The evening times., 1899-09-02
RUSSIA In CENTRAL ASIA
Gathering Place Of the Army That
Threatens India.
The Plans for Regenerating Trans
sian Officers In Privnte-The Cxar's
Purposes in Afghnnistan - Inter-
view With General kourapntkin.
From the New York SUM-

From the New York SUM-
A most interesting trip which l took
some time ago with a party of English
people in Central Asia furnished an OPP
portunity to observe Russian plans and
methods 1t was an undertaking of Mr..
Woolrych Perowne, a young man who is
Just now doing more than any other Eng
lishman to introduce Russia to his eoun-
trymen, who, up to that time, was the
only person that had succeeded in per-
suading the Russians to permit him to
conduct a party OF tourist through the
Trans-Caspian provinces. These pro-
vinces are under the management Of the
War Department at st. Petersburg, and
the law is that no foreigner is to be al
lowed in them without the special per-
mission of the Minister of War. The rea-
son of this regulation, according to the
Russians, is that the provinces are in
such transition state that Ii would rot
De advisable to allow strangers to wander
through them at WILL but the English
have thought that the regulation pertain
ed mainly to them and that the Russians
do not want them to find out what they
are doing there.
Whatever the real explanation may be,
Mr.. Per0wne, with the help of influence
at st. Petersburg, got an Otkritki List,
the document permitting us to travel in
Irans-Caspia, and one day We landed at
krasnovolsk, ON the eastern shore of the
Caspian, prepared to see all that we could
and to take copious notes. OF course, as
an American, had no such political in
terest in the provinces as my fellow
travellers, but l kept my eyes and ears
open nevertheless, and learned just about
as much as they did in regard to what
the Russians are doing in Central Asia
N hot fhnvv to 40 ~
We were all the guests officially of Gen.
eral Kourapatkin, at that time Governor
General of Trans-Caspia, and since call
ed to st. Petersburg to act as Minister of
War; He was Skobeleff's righthand man
in the battle and slaughter at Cock Tepe
and was a warm friend OF the famous
American war correspondent, MacGahan.
Knowing that he and MacGahan had been
quite intimate, l asked him one day for
an anecdote about my countryman, but
he merely looked a little more serious
than usual and said: When MacGahan
and l were together the times were not
conducive TO remembering the anecdotes
but l am glad to hear you speak his
name
The general is today about fifty-two years
old and looks the soldier all over. / saw
him stand absolutely still for one solid
hour during religious service in the open
air on St Georges Day, and he remained
at attention" in front OF the officiating
priest during the entire proceeding. 1t was
a feat which impressed US Anglo -Saxons as
much as anything else we saw. and il was
our conviction that a man who could go
through such an ordeal was not likely TO
finch much in battle. Kourapatkin has
not the inspiring influence over soldiers
that Skobeeff had but he has coolness
and ability to calculate closely which Sko-
belief lacked, and he supplemented Skobe-
leff's dash admirably. Today he is pretty
generally accepted as the leading general
in the Russian army, and he knows Asia
and the roads to India better. perhaps, than
any other soldier
He is also superb entertainer, and he
made our stay in his provinces most de-
iightful, besides giving il cute political
significance which immensely amused me
and considerably fiattered the English We
were seventeen days travelling from Kras-
novoisk TO Samarkand and back, and lived
the entire time in a special train which
Kourapatkin put at our disposal. We had
three baggage cars, hospital car, din
ing car, three sleepers, three salon car
riages and an observation car. As guides
We had gentleman from the Foreign Of
fee at st. Petersburg and a colonel OF the
railway regiment which looks after the in
terests of the Trans Caspian Railroad We
saw the usual things OF interest along the
route. and could not possibly have seen
Merv Bokhara, and Samarkand under more
auspicious circumstances, but entertaining
as all this sightseeing was, what interested
me most was the significance which the
Russians gave TO our visit. Kourapatkin
really wanted us to see. and, If We were
willing. TO appreciate, what he had done
toward regenerating the provinces under
his control. and il was an opportunity TO
study Russian management of conquered
territory such as none of US will probably
ever have again. We talked politics from
the beginning of the trip to the end, and
We were free to put any questions to our
hosts that we liked. They did not always
answer US as fully as We hoped they would
but they let us roam about without any
hindrance whatever. and took us within
thirty-six hours journey of Afghanistan
and within forty miles Of the Persian from
tier. We were consequently in a position
to observe pretty carefully the lines on
which they are likely to expand when the
right moment comes, and We were allowed
to see with considerable minuteness their
machinery for expansion.
Their entertainment of us was a matter
Of wonder to every member of the party.
From the moment we arrived at Krasno-
vodsk until we sailed away from 1t back
to the Caucasus were treated prac-
tcally as a political embassy from Eng
land and l hear that more could not be