The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-12-27

| ttStSu man III most other services, AS
Tor the rigid discipline, it is only what
ne has always known. The Russian
peasant is accustomed to the iron heel
from infancy. AS a general rule, the
o1ncers are liked by their men, and the
mere fact that every Russian soldier
ana sailor refers habitually to the
| Car as the Little Father" will give
foreigners some idea of the intense
loyalty which pervades the services.
In the nom commissioned ranks, the
grades are about the same as in the
British navy. but the men have less
authority, receive less pay, and have
FEWER privileges. The pay of Rus
sian seaman is only 80 kopecks per
ten days, kopeck being about three
quarters of a cent.
| Nevertheless, the seamans mess on
the Pacific and Baltic stations COM
pares faVorably even with that on
American ships. where the sailors are
| said to be the best fed in the world.
The same is measurably true of the
Black Sea fleet. The officers messes
are supported by fixed contributions
from all the officers according to their
rank, and the English idea of gun
room and wardroom messes is carried
out on the larger Russian ships.
Eligibility for the commissioned
ranks in both services depends upon
birth and educational qualification. 1t
| is necessary that candidates must be
! we'll born. Their parents must have
( been of noble birth or members of the
| government, or the civil service, or
| officers in the army or navy, or-to
| quote the words of the imperial ukase
on the subject-"persons of substance
who never kept an open store or mar
ket." That is to say, the son of a
rich merchant like Charles r. Flint
would be eligible for a commission,
but the son of trader like John
Wanamaker would not.
In addition to the qualification of
birth and family, candidates must have
| passed the final examination in the
| ''gymnase," which is about the equiv
alent of that for entrance to the higher
class of American universities, or the
final examination of the best Ameri-
can high schools.
The pay of officers in both services
is practically nominal. That of Junior
| lieutenant in the navy is 100 roubles
per month, about $50 in American
money as compared with $3.50 per
, month for the same rank in the Amer
lean navy.
Russian officers enter the services
for a career, never for a livelihood. Any
man with social ambitions in Russia
army or the navy, unless he be a per-
son of transcendent ability. No father
would think of entering his son in the
cadet school unless he could give him
a suitable income with which to main
tain his rank.
In the British navy and other fleets
the officers of the higher ranks receive
liberal allowances from the govern
ment to defray the expenses of the fire.
INN, &c civ
port, or when foregathered with the
warships of other countries. There are
no such allowances in the Russian
service. The officers have to pay ev-
cry cent out of their own pockets, and
yet nowhere is hospitality more mag
nificently dispensed then on Russian
warship. 1t has become proverb in
all the ports of the world visited by
naval vessels.
In point of seamanship, the Russian
naval officer compares favorably with
the officer of any other service. There
are two good reasons for this. In the
first place, if not better educated, his
education has certainly progressed
farther at the time Of his entrance in
to the Naval Academy at Kronstadt
than that of either the English or
American cadet; and, in the second
place, he is under far more effective
afoat.
But mere book-learning will not take
a lad far in the Russian service. NO
cadet is eligible for promotion to the
rank of lieutenant until he has made
trip around the world in a Russian
man-of- That is his postgraduate
course after he leaves the Naval Acad-
envy.
The standard of discipline in the
commissioned ranks of both services is
similar to that in the armies and navies
of other nations, with this striking diff
ference, that OFF duty there are pracH-
cally no distinctions of rank among
the officers. In the messroom or at the
! card table, the Junior lieutenant does
not defer respectfully to the colonel of
his regiment or the captain of his ship,
as he would do in other services. On
the contrary, he is il-fellow-well-m
with him. There is remarkable spirit
! of brotherhood in a Russian mess, and
! one officer stands absolutely upon an
equality with another.
1t is this feature of Russian military
| life which most surprises foreign OFF,
! GERS when they dine on Russian war;
ship or with a garrison mess. They
stare in amazement when they hear
mere boy of lieutenant call his col
onel by his Christian name. or even
| chaff him as he might have chaffed one
of his chums at the Naval Academy.
Certain distinctions in the commits
! stoned ranks are peculiar to the Rus
sian navy, and form an interesting link
{ with the past. A boy enters the serv-
! ice as a naval cadet, and the ranks to
! which he may be promoted are the fol-
! lowing:
| Cadet of the navy, junior lieuten-
| ant, lieutenant of the navy, captain of
! the navy, captain Of corvette, captain
! of frigate, commodore, vice-admiral,
! admiral, admiral of the navy.
I These ranks were adopted from the
, British navy in the time of Peter the
| Great. and have remained unchanged
! ever since then. The corvettes and
! frigates disappeared long ago, but the
| titles are retained.
| One branch of the Russian army is
/ totally unlike any force possessed by
other civilized Powers. 1t is, of
/ course the Cossack levy. which num-
! bers $4,000 men. Every able bodied
| Cossack is liable TO service, without
| limit of age. He becomes liable at
| eighteen, and the liability does not
cease so long as he is able to ride a
/ horse or carry a gun. But only a
proportion of the CoSsacks serve at
! one time. The rest are granted sun
! limited leave" or belong to the re-
/ serve
The Cossack feels the burden of
/ military service more heavily than any
other man in the world. At eighteen he
| begins three years preparatory service
I I'm the locality where he dwclls. After
! that is over he is drafted into one of
the three Cossack bans" for twelve
years service in any part OF the en-
nitro He spends seven years with the