Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-12-14
DEBAUcHERY OF RUSSIANS.
Among Soldiers-Suffering
Of the Wounded.

The correspondent of the London
Daily Telegraph at St. Petersburg
seads some lurid pictures of matters
at the front. At Hardin, where the
troops rest in order to prepare for
active work, vodka, cards and coarse
pleasures, he says, are the prepara-
tons that most Of them make. He
quotes general order of the day is
sued by Gen. Volkoff, which says:
Drunken soldiers are met at every
hands turn on the streets, as well as
at the railway station. Many who
have been insolent and disobedient
have been contaminated"
A Russian correspondent thus fills
In the generals sketch: Il had
scarcely quilted the train at Liaoyang
when the wounded began to arrive
Gradually the moaning of the bleeding
soldiers grew in volume till it dead
ened the din of the station. More and
more the atmosphere became satu-
rated with the peculiar smell of blood
known only on the battlefield.
But this melancholy picture had no
SOLDERING effect upon a group of ele-
giant, dandifed Cossack officers who
had just arrived from St. Petersburg.
Five PAGES from the dead and dying
they sat merrily drinking champagne
and favoring it with obscene jests.
Only in war are such contrasts pos
sible. Here men cease to wear masks
and show themselves as they are
You note the arrival Of officers who
are lean and wasted from hunger and
hardships, and cheek by jowl with
these you witness the orgies of half
drunken men faultlessly dressed. hear
the pop of champagne bottles, the
laughs that greet ribald jests and the
requests of painted women who even
at this supreme moment try to wheedle
tipsy officers out Of their last rubles."
1T is to be regretted" writes M.
Danchenko, the leading Russian cor
respondent, that some officers on the
way to join their regiments go so far
as to treat Sisters of Charity as
they are accustomed to treat women
of the class that follows the rear of
an army"
The correspondent of the Telegraph
goes on to say that the commissariat
is supposed to be better than during
the Turkish campaign, but Judging
from the private letters from officers
and the revelations Of correspondents
it could hardly be worse The CORE
spondent of the Viedemosti tells the
following incident: For three days
we have had nothing to eat," said
soldier to the correspondent. Here,
take your fill," replied the correspond
ent. II cannot eat here" said the SOL
der. why not?" asked the CORE
spondent. "There is an officer with
me who is worse than myself" re-
piled the soldier. "Well, call him, too,"
said the correspondent "He won't
come" said the soldier. "He is
ashamed, but if you let me take him
food, he will be GRATEFUL
An officer writes that it is mem
bers of the Red Cross and other So
cieties that are succoring the wound.
ed who have frequently to feed the
soldiers on active service. The head
| delegate of the Red Cross society states
in letter received at St. Petersburg
| that the troops at the front are suf-
fering horribly from lack of victua1s
and clothing. The Red Cross society
distributes bread and tea and timed
meats to soldiers in battle, and boots
and overcoats come from the same
source, and not from the commits.
sariat
In a letter to his wife captain a,
the front says: eve officers canno,
lie down at night even after day OF
killing fatigue"