Telegram-herald., 1889-10-20
aUssaA's BORDER AAeo.
Az Isssrssst2s Letter fs~1a sAs re1 sf
David keF.

NEW okk. OCt ts.-lIerS appeSrcd
lately 10 = Russian weekly. Just after :
terrible accident On the ST. Pstersburg-
Moscow railroad, picture representing
al American tourist travelling along It
with Russian. 70 ~ h0m he boasts that
I'VE have trains In the states that Il carry
YOU seyentyfiye miles an hour. .'C4l
YOU zat snyslng.' answers the Rassi an
with calm disdzla. I'VE haf trains on dis
very railroad what sal carry you into ss
next world Ia von El0asnt."
This Amshs Rives combination Of the
quick and the dead l. the only sense Ia
which the term ~qalcf" can lie applied
q the trains that crawl over the vast
dusty plain forming the border line De-
tw cen Russia. Persia and Asi&tle luT-
key. The expires" (which runs once
weekD takes twenty-fouT hours 10 cover
the 800 miles between Nfiis-the capital
of the Caucasus baku on the Cas-
plan sea, while al the other trains take
thirty-six.
Nor does the surrounding landscape
DO much 70 atone for this delay. The
railway 10 Tifis from the Black sea porI
Of Batoum. indeed-passing as II does
right through the shaggy gorges and
frowning precipioes Of the Southern
Caucasus-has . savage picturesqueness
which no words can convey. but az for
the scenery between Tiiiis and Baku on
the Caspian sea, the best way 10 imagine
il is To multiply a billiard board by five
millions and subtract the cushions
Moreover. the frequent halts for re
freshments" are merely a hollow mock
cry, the said refreshment consisting
than it is painted. tea, % weak that it
can hardly get out Of the teapot without
help, and so called cabbage soup" that
Is really warm water. into which a stale
cabbage leaf seems 10 have fallen by
some accident In fact. the only palata-
ble item in the local bill Of fare is the
magnificent grapes, which are sold here
al half cent per pound.
But even tins dreary Hat is precious TO
Russia. Firstly, as the great storehouse
of mineral oil. which. though It's present
sources are said 10 be showing signs of
exhaustion, is believed 10 contain many
more springs which are quite untouched.
and secondly. as the natural starting
point of the fresh advance which she is
undoubtedly meditating against the al
ready half devoured dominions of the
sultan and the shah. Across this bound
less level Russias largest army might
march unimpeded, with all its stores and
cannon.
Not many years have passed since IL
belonged TO Persia instead of Russia, and
10 this day the Caspian ports Of Baku
and Lenkoran, as well as the outlying
villages of both districts, are just al
quantity Persian as ever in architecture,
speech and population. But the capture
of Erivan and the treaty of Turkmoat-
chat pushed forward Russia's elastic from
tier at the expense of the shah, while by
the war of 1878 she sliced of another
huge piece Of territory Including Ba-
toum and the great fortress of Kars) from
poor old moribund Turkey.
When the time comes for Russia to
strike another blow at her two neigh
bors, she will be at no loss for pretext.
Unhappily, there are always cases
enough Of outrage perpetrated 10y Turk
ish masters upon Armenian vassals to
give Russia an ever ready excuse for
protecting her fellow Christians by
arguments pointed with bayonets, and
remonstrances uttered through the
mouths Of rifed cannon. Against Per
sia she has an even more plausible
ground of complaint in the prevalent
brigandage along the Russo-Persian bor-
der.
Among our companions on the Baku
train was a young Russian lady who
told us quite cooliy that less than year
ago. while staying at a country house in
the southern Caucasus, she had been
awakened at midnight by finding the
bloody hand Of gigantic brigand twist
ed in her hair, while the sword that had
just cut down the trusty servant. who
lay writhing at her feet. was hrandished
with horrible threats before her very
eyes Only few days before we our
selves passed. train was stopped and
robbed by banditti not far from Baku
itself
That tho shah Of Persia himself would
gladly hang all Persian brigands to-mor-
row if he could. makes 10 difference
whatever, for when a strong state Is de-
! termined 10 attack weaker one causes
/ II quarrel are never wanting. and q men
/ ton of "outrages upon Russian subjects
/ by Persian robbers would look very well
IN an official declaration of war. War
once declared Russia would be likely e.
make short work 81 H. Of thc ls7. 600
F Russian soldiers permanently stationed
. in the Caucasus. nearly two thirds would
+ bc available for field service after all
+ necessary deductions had been made for
garrison duty-a force -uthcia 90 sweep
from the earth any army that the shah
could pat into the field against it
Nor are Persia natural defence worth
norc than her artificial ones The .ast
rectiGcsnon" of the Russo-Persian
i frontier indeed gave 90 hussia only q
few miles u barreu hui country bot
+ those few miles included two ~ the most
I important passes in the great mountain
4 vail of khoTasssn. through which a
I living column Of CossacAs could make
+ a dash into Persia whenever they
4 pleased. Then too, the urforuled Per-
san port u tnzeih. open to any atfac 4
/ ~ the Caspian fioil.a. IS only le2 uios
( from Teheran itself. and the march offers
T no difficulties to men who have passed
+ the Caucasus and the Balkan Moreover.
Russia has now V hat she had not fsx
years ago. vlz. complete hne Of rail-
Nay along Fer..ss IS hole northern from.
uer by which men stores and ammnnl-
/ uon may be hurried ap O. suy poiuf be-
tween the Caspian and tie border "a
Afghaulsian.
en-h IaLng TIE 90 one nsnnnt ~