Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-03-19

face for his generosity towards his
troops, he replied unaffectedy:
Il owe everything to these men. and
the least l can do is to spend few
| thousand roubles TO help them In their
| need"
That spirit animates most officers In
| the Russian army today, General
kouropatkin, General Grodekoff and
other famous Russian officers trained
under Skobeeff, followed his example.
| Now II is regarded as the regular thing
| IN the Russian army for an officer to
| have TO spend money on his men to
remedy official shortcomings II Is to
be feared that graft has a great deal
| to do with those shortcomings.
Military experts say that only
small proportion OF Russian officers
possess the ability to cope with emer-
gencies and make orderly and efficient
arrangements for the welfare Of an
army. The military attache at the
American legation at ST. Petersburg
served with the Russian forces in the
Turkish war. lie formed very poor
opinion Of the Russian afiicers' Capacl-
~ In those respects, for he wrote at
the time.
III 10000 prisoners are suddenly
thrown on their hands, as at the sur
render OF Plevna, no better expedIent
presents itself than TO herd them out
In the snow In great focks like sheep,
and let three days pass before they get
anything to eat, and twelve days be-
fore measures are perfected for march,
ing them to the Danube, only twenty
miles off-.the prisoners meanwhile per-
ishing by hundreds every night,
IF bridge forming party OF the
main line OF communication Of great
army Is constructed across large
river, one end Of II leading into
miserable little town with streets so
narrow that two vehicles cannot pass
you do not find the lines of opposing
travel so clearly marked that there
can be no divergence from them, and
men stationed at every corner 10 com.
pei vehicles TO take a certain direction,
but you see two long lines OF small
supply wagons gradually approaching
each other until they become jammed
and blocked in the middle OF the town.
Several hours or even a day or more
are occupied IN unloading half a
mile OF wagons and dragging them out
backwards IN order TO reopen the COM
munlcation. These are things which
do not occur only during the first days
or weeks, but throughout whole
campaign Of months"
LOYAL TO THE GEAR.
These defects are, however, largely |
Offset by the patient endurance OF the
Russian soldier, born OF his doglike |
loyalty 20 the ozar. The American |
military attachc at Plevna was i'm
pressed by that quality.
When his battles result In defeats,
when his biscuits are full OF maggots,
when his clothes are shabby. when his
boots drop TO pieces the Russian SOL
der" he said, reasons II all out slow
ly and can only come to the conclu-
sion, so pathetic IN Its simple faith,
An " the cgar only knew Every
one within his reach he freely dis
cusseG, critIoises and bames; he half
suspects that his generals may be
fools, and he Is sure that his commits
sarles are rascals; but no thought OF
ctnsnre ever crosses his mind against
the car"
II Is hardly necessary TO point out
the value Of this mental attitude as a
military asset.
The Japanese, on the contrary.
showed during their war with China
2 remarkable ability TO create their
transport and commissarlat apparently |
nut or nothing as they went along.
ihey did not trouble much about bag