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 size to follow immediately. Czecho-Slovaks find pleasure in working for their countryman, and about three-fourths of the present force are of that race. Mr. Vlchek is ambitious to see all his employees advance, and, regarding mastery of the English language as essential to this, he has classes in English in the factory and throws all his personal influence in favor of education and progress. The famous “Message to Garcia” was translated into Bohemian at Mr. Vlchek’s expense, and by him distributed to his men.

The Forest City Brewery is a Czech concern, the Bohemians being famous as brewers. The American saloon is a feature of the Americanization of the Czechs which has been greatly to their disadvantage. In the old country the “hospoda” was a social place where a man went in the evening, often with his family, sat at a table with a table cloth, his friends at the next table, drank a glass or two of beer, listened to the music, looked at the new journals, and went home rested and refreshed. In America, where drinks are taken standing and without the social adjuncts, the tendency becomes of course to drink too much and to use stronger drinks. The saloonkeeper who knows the old country customs, adopts the American first because it is the style in this country, and then because he finds that he can make more money. While there is much regret for the good Bohemian beer, there is no good Czech who regrets the departure of the American saloon.

Cleveland Czechs and the War. To give any adequate account of the part of Cleveland Czechs in the great war would require a volume in itself. The break up of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was achieved by the Czechs within the kingdom, and they had courage to stake all on the throw because they were supported by the Czechs in America, of whom the Cleveland Czechs are an important part. The Czecho-Slovak army in Russia was financed by American Czechs, Cleveland alone having contributed a quarter of a million dollars to the cause. Ven Svarc and Joseph Martinek of this city spent the year 1917 in Russia, and Mr. Martinek is now in Siberia, where his mission is to carry news and comfort to the Czecho-Slovak army, who, without opportunity of returning home after a year of peace are in danger of feeling themselves deserted and abandoned by the Allies to whom they brought success.

Three hundred and fifty men went from Cleveland to join the Czecho-Slovak army in France. The following is an incomplete list of the Cleveland Czechs who, in the Czecho-Slovak and in the United States armies, received decorations for valor: