The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-11

as it may appear to men who remember the tre-
mendous battles of our civil war, may fairly be
considered the commencement of struggle on
which hang the destinies of several European
nations. 1t may, for this purpose, be considered
as something parallel to the first gun fired at
Sumter; the torch that may set the eastern
hemisphere in flames. To enable one to have an
outline idea of what this first fight between the
subjects of the Czar and the Ameer means the
line of Russian encroachments must be under
stood
North and east of the Caspian sea there are
vast stretches of country that, till within thirty
or thirty five years ago, were occupied or rather
inhabited, by a few score of thousands OF wan
dering Tartars tribes that lived upon their
herds, dwet in tents, and shifted their habitat as
circumstances or the seasons demanded. In the
elevated tableland on which they dwelt, the only
subjects of quarrel between the different tribes
were the possession of the oases and wells, the
spring heads of the various rivers, or the herds
that the tribes respectively owned. Like our
own red Indians Of the plains, the Turkomans
were jealous of interlopers, instinctivey fearing
the incoming of the white man, with his West
ern ideas of reform and compulsory labor. La
Dor, to the Turkoman, was considered feminine
occupation, and the head of the family lived only
to enjoy his ease, and occasionally to risk his
life in the defense of the range over which his
family wandered
But the restless Russian came, and peace fed.
First the Tartars of the Kirghiz steppes were
compelled to acknowledge the power of that
much of European civilization which had been
crystallized into the discipline of the armies of
the Czar. Then tho Kirghiz Tartars, with the
shrewd adaptability of the Oriental, learned that
it was wiser to kick than to be kicked, and they
helped the Cossaek to subdue their southern
brethren. The great desert that lay between
the Kirghiz steppes and Khiva was conquered
its flank was partially turned by subordinate
c0Dquests on the shores of the Caspian, and the
Russians found new base of operations. They
acquired possession of the western shores of the
Caspian during, and as consequence of, ths
Turko Russian war of 1878, and afterwards the
establishment of forts and depots of arms on
the eastern shores was but matter of detail.
TAonext move was to conquer Khiva, and
that was done in a couple of years. In the
meantime the Russian columns were pushing on
to the east and south. They captured Bokhara
without a word being said. But Bokhara was
away east behind the rampant of the Hindoo
Koosh, and its possession had no menace for
British India. except the prestige that it gave to
Russian arms.
All this time the tribes of the Turkomans
were not only being conquered, but being in
When Geek Tepe fell, the stronghold immediate
ly north of the Merv, within six months the
warriors who had defended the great fort were
drilling under Russian commanders, and many
chief city of Merv itself. And here it
may be well to explain that. in the
brevity incidental to telegraphic dispatches
the word Merv has received much
misuse. 1t is true that Merv means ''the great
city, 1.-The city of the world" but the existing
city that the Russians captured is only one of
dozen or more, most of them in ruins, that have
in turn held the title. The truth is that what
the Cars forces won in that Qaurter is the oasis
of the Merv; the fertile territory watered by the
great river that Alexander rejoiced to see
O'DonovaD, who died with Hicks Pasha in
Egypt, described the country and showed how
under civilized labor. it could be made to sup
port great armies
With the conquest of the Merv the Russians
appeared to call halt in their military advance
southwark. With the rivers Murghab and Heri-
Rood flowing from the table lands of Afghan
istan, they possessed strategic positions of
enormous advantage 1t was with them simply
a question of time and intrigue. The
English were supporting Abdurrahman
Khan.on the Afghan throne and it was known
that avery large section of his nominal subjects
were hostile to his rule. First therefore, came
intrigue. The minor chieftains of Afghanistan
were first tampered with, and demand was
raised for new boundary line which, to use
the jargon of diplomacy, should "delimit" the
Russian conquered country. This alarmed the
English They made counter demand and
the result was the appointment of a Russo-Anglo
commission to sit upon, examine into and make
a delfmitation on which both governments
could agree. The British officer in charge went
to the scene of his labors last autumn; the Rus
lively stated Instructions that he has not got
there yet. The English were believed to be in
much distress in Egypt; the Russian, always
polite, begged pardon. but he could not meet his
English brother on the peaceful mission of de-
limitation. In fact, he rather thought there
would be no need of meeting him at all, espe-
cially as the English were fighting disastrous
campaign in Egypt against Mohammedans, and
most of the Afghans were Mohammedans
Meantime Lord Dufferin had taken control of
affairs in India and ha seems To he aS StrOnp
diplomatic and statesman as were Palmerston and
Lord Stratford de Redcffe in 1853. He saw
through the game of the Cars generals and
gathered together great force of British and
native Indian soldiers the southern frontier
of Afghanistan. He has 10000 English and
$4,000 Indian troops gathered there. He held
grand durbar at Rawal-Pindee, where the Ameer
and his chieftains were royalty received. The
pleted their railway from Askabad to the Merv
week ago. This places the Merv cities
within six days of Odessa, by way of
Batoum, Tihis Buku and Askabad. They
are said to have sent to the front at least 10000
troops and have $50, 600 from the army of the
Caucasus to draw upon. The strategic point
that both British and Russian look to is Herat.
That is the key of India. The fight near Penj
deh on March 80, may. possibly, have been but
emeute such as is liable to occur any bor-
der where different civilizations meet 1t is more
likely that it is, like Sumter's gun, a hasty ex
preston of anger by some commander who
wants fight in the field instead of a peaceful
solution in the Cabinet. In either case the in
evitable war is hand; it is here to-day, and it
is doubtful whether any diplomatic skill can
close the flood gates, now that they have been
opened.
A Beautiful and Fertile Land.
The territory which is in dispute between
Russia and England in the matter of the north
ern Afghan boundary, is district about 200
H. 1..s.-
Heri- Rood rivers, and north os the hills which
form the stratapic defense of Herat II is called