSS wit- of the beI: tobacco-properly blended 2 IN E Young Officers Making Good and En listed Men Showing Wonderful Ap titude in Learning Trencli Warfare : Methods From French Instructors Almost Ready to Meet Germans. BY C. C. LYON. WITH TI1ID AMERICAN TROOPS IN FRANCE, .(Coutroto Americain), Sept. 20. Tho American troops havo now had three mouths training In France. What aro the big outstanding fea tures? 1. General Pershing Is fast de veloping his forces Into a real fight ing machine. 2. Young offlcars from the Amer ican training camp schools ere mak ing good with a whoop. , 3. The enlisted men aro showing wonderful aptitude In learning trench warfare methods from their French instructors, . At High Speed. In developing tho American troops into a high speed, enthusiast!! war machlno, Gen. Pershing and Gen. Sl bcrt make an ideal combination Slbort is field commander of the first expedition. Pershing has furnished tho iron discipline that was ueoded by the new army. Slbert, now afoctlonately called "Papa" Sibert, by his men, has fur nished the pats on the back. Pershing recently visited his troops. Since ho went back to Paris there has been a general clicking of heels; IF DEVELOPING REAL WAR MACHIN r r i a 4 i for 1154 iqf (leers give their commands with' jhore pep and tho men go thru their work with more energy and ear nestness; there has been a noticeable perking up In personal appearances; and the wholo military works have moved more swiftly and smoothly. Pershing is a commander With a big punch. Nothing escapes his eagle evo. Ho knows exactly what is noed cd to put the American army on a par with tho French and English. American Aptitude. Of course, tho final succoss of the American army In France Is going to dopend, not on the generals who command, but on the enlisted men themselves the bos who'll "go ovor tho top" and into the Gorman trenches. ' Alroady, tho French marvel at the aptitude of the average American prl vato at bis quick wit and his ability to grasp and master new things. In a hand grcnaae class the other day tho distance became so great that the French instructors thought the Amorlrans couldn t put tho grenades ovor tho barriers, . But tho American boys, every last one of whom had played baseball since ho was knee-high to a prnssbopper, stepped up and hit the bull's eye with the grenades. Most folks back home Imngtno it may take months to prepare "our boys" for this war game. Not at all. If he keeps up the pace he is now going, tho Germans may meet htm very, very soon. PEACE SHARES BOOM STOCKHOLM, Sept. 2 0,r Condi tions In Russia occasioned a small peace boonj this week on German stock markets. So-called peace shares, such as shipping and colonial stocks, made gains, while munition stocks were correspondingly depressed. The movement, howevor, according to Ber lin and Hamburg newspapers, was on a 'limited scope. i .'.I. E LENS COAL MINES CANADIAN HEADQUARTERS IN FRANCE, Seept. lit. Sharp outpost actions occurred west of Lens yes terday and today, in which tho enemy wero the aggressors. Tho objective of today's skirmish wus a house in tho western part of Lens, occupied by us us an outpost.'' Lust night a strong parly of Germans attacked tho bouse, but, were driven off. They re turned to tho attack in stronger i'orco and captured tho house Tho Can adians who bad held it at onco or ganized a counter-attack, driving out thu Germans. Artillery activity has been greater today, aided by brilliant sunshine, than for several days. The tendency of tho enemy already noted to devote, moro attention to shelling our buck areas with long-range, high velocity guns increases, as does bis use of gas shells in sections where non-combat ants live. Tho object apparently is to terrorize mine workers nnd their families and make more difficult the work of raising coul. Beyond a doubt, in no part of the western front, not even at Verdun it self, has thero been so prolonged and steady n gunfire maintained during tho past thrco years as around Yp'res. This trngio city of tho deud looks hideous, but it doubtless is true that in tho moonlight, when the shad ow8 of pinnacles nnd mounds of crumbling stone that mark tho site of tho Cloth hall, one of tho chief ar chitectural glories of the middle ages, inn upon tno granil place, Ypres has a beauty that not all the malevolence of tho pcoplo can de stroy. John M. Scott, general passcngor ago tnof the Southern Pacific, Is in i the city today from Portland. ty S G1vft a brilliant trios? shine that Iff doe not nib off or dust o if that annralH to the Iron that lasts lour m times kb long as any other. I Bl Black Silk Stove Polish Is (n a ctaui by Itfldf. It's mora m tttu liy m ado and m uUo from better tnaurtatu Try It on your parlor (ova, your cook am vr your iiiva rung If yon don't find it thu bust polish you cvur uii ud, your hardware or groet'ry d idler ia authoriMt to re fund your moi-ay. 9mnatn tr u nM , Rogue Elk Resort Located at mouth of Elk creek, on the Rogue. Best fishing grounds, good ' bunting, experienced guides, best accommodations. Splondtd place - for week-end va cation, information at Valley Ga rage, Medford. Your Picnic Lunches v use Puritan Maid Butter Make jrour lunch the finest you ever ate by using the purest and best butter on tho market.1 - PURITAN MAID BUTTER ASK YOUR GROCER Tires have1 been tried out and proven the best on the market. See them at ; .111 -.l. Riverside Garage Farm Loans From the Common School Fund, 10-ycar loan, 6 uer cent Interest, From the Rural Credit Funds, 10 to 36-year Loan, 5 percent Interest, Loan from either fund can be paid at any time. Money ready upon approval of se curity and title. O. C. BOGGS Atty. for State Land Board mm Wiregrip WESTON'S Camera Shop 208 East Main Btroet, Medford The Only Exclusive Commercial Photographer in Southern Oregon, Negatives Mado any timo o? place by appointment. Phone 147-J. Well do the rest. ... J B. PALMER.
