The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-05-10
European Progress EncOun-
tiers Asiatic Reaction.
A General Review Of the Imperialist and
Other Interests in the Territory
Of the Khanate.
GOOD QUALITIES OF RUSSIAN SOLDIERS.
A Herald Correspondents observations
at the Boundary which Separates
Western Civilization from
Eastern Barbarism.


The labor which l have undertaken is one
fraaght with difficulty and danger. The absolute
refusal of the Russian authorities to countenance
the presence either Of English, German or Amcri-
can correspondence refusal never for moment
relaxed-has, Of necessity, placed great weight
upon my shoulders shall, however, do my best
70 carry 1t successfully. But at the outset must
not be accused OF want of clearness or cand0r II
am sometimes vague as to the exact dates OF my
letters the places whence they are forwarded to
you.
The shadow Of doom is deepening over Khiva 1t
~ towards the end OF March when my plans being
formed, start on my journey. The rost, winch
delays the march Of the columns, makes the roads
nrm for the transport OF materfel; and North and
South, East and West, preparations are going on
with silent, deadly accuracy, as full OF sinister
meaning as the tap Of hammer and mallet
upon the unfinished scaf1old in the stiffness
OF the night before execution. And
the general tone OF public feeling amply bears
ont the comparison. There is no Boosting or ex-
ultation-only quiet, stern satisfaction, such as
men may feel on witnessing the punishment OF
dangerous malefactor. No one can say that the
blow has come too soon. Twice has the Khan been
marked out for destruction, and twice have cir
cnmstances interviewed to delay the stroke; but
now his time is come, and he must CO. The safety
Of India does not depend upon the impunity Of
gang OF banditti nearly two thousand miles away.
When man sweeps the snow from your doorstep
you do not usually begin by asking whether he did
90 with the view OF breaking into your house; and
when the highways OF Central Asia are cleared of
she rufians who now obstruct them it will be
time enough to begin shuddering in anticipation
over dangers that may never occur. No
man can clog the wheels of the worlds
progress with impunity. The theory that
man lives not for himself, but for
the State, has little weight in the East while pro-
mulgated only by unarmed missionaries and soil
tary travellers; but when preached in the thunder
Of cannon and pointed by the lunge of bayonets it
becomes wonderfully convincing. And such preach
lng-cruel as 1t may seem TO say so-must have its
way II the world is to advance. When l stood,
eighteen months ago, on the verge of the plain OF
Jericho, and watched the black swirl OF the Jordan
rushing headlong into the puseless crystal of the
Dead Sea, saw true type Of the two great divis-
Ions OF mankind The history Of the European
races nows like o mighty river-turbid, indeed,
violent dark with war and revolution, but still
tilizing, full OF life forever moving onward. The
Semitic world lies like tideless lake-vast, deep,
beautiful to look upon but inert and useless as a
buried treasure That the two may perform their
appointed WORK they must thoroughly amalga-
mate, but the time for such fusion is not as yet.
And these
6TALwART FELLOWS IN GRAY FRIEzE
who are loungng under my window as write, are
no unworthy pioneers Of such a mission. 1t is too
much the fashion nowadays to undervalue the Rus
sian soldier. He is not comely to look upon, this
square, l0w-brOwed, heavy-looking man from the
Ear North; but he has dogged courage, a grim,
accomplishing endurance, q quiet power Of ebe-
dience to the death worthy OF Regulus Leonidas.
have spoken with the last survivors Of those who
stood in the great redoubt OF Borodin and rode in
appreciate the remark Of Frederick the Great after
ZOrnd0rf, when You fight Russian you have to
XIII him first and strike him down afterwards.n
soldiers that Russia has produced, to watch play
representing one Of the last battles with the cir.
revealed by the 6tful moonlght-the ghostly
silence, broken suddenly by the thunder OF charg-
Ing NOTES.-The wild yell and headlong rush Of the
mail-cad cavary-the granite firmness OF the gray
coated ranks behind their hedge OF steel, from
ne ana 1ne anu CRACK OF
Tcherkesse squadrons, and their spectral disap-
pearance into the shadows OF the mountains
there was volume of history in that one spectacle
And so, apparently, thought the veteran beside
me, who, passing his hand over the scar OF the
Circassian sabre. muttered In grim approval,
s'That's right, my boys, stand frmr
WHAT rs THE RUSSIAN PLAN9
As regards the advance OF three columns upon
Khiva, the general opinion seems to be that the
KrasnovOdsk column will arrive first the Tashkent
second and the Orenburg "a bad third the latter
same route which General Perovski's reverse in
1889 has made SO disastrously memorable The
will move westward along the Kapkantash range,
striking the Oxus, probably near Kipt:
Rnxs was IN MOSCOW ss north when
left that the Krasnovodsk column was to start not
from Krasnovodsk but further to the south, via
but infinitely preferable route, lying through a
friendly and fertile erritory-tnstead Of the dresry
probably muster about 1900 men-ampy sum-
cient In the eyes of those who remember with
What nandiuls Of men the Russians won the battles
As regards Khiya itself very little seems 10 6e
MN. Danilevski and vambery differ widely respect
more than 1900 or 1000 souls While the % other he
speaks OF the town as containing 1000 houses and
npwa,rSs Of 1900 Inhabitants NJ Daneys
nine. In NJ. Khanikod's plan Of the town own
she outer wall is marked as feet high by feet
thick at the base, and surrounded by a deep moat:
while M. Danilevski gives the wall the height OF
% feet, with thickness OF rs, and says nothing
which can be considered as definitely ascertained
respecting this mysterious place are, that It Is
na Of saseS claw sne y e
gardens and containing IL mosques, % SCHOOLS
and 200 shops; that IL is surround by wal four
miles in extent, within which another wall with
circuit OF about mile forms the CITADEL enclosing
the Khans palace and other public buildings
Since the alarm OF the Russian invasion began to
spread efforts have been made to strengthen the
f0rtifcati0ns, land guns have been mounted upon
the various towers; but II the walls be of the
same pattern as those which have seen In the
fenced cities OF Arabia or OF Northern Palestine
all that the invaders will need to do is to let the
Khivans IRE their first salvo, and then rush in as
the ramparts or Khiva, like those Of Jericho
fall down nat before them.
WILL THEY sUBMITp
Various reports are anoat. Some confidently
assert that the Khlvans are only waiting till the
last moment to make their submission, and that
the tswn viii in all probability surrender without
nrng shot Others maintain that the Khan will
insure his own safety by flying to Meshed and seek
tng shelter there. For myself l place no great
faith In either theory. The race whose hand is
against every man are not the men to yield with
ont blow; and the spirit OF the ancient Uzbegs-
sthe lords OF all That passed through the desert-