53(3 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC .MAGAZINE 



i from Cody Marsh 



THE SIBERIAN CHILD S ENTHUSIASM FOR SWEETMEATS AND KNICKKNACKS IS NO 



LESS -MARKED THAN THAT OF YOUNG AMERICA 



three days previous to my arrival they 

 had had nothing to eat except some howls 

 of hot water, with a few cabbage leaves 

 for flavor. 



The sick were suffering greatly for 

 want of medicines. The Russians could 

 give them nothing because they had noth- 

 ing to give: and I believe the officials 

 were as grateful as were the war pris- 

 oners for the timely aid. for the venom 

 of the World War was a thing of the 

 past. 



When the "pink" Bolsheviks, or Social 

 Democrats, got control of Siberia last 

 January one of their first official acts was 

 to free all of these prisoners and give 

 them at least a chance to shift for them- 

 selves. 



A BASIS FOR FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN 

 AMERICA AND SIBERIA 



Every one remembers how the Czecho- 

 slovak prisoners oi war. when released 

 by the Russians, organized an army and 

 fought for their erstwhile captors. When 

 the Bolshevik specter came, this little 

 army went from Samara to Vladivostok 



under the "Boy General" Gaida and swept 

 Siberia clean of the Bolshevist menace 

 for the time being. Siberia owes it to 

 this little army that she has not known 

 the cruelties and exaggerations of red 

 Bolshevism ; and the Czechoslovak Re- 

 public likewise owes much to this little 

 army. The bravery and accomplish- 

 ments of these lithe, disciplined men un- 

 doubtedly gave impetus to the national 

 aspirations that finally realized a new 

 democracy. 



Americans will be gratified to know 

 that the" behavior of the American Ex- 

 pedition has laid the foundation for a 

 wonderful friendship between America 

 and Siberia. YVe did not gain this favor 

 by prowess at arms, but by our ability 

 t( i mind our own business. While many 

 of us never knew why we were over 

 there, we know that we left with the 

 good will of the Siberians. The only 

 sense in which they were glad to see us 

 g i was in the sense that a man would 

 like to have even his best friend out of 

 the house while he settles a little quarrel 

 with his wife. 



