WHAT THE RUSSIANS FOUND
Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
LONDON, April 3.—The London Times under date Przemysl, March 30, publishes a dispatch from Stanley Washburn, its special correspondent with the Russian armies, who, by courtesy of the Russian high command, is the first foreigner to visit the great Galician fortress since its fall. He says:
Przemysl is a story of an impregnable fortress two or three times over-garrisoned with patient, haggard soldiers starving in trenches, and sleek, faultlessly dressed officers living off the fat of the land in fashionable hotels and restaurants.
The siege started with a total population within the lines of investment of approximately 200,000. Experts estimate that the fortress could have been held with 50,000 or 60,000 men against any forces the Russians could bring against it. It is probable that such supplies as there were were uneconomically expended, with the result that when the push came the situation was at once acute, and the suffering of all classes save the officers became general. First the cavalry and transport horses were consumed. Then everything available. Cats were sold at 8 shillings, and fair-sized dogs at a sovereign.
While the garrison became thin and half starved, the mode of life of the officers in the town remained unchanged. The Café Sieber was constantly well filled with dilettante officers who gossipped and played cards and billiards and led the life to which they were accustomed in Vienna. Apparently very few shared any of the hardships of their men or made any effort to relieve their condition. At the Hotel Royal until the last, the officers had their three meals a day, with fresh meat, cigars, cigarettes, wines, and every luxury, while, as a witness has informed me, their own orderlies and servants begged for a slice of bread.
There can be no question that ultimate surrender was due to the fact that the garrison was on the verge of starvation, while the officers' diet was merely threatened with curtailment. Witnesses state that private soldiers were seen actually to fall in the streets from lack of nourishment. The officers are reported to have retained their private thoroughbred riding horses until the day before the surrender, when 2,000 of them were killed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Russians. A Russian officer of high rank informed me that when he entered the town hundreds of these bodies of beautiful thoroughbred horses were to be seen with half-crazed Austrian and Hungarian soldiers tearing into the bodies with their faces and hands smeared with red blood as they devoured the raw flesh.
Map showing the scene of action between Przemysl and Cracow and the Carpathian Passes.
The Russians were utterly amazed at the casual reception which they received. The Austrian officers showed not the slightest sign of being disconcerted or humiliated at the collapse of their fortress.
The first Russian effort was at once to relieve the condition of the garrison and civilians. Owing to the destruction of the bridge this was delayed, but soon with remarkable efficiency distribution depots were opened everywhere and the most pressing needs were somewhat relieved.
The entire conduct of the siege on the part of the garrison seems wholly without explanation. The Austrians had throughout plenty of ammunition, and they certainly grossly outnumbered the Russians; yet they made but one recent effort to break out, which occurred three days before the surrender.
Civilians inform me that they gladly welcome the Russians and that the first troops who entered were greeted with cheers, while the garrison was frankly pleased that the siege was over and their troubles at an end.
As an example of overofficering it may be stated that General Kusmanek had seventy-five officers on his staff, while General Artamonov, the acting Russian Governor, had but four on his immediate staff.
The removal of the prisoners is proceeding with great efficiency. They are going out at the rate of about 10,000 a day. The docility of the captives is indicated by the fact that the Russian guards attached to the prisoners' columns number about one for every hundred prisoners. They are all strung out for miles between the fortress and Lemberg. The prisoners are so eager to get out and to see the last of the war that they follow the instructions of their captors like children.
All the civilians as well as prisoners I have talked with are unanimous in their praise of the Russian officers and soldiers, who have shown nothing but kindness and delicacy of feeling since their entrance into the fortress. This consideration strikes me as being utterly wasted on the captured officers, who treat the situation superciliously and are quite complacent in their relations with the Russians.