The San Francisco call., 1904-03-04
CoSSacks of the Don.


The Russian army is composed OF
two principal elements, the ordinary
soldier, recruited from the peasants,
and the Cossacks of the Don. The
larger part of the soldiers guarding
the Chinese Eastern Railroad in Man
churia belong to the Cossacks Of the
Don, who form a very interesting and
exceedingly effective army Before the
completion Of the Chinese Eastern Rail-
road / had the pleasure of coming in
close contact with these Cossacks.
sleeping with them, eating black bread
with them, and talking with them in
broken language, illustrated by ges-
lures.
The interest now centering in Man
churia brings the COssacks into prOmi-
nence and makes a short history of
the development of this class of SOL
diers specially interesting. The term
Cossack as now used signifies any Rus
sian sent into a new section of coun-
try TO settle as an emergency guard
ready fer action in case of trouble. He
is expected to have a horse. a gun and
a blanket always at hand, ready for
an immediate start.
OF all the classes of COssacks the
most interesting are those of the Don,
whose Importance is such that they
are much better paid than the ordi-
nary soldier. and are, allowed much
more freedom and their towns a GER
tain degree of independence.
During the time that Southern Rus
sia was infested by the Tartar hordes
they lived as free settlers" carrying
on nCmadic marauding warfare
against the tribes Of the great khan.
At the first they practiced celibacy and
recruited their ranks from the outlaws
Of Moscow and Northern Russia. At
that time they did no agricultural work
or cattle raising. In fact, death was
the penalty for following such pursuits.
They depended entirely on raiding the
Tartar's fiocks and herds and did not
always restrict themselves to these, but
often carried off the prettiest of the
maidens. which accounts for the slight
mixture Of Tartar blood in the present
COssacks.
Later when raiding became less
profitable they made use of the i'm
migrants and runaway serfs from the
north for raising agricultural pro-
ducts. while they themselves lived by
aristocratic occupations such as fish
ing. hunting and cattle breeding. So
cially they were all equal Any one
could hold Office, and at the expira-
ton of his term he would cheerfully
return to the rank of ordinary Cos
sack. AS the number of inhabitants
increased, however, they were gradu-
ally forced TO agricultural pursuits.
At first every one plowed and sowed
where he pleased, changing his loca-
ton whenever the soil became ex-
hausted. Later the richer and more
enterprising began not only to cult
vate, but TO appropriate large sections
OF land Out Of this SO many disputes
arose between the rich and the poor
that at last the commune, which still
held to the old ideas of equality. con-
hscated all the land and inaugurated
a system of distribution which. with
some slight changes. is still used.
The liberties OF self government
which they formerly possessed have
been gradually curtailed, and some of
the Offices have become hereditary,
but still they enjoy many democratic
privileges which the Car dare not
take away from them, for they are
his strongest military force. When in
active service for the Government they
receive much larger wages than the
ordinary Russian Cossack. A colonel
with whom we Travelled for some
time received 1000 rubles (s15Oe) a
year.
My first personal acquaintance with
the Cossacks of the Don was at Tell
ing, in Manchuria. where the colonel
OF the Cossack regiment, stationed
along the southern section of the
Chinese Eastern Railroad, had his
headquarters. The little settlement of
engineers and cossacks is located two
miles outside of the Chinese city of
Telling, and consists of several long
one storied brick houses with straw
thatched roofs, arranged around a
central court Near by are the bar
racks where the Ccssacks and their
T. miles live. The stables are adjoin-
ing an6 too near the living rooms to
suit me, but as the Cossack and his
horse are one it probably does not
disturb him
There was a general bakery. where
. We were able to buy some large round
loaves Of black bread to help out our
j. Chinese diet as we proceeded on our
way across Manchuria- At the gen
eral store. which provided for the Cos
sacks and engineers. you could buy
California canned fruits. Crimean
wine. American beer and cigarettes.
while a small stand near by retailed
cuass." a beer used by the Russian
peasants.
In front of the cossack barracks
there were several primitive devices
for amusement. The principal one
was a high pole surmounted by a
small wheel. TO which a number of
ropes were attached SO that the bows
and others could swing round and
roIfnd- There were also several rope
swings scattered around the grounds
for the children. These two features
were, TO be seen in every Cossaclx
settlement. In one place. in addition
10 these, there was a merry-go-round,
consisting of four chairs fastened on
the ends of two long scantlings and
raised few feet above the ground
Most Of the stations were also sup