Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, June 21, 1903, Page 31

‘A | = = — B S T s —— —————— e The Russian Military Establishment ARTILLERY AY (Copyright, 1903, by Frank G, Carpenter.) PETERSBURG, June 9.—(Special Correspondence of The Bee.)—The czar 18 In favor of universal peace, but he has the largest army of the world. He has more officers than we have officers and men In our regu- lar army, and even in these piping times of peace his troops exceed 1,000,000. Should war be declared he could increage them to 6,000,000, and could put into the field 560,000 of the best horses in the world For the past thirty years military service has been obligatory upon all Russians, Jvery hoy on becoming of age is llable to service, and there 870,000 new recruits every year. Of these 219,000 are taken into the active army and fleet, and of the rest the majority go into the militia. They serve off and on until they are 43 years old, and are always ready to be called out in case of war., 1t takes a vast number of tioops to keep this great empire in order. The frontiers Are enormous, During the Chinese war 200,000 men were sent into Siberia and a great wa'l of fortifications has to be kept up along the western frontler to guard against ifnvasion from Europe. The fron- tier guard now amounts to 35,000 men, and In addition vast numbers have to be scat- tered throughout the varlous states and the Russian territories in Asla. These Russian soldiers come from every- where over the empire and they serve everywhere. Some of them are sent to Russian Turkestan, where they form part of camel troops taking long marches over the desert, Others are Cossacks serving in southern Russla and different parts of Asla, and also with the regular troops in other sections. There are Finns from Fine land, great Russians and little Russians, Tartars and Circasslans and Indeed so many races that some regiments could not possibly make themselves understood oute side their own army division. I see many, of the different characters here in St. I'e- tersburg. The uniforms are of all colors, Here Is a long-haired officer from the Cau- casus with a coat reaching down to his feet, there a Cossack with a cap of black astrakan making his head like that of the Medusa, and farther along a noble Russian in the swell uniform of one of his maj- esty's -pet regiments, I am much Interested In the Cossacks. They are dark-faced, rough-looking fellows from about the Black sea. There are about 3,000,000 of them, all told, and they furnish 160,000 men for the army. They are sent out by the various Cossack states, each of which equips, clothes and arms its own soldiers. They belong mostly to the cav- alry, and are among the, finest horsemen of the world, Indeed, it is said that the average Cossack can ride bareback, stand- ing up like the athlete of the circus. These men are professional soldiers, and the czar keeps as many of them as he can in the army. They are loyal, but are very independant, and are better treated than the other soldiers. They know but one thing— that is, to obey, and they will fight to the death. It was these Cossacks who gave Napoleon 80 much trouble when he re- treated from Moscow. They hung about him and kept up a continual attack. When the French soldiers threw away the gold und silver they had stolen at Moscow, the Cossacks gathered it up and gave it to the Kazan cathedral of 8Bt. Petersburg. It has been moulded into a silver fence and it now surrounds the altar of that church As It is now every family In the Russian empire has something to do with the army. There are In all about 25,000,000 families. They are recorded and a record is kept of all births and deaths. The ages of the boys are watched and every year a call is issued to those who are 21 to come forth for inspection. They draw lots and 250,000 of them are put Into the regular service, while the most of the others are assigned to the militia. Those in the active army serve five years and later on have eighteen years in the first and second reserves, The Russian army is one of the great clv- flizing forces of this country, The peasants are very ignorant, and there are but few DL, TYPR OF THE RUSSIAN BOLDIER. schools, Those drafted into the army are taught to read and write and they are sent back home with new ideas gotten through their service in different parts of the Rus- sian world. Indeed, the change is so marked that a man who has had military service can command 25 per cent higher wages in almost any pursuit than those who have not served. Russia has a large number of military schools. It has academies which will rank with West Point, and also subordinate schools for every branch of the service. There are three such schools in St. Peters- burg and one in Moscow. St. Petersburg has a cavalry school, an artillery school and a school for military engineering. Some of the best of the recruits get into these schools and they are also attended by the sons of the nobility and military officials. About 3,000 new officers are needed every year, and the increase of the service, owing to the pushing forward of matters in Asia, gives many chances for advance- ment, On the whole, however, there is little in- ducement for a poor man to go into the Russian army as an officer, and none what- ever for him to serve as a soldier. The common private does not receive, all told, more than 1 cent a day the year through, although his food and clothes are found. His regular allowance is little more than & rouble a year, but he has other extras which bring it up to a little less than $4. Think of $4 a year for spending money including cigars and drinks and you have the condition of 900,000 of Russia's men Of course many get money from home, but the families of others are too poor to send them any Do you wonder at the occa- slonal extortion? I don't. The officers are a little better pald, but not much. A lieu- tenant in the Infantry gets about $20 a year, a captain about $£300 and a major $460. The officers are expected to receive support from thetr familles, and if they marry it must be with girls who are rich. An Instance illustrating this occurred some years ago, when the daughter of one of our ministers to St. Petersburg wedded a Russlan officer. The officer came to America and before the wedding called upon his prospective father-in-law and de- manded a settlement. ““What setitlement do you want?' asked the old man, who was rich. “l want a settlement upon my wife," was the reply. ‘I suppose that you intend to give her something to support the family." “I had not thought of that,’” said the old man. “And how much do you think she ought to have?" “Well,” said the colonel with a hem and a haw, “it seems to me she ought to have about 100,000 roubles ($30,000), but 200,000 would be better."” “Indeed,” replied the old gentleman, “that is a good round sum, and such things are not customary here, but I will see about it. He did see about it, and as the story goes he ralsed $50,000 and put it in the bank before the wedding took place. I am told that most of the higher officers are rich. They are the sons of nobles or well-to-do families and they constitute to a large extent the aristocracy of the coun- try. They are spirited fellows and high livers. Many of them gamble and some are very extravagant. The soclal standard of military men is very high all over Burope, especially in Germany, where they are fast building up a military aristocracy. It Is less so here, and there is more chance for the ordinary soldier to rise to a good position. Russia has some excellent cavalry. The men ride llke Texas cowboys and their horses are among the finest in the world. The common cab horses of the Russian capital are better than the swell carriage horses of Washington. They are Orloft stalllons, as black as coal, with fine action and great speed. There are splendid horses all over Rus- sla, and indeed the empire has more horses than any other country in the world. Ac- cording to the statistics of our Agricul- tural department all the horses on earth number about 65,000,000 Russia alone has 20,000,000, or, estimating four persons to each family, about one horse to every family In the whole empire. The most of the Russlan horses belong to the peasant farmers, but a vast number are found on the steppes or high plains and in the lowlands. The steppe horses are speedy and have unlimited powers of en- durance. There Is a breed along the River Don produced by crossing the native horsae with the English thoroughbred, which is famous for its riding horses. The czar takes 5,000 of them every year for the cavalry. And then there are the Kalmuck horses bred by the wandering tribes of southeast- ern Russia and beyond the Caspian sea in Asia. They number about 3,000 in mares alone; they are noted for their cavalry qualities. The Kirghlz, who live over in Asia, but are governed by Russia, have something like 4,000,000 horses, and the peasant farmers of Russia have horses which will serve in time of war. Kven the commonest of the plow animals are good trotters and they are made to go like the wind. The chief racehorse here is the Orloft trotter, a breed originated by Prince Orloff, who imported Arabian and English stal: lions and crossed them with Dutch and Danish mares. The czar spends vast sums in the ime provement of the Russian horse. He has a board of horse breeders which takes charge of the government studs. The finest of Arablan and English horses are imported, and also British, French and Prusslan draft horses. The best of these are sent to different parts of the empire. In aadition there are thirty-one state stables under the management of the chief of this board, which furnish stallions to the farm dis- tricts free of charge. There are many pri- vate societles for horse improvement and about 2,300 private stables. Many of the cavalry horses are bought at the horse falrs, which are held every spring and fall In different parts of Russia, and especially in the stock-raising centers. The horses as a rule are cheap, an ordinary one for general purposes bringing $30 or $35. The Russian empire 1s well fortified. Poland is defended by four strongholds and there are numerous other forts along the European frontier. Finland has many for- tifications, and there are great forts at Kronstadt guarding the capital. T passed the latter forts as I came here. 'They are on an island at the end of the St. Pectors- burg and Kronstadt canal, and near them are the headquarters of the Russian navy. From this island to the mainland are a number of smaller islands, each with a fort upon it, forming a string of fortifications rising as it were out of the water. The islands look like mighty floating batteries. Within the last few years Russia has been building great forts in Asia. I was in eastern Siberia just before the war with China and Japan. There were something like 50,000 men there at that time and enor- mous fortifications had been erected about Vladivostock. Port Arthur is now strongly fortified. It is about ten miles from Dalny, the Russian commercial metropolis at the Manchurian end of the Transsiberian road and is the czar's naval station in the far east. There are forts about the Black sea and in the Caucaus, =o thut there is little danger of the empire being surprised. Every one fears the Russian police, and the average tourist who comes imagines that spies are always tagging at his heels. As far as I can see neither the police nor the army are anything rominent o c! ) :’my ARk ;hnrr;':nlm:hl:(‘s:. Petersburg as jerman po'iceman is P'Vnrywhera. The Russian policeman, provided you have a passport and registep it properly, does not bother you. He s a very decent fellow and minds his own busge (Continued on Page Sixteen.) here like so