The St. Louis Republic., 1903-06-21
I am told th.. mos. Of tho higher on,c.p

am told that most o4 tho higher oniesrs
f, are rich.
| They are the sons Of mobiles or well-to-
| DO families, and they constitute to a large
extent the aristocracy Of the country.
+, They are spirited fellows and high livera
| Many OF them gamble and some are very
| extravagant. The social standard Of mill
| tary men Is very high all over Europe.
| especially in Germany. where they are fast
| building up military aristocracy.
| 1t Is less SO here, and there is more
chance for the ordinary soldier to riss to 4
| good position.
| Russia has some excellent cavalry.
/ The men ride like Texas cowboyS and
their horses arc among the finest In the
world.
The common cab horses Of the Russian
capital are better than tho swell carriage
horses Of Washington.
They are Orloff stations as black ~ coal,
| with fine action and great speed
There are splendid horses all over Russia,
| and indeed the Empire has moro horses
| than any other country in the world.
| According to tho statistics of our AEr!cul-
| tural Department. all tho horses on earth
] number about 65.o0o.0o0
| Russia alone has 50. Ooo, 900 or, estimating
four persons to each family. about one
horse to every family in the whole Empire.
PEASANTS OWN MAJORITY
| OF THE HORSES.
| The most of tho Russian horses belong to
| the peasant farmers. but . vast number are
| found on the steppes or high plains and IN
| tho lowlands.
unlimited powers Of endurance There Is q
| breed along the River Don produced by
| crossing the native horse with the English
| thoroughbred. which is famous for its rid
| Ing horses.
The Car takes 5000 OF them every year
| for the cavalry.
| And then there are the Kaln1uck horses.
| bred by the wandering tribes OF Southeast
| ern Russia and beyond the Caspian Sea, in
] Asia
( They number about $1,000 in mares alone:
| they are noted for their cavalry qualities.
The kirghiz, who live over In Asia. but
are governed by Russia, have something
like 100000 horses. and the peasant farm
| ers of Russia have horses which will serve
in time of war.
| Even the commonest OF the plow animals
| are good trotters and they are made to go
| like the wind.
The chief race horse here Is tho Orion
| "rotter, a breed originated by Prince Orloff,
! who imported Arabian and English stall
! lions and crossed them with Dutch and
| Danish mares.
The Gar spends vast sums in tho i'm
| provement OF the Russian horse.
| He has a board Of horse breeders which
| takes charge Of the Government studs.
| The finest Of Arabian and English horses
are imported. and also British. French and
| Prussian draft horses.
| The best of these arc sent to different
| parts of the Empire In addition there are
! thirty-one state stables under the manage
| ment of the chief OF this board. which fur
| nish stations to the farm districts free of
] charge.
| There are many private societies for horse
! Improvement and about 2300 private stables.
| Many Of the cavalry horses are bought at
the horse fairs. which are held every spring
| and fall in different parts of Russia. and es-
| pecially in the stock-raising centers
| The horses as rule are cheap. an ordi-
| nary ono for general purposes bringing $50
| or S35.
FoRT1FICATIoNs ALONG THE
! EUROPEAN FRONTIER.
The Russian Empire = we'll fortified {!