Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1894-09-06
MERELY HUMAN MACHINES.
Russian soldiers Fairly Equipped. bat Many
Of Them Open - Hrfb~-A

MERELY HUMAN MACHINES.
isas-fea soldiers Fairly Equipped. hat Many
Of Them Open - Brib-.A
The Russian troops proper, whose
leadership i infruSted. in great
measure. 70 officers lacking in esprit tu
corps, education and manly qualities.
are deserving OF respect a. body. but
the time has passed when regiments
and army corps fought side by side
face to face. a. the Russians must do
in order to attain the best results.
The men are drilled to hght in
companies. 20 hold together in com
panies and hattalions- OF individual
Efforts they know nothing. They
have not b~en taught 70 excel in
that respect. because they are thought
incapable II il. The infantrv-s march
ing power il below even the Italian
average and the outpost system Is -
imperfrrtly developed that only vol
uuterrS especially qualified and paid
are utilized in that service The
guard calvary embraces euirassiers
laueers. hu>sars and Dragons mostly
picked men. and a. good a. their Ger
man and Austrian brethren The
line cavalry. however. cannot b.. com
pared with that Of the opposing forces
in respect IN fighting qualities aud ~
cnuuoitcring ability. They are very
g'ssd az bridge building. the passing -
river~-etc- The best part Of tn. cavalry
q all grades Is recuited from the eau
easus. which country produces excel
lent soldier material. superior in every
respect "a that Of European Russia.
The artillery j. good especially the
mounted branch; - are tn. technical
troops. which are well otfieerrsl In
late YEAR the Russian press has ad
vertised the military virtues # the
frontier quarts a. beyond compari-
spn-" They are a troop Of thirty t.
forty Thousand. stationed alony the
Prussian-Au>triau frontiers. and know
ing every step % the territory there
abouts They will be- VERY useful. in
decd but rather for defensive than Of
feusive purposes. Far from po>sess-
ing any special amount Of soIdieriv
virtues these guards are open to hrib-
cry and corruption Of the most fla
grant sort
OF the one hundred thousand Cos
sacks only about ten thousand from
I the Caucasus rank A. soldiers. the rest
are simply maraudcrS. cutthruats.
I thieves and incendiaries. incapable 81
meeting the regular cavalry of Prussia
or Austria and even far below the
Russian line dragons in respect TO
I fighting qualities II IL be the inten-
/ tion Of the ear ~ fight the people
rather than the armies ~ termanv and
/ Austria his Co>saczs viii do well A.
l hangers-on To his forces. otheryvi~..
they arr only NJ - pursue an enemy
entirely demoralizes It i strange
/ that the Co>saclSs should still be- con
silered Il formidable force after their
utter defeat by the Teher,iessian Turks
in the last war Russian officers in
I general dread their cooperation in the
/ field because tbs. Co,saciSs regard war
simply a. an excuse for INDUCING in all
| their evil passions. recognizing no au-
| thority, and having M respect either
| for truth or duty. Their expert horse
manship should make them valuab bic
for accommodating purposes. hut officers
will hesitate 70 accept any CossaclS
report. a. in nine ont II ten eases i;
| viii prove unreliable. A. circus riders.
- to speak. the C0s>acl5~ have very few
equals They pride themselves on their
shooting while at a gallop. shooting
Is one thing and striking another.
though.
II war should break out during the
next few years the ear would Head the.
armies against Ger1nany in person.
with the chief Of the general staff.
ten obru>cheS a councillor Alex
au'irr III + not soldier l,y eEoie-.
and he dreads the Inconvenience. a war
must necessarily impose SPIN his PR
son lie l. also AFRAID that an unsue-
esssfnl war might involve his avna,sE
/ IN all sorts Of difficulties a. bone still
b. cannot BE- relied upon and might =.
| Influenced in favor 81 war against his
/ own viii Just a. he alioyvgsi hiau.s-if -
l be persuaded - listen with uncovered
head. a. the Marshal. ss-a. n-ar-
omiroH viii probably Lead sh~ cam-
| paizu a-sIiust the Au-trians- lie sss-n-
mansiei division in thu Tnrsish var
with -.lsne degrp- ~ sus-ce-s aud bate
everything tsermsn- Althaava a good
/ genera not IN army isaa.ler there ar
/ two gr-at drzs basizs - a5s a-ss.i f.ls
| sIscee->, he drinks - excess. anE =
ss-args.ly able - ~ IN she s4.ldle ~
al"re than an hear ar TIM au a.
euunt - a Vuund hs rsr~fve.s ~ fhr
I sa5aala pass fs=n- t,ssurxs hs-sar 5ur1-
/ pseatatc,i hv Illness know - 80 sa. ar
I Russian -rnsrai q .iiss5uezasa asaa
might piay a graf decisive pzart "a Tar
forthcoming uuda-grsriuu- Ns<-
il oeeure II i arp~nsls s..lslw "a Eu,-
"a. no. before f-e-s or the snr1n~ ~
~. whsn her enftr~ arur 81 b.
/ eIuippsd with ze< -iis-, asa hsr a.
dltlouai Fe-srF- f.lr1l1s aass sare = sac
[ frrer s-7~.. IA 5ssyF-T--a.a. ~