IVAN IN FRANCE.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7752, 22 July 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

IVAN IN FRANCE.

RUSSIAN CAMP AT MAILLY. WAY HOME THROUGH GERMANY. The Russian troops have come to France by sea, but their way back home Iks through Germany, ‘‘l told my men,” said, Colonel Nectchvolodoff, commanding tlio First Regiment, who showed Mr H. W arner Allen, the ofti-i-ini representative of the British Press with the French Army, round this soldiers' quarters, “after our interminable voyage,* that it was possible to bring troops such an enormous distance to tight, but that for nothing in the world would I consent to their i.- in | taJu m bn< Iby in. We in going to fight our way hac k to Russia by Is.ul, at the bayonet’s j»oint. . . . The men were delighted at the idea, because, Jike me, they hat? tffe sea.’’ At first glance the Camp do .Mailly, which lies about a hundred miles south-east of Paris, may differ not at all from any ordinary camp...commodious wooden huts ranged in orderly lines muddy open spaces, and nil the hustle of « amp life. But then the eye / Mis on the legimental colors, carefully ro'led and sheathed to protect them from the rain, standing in the uutre "i the huts allotted to the regiment with grey uniformed sentinel standing beside them motionless as ■ tatuU ‘ I day, sentinel P* aar/a the Colonel as he passes. In stentorian tones the sentinel replies, at the salute “At vour service, your Excellent y ' All is well.' THE RUSSIAN SPIRIT. Nothing is more typical of the Russian spirit than the relaticiis Ik*tween officers and men. They are pntriarciia', c»r rather paternal in the* r simplicity. Wherever the Colonel goes lie calls out his greeting, and the men reply u hearty unison. The Russians attach great importance to these formalities. “Our men,” said the Colonel, “arc quit/* happy so long we wish them good day, hut if we puss them by unnoticed they at o.ice c onclude that they have done something wrong, and 10 ignore them i.> a recognised sign of (10upprovnl.” The Russian soldier’s uniform is practical, simple, and admirably adapted for modern war. Tlv’se men, one and all, are well built and admirably drilled and disciplined. They como from all parts of Russia. 1 saw, for instance r.i this one regiment men from Irkutsk, in southern Siberia, from Brest l.itowsk, on the border of Russian Poland, and from the Caucasus. • No .s|>cciul selection, I was assured by the Russian officers, had boon exercised. “We have,” said one* officer, “a fair proportion of veterans among our men, as you can see from the medals worn by th/? licui-eommis-siojed officers. ” Without music- no Russian can be really happy, and every regiment has its c horns of s ngel's. At the Colonel s order a group of some two hundred men gathered, closely packed in a seini-circ'e. The leader of the c horus, supported by his best singers, stood ill the midst, and at a motion of Ids finger, tin* men very softly, almost whispering, broke into a soldier’s song. Then the 1 -.lotos swelled out, with the richness of an organ, until the song of parting been mo the song of victory. Even m ita most jubilant moment the haunting undercurrent of Russian nu lane holy never failed. CAlie could *.*,* on the faces of the men, written clear, the sorcery of music. Tin* voices died away, and after all nterval tho Ith wan singei - liegnji again. The song they had chosen this : imo n a* lighter and more jocular t lmn tlio first. It told the story of a soldier going to the wars and consulting a wizard I adore lie l went. Every now and then the chorus would put si question to the lender, who, sis tradition required wou'd answer with some improvised reply sometimes sung, sometim.s spoken. Then there were dances, the three U*st dancers of the I'lCgiineut. in their grey-green blouses and heavy hoofs, showing to us the original steps . nd figures whic h are the foundation c f the Russian ballet. CHURCH SERVICES. ft is at mass, however, that the Russian singing is best to he appreciate 1. 'l it.• men sing with childlike revereneo ind simplicity that is both touching .ind impressive. The service* ilsell w«H as simple as tU- men. Through it al’ there came the haunting refrain ol the I.italic. “Gospndi poiniloiii’ (liOrl have mercy), and the men sang with ail the sincerity of their souls. The priest, the regimental chaplain, was a striking figure in his robes ol ul.ite silk. With his long hair and i i [ a medieval picture, and his inert reverenced him with love and respect. H.‘ had been through the* whole campaign in Russia and wore about his neck a golden cross, a decoration that ha I he« n conferred upon him by the Em peror of Russia. A new detach nulit of Russian troops i mu h< .1 the Ca do Mailly, an l a luncheon has been given in honor . the newly-arrived officers by their comrades*»f the first regiments. Aft? lnm lieou tlr General reviewed the Russian troops, who produced a splendid impression by tlieif hearing and dis* i iplinc. TO A FLAPPER. J> -p i. a certain curious gawkiness Which mars the symmetry of hudding youth, Despite the ways that cause mo such distress. Being, to put it plainly, quite uncouth, J s *e the promise* of the coming days When yon shall queen it queenly maids among And grave reproofs of w ild and lawless w ays Shall iac?t no mor,e .w'th a protruded tongue. S ~ when I see you in your chair nspruvl. Careless of stockings punctured at this knee. Or hear vour footsteps clatter through ti l hall The while you chant sonic rag-tune melody. Os when you gaily purn the > -1“ - pearls i)j and t dom thnl -I 1 ! d 1 tvo you dumb, . . j lire chrysalids whose wings are yet Ind in those da ?s of peat e that y< t shall he I swe ! surprise I the dance all d mil /, I ui di d eye Yea, in tlio day 1 And stricken youths shall worslrp ~n ii adore* Whi’e I. r?m?inbering your fl.’ppe’*honH, ff possible, shall lovt yon all th» TOUCHSTONE