The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1885-05-08

lucy Whuteu. OH EeteI 1uul5usn WiGe'
: for months for the Russian Commissions
, to come. But one excuse after anothe
came in his stead, and the Commissions
has never left st. Petersburg. For thu
military advance there never was tn,
slightest excuse, no hostility having taker
place from the Turcomans, and no reason
has been given, the only conceivable ont
4 being the fact that Russia had determined
on making the most Of the situation at anJ
price. Thus the Russian army has pushed
itself more than one hundred miles further
South than the frontier line claimed by III
own army maps, no excuse being tender.
ed for the aggregation; and atpresent the
Russian outposts are In position less than
one hundred miles from Herat, the city
that the English and Indian press and
people have always regarded as the most
vital point in the military topography oil
the country. .I.r'.
TIE IMPORTANCE OF IRR4r.
AS Herat has always been regarded as
the key OF India, the author deYotes some
space to q description OF the city, and the
reasons why it Is considered SO important,
the whole being summed up in para
graph penned in 1852, by General Skobel-
Ell, then chief OF the Asiatic branch Of the
general staff Of the Russian army: "a
body Of European troops stationed ct He
rat, and standing with It's front 10 the
southeast, would draw upon it the atten-
ton Of the whole population OF India. In
that lies the significance OF military oc-
cupltion OF Herat; and II is not without
rea son that number OF English experts,
knowing India well, have expressed their
belief that were an enemy 10 occupy He
rat with powerful force, the English ar
my, without having fred ahot, might
consider itself hall beaten" Another au-
thor quoted by Mr.. Marvin says: "Herat
Is a very large city, and does not yield in
size TO any In Central Asia. II contains
$4,000 people. II has from the earliest
times been considered strategetic point,
has been fifty times taken, fifty times de
stroYed, and fifty times has risen from its
ashes.n Mr.. Marvin himself gives the fol-
lowing description OF the city and
| its surroundings: "The city stands
on tho right bank Of the hari
Kud, from which water Is brought
by several channels. It is built in the
form OF n rectangle, the north and south
faces being abou' 1900 and the east and
west faces each about 1000 yards in
length, inclosing the city In an immense
earthwork about iifty feet high, sur
mounted by avail ranging from twenty
five TO thirty feet, with deep moas,
which can be easily flooded from the
Hari Rud. The citadel is situated in the
center OF the city, and this is all sur
rounded by q moat. There are five gates,
and each is fanked by two bastions. The
city is bridged at each OF the gates by
wooden draw.bridge, which Is raised and
lowered by mechanical appliances worked
tom inside the walls. Each face OF the
four walls is furnished with twenty-five
or thirty bastions. GA the exterior slope
OF the embankment, supporting the walls,
are two lines OF shelter trenches, one
above the other, carried all around the
city, except wllers the gstes are. A eors
respondent with Lulnsden's mission de.
scribee the ornaments Us some twonty
guns Of varied calibers, besides number
less others lying dismounted on the RAM
parts. The garrison consists OF 1000 or
5000 troops, exclusive OF irregulats.n
TUE STRATEGIC VALUE.
Prom time iH,memorisI Herat has al-
ways been regarded as an outlying bul.
wark 10 India, the possession OF which was
a necessary preliminary 10 invading that
country, and the Notification of which by
those who already held India wonld rem
der an invasion impossible, II was SO
considered By Alexander, by Mahmudand
his successors, by Chingiz Khan, by Tall
muir, by Nahir Shah, by Ahmed Shah, and
by Mahommed Khan. Exactly why that
city should have this strategic importance
the author explains very fully;
"Herat is called the LATE az India, be.
cause through il, and it alone, tic valleya
can be entefsd which load 10 the only ypl-
nerable part OF India. Those valleys, run.
ming nearly north and south, ar4 protected
10 the east by inaccessible ranges, 10 the
west by impracticable ranges. No invad-
Ing array yapl4 attempt to cross the Great
Salt desert while a:.British Amy he'd
Herat, and so long as that army held Herat,
so long would an invasion OF India be i'm
possible" "Anothcr fact illustrates the
epgrmgus value OF Herat, Place an army
there and nothing need be brought 10 II
from Europe. Within the limits OF the
Herati country all the great roads leading
70 lGals c9nyerge. The mlnes Of Herat
supply lead, ifon AID sulphur. The
surface 81 the country Is, ~ many
parts, laden with sa!t.peter;, me WI
low anu the poplar whieh make me pe ~
charcoal, ABOUND me helas produce IN
apH Aqserss Sofn VINE and o., while from
,e Po opS saSEea r ~ e@ so tgisss
niislSt be Obtained. stIeh fare the military
advantages presented Nv herat to the
power that shall occupy 1t. Should that
power be an enemy, Herat would be to
him an eye to see aud an arm to strike;
Hindostan, 10 Watch tie dIscoateats Of
the rulers and the heart-burnings 81 their
Mbord:nates. From watching and poting
Is fermentilr and stirfiug up, there is hut
one short step. In third sense, Likewise,
tho posRefsicn Of HeFat BY an enemy
rut.. ny " 80 n ~