The Savannah morning news., 1904-03-21
ESCAPED FROM
RUSSIAN ARMY
WOULD NOT FIGHT JAPAN.
WILD MIDNIGHT RIDE ACROSS
FRONTIER TO GERMANY.

Paul Koznkevitch and Alexander
KoutSo,vsky Dcserters from Rus
sian Army Believe Japan VIII BE
Successful in War-Deserters
Came With Party of Twenty-Eight
on North German Lloyd Steamer to
BaItimore-MajOrity of Deserters
Have Gone to Pennsylvania Coal
Fields.
Two Russian cavalrymen, who con-
fess that they deserted the army Of
the Car rather than fight the Jap
anese. arrived in Savannah yesterday
en- route to Tampa.
They gave their names as Paul
Kozakevitch and Alexander Routkow-
sky and said they arrived in Balti-
more Thursday on a North German
Lloyd steamer from Bremen with
twenty-six of their fellow soldiers who
were unwilling to take up arms
against Japan.
The two men appear to be less than
80 years old, OF manly bearing and
fine physique, and from papers dis
played by Routkowsky they had been
in the Russian army for several years.
The deserters were accompanied by
Pierre Kozakevitch. a brother of Paul
Kozakevitch. who has been residing in
the United States for about ten years
and speaks the English language much
better than the average foreigner. He
acted as interpreter for a representa-
tive Of the Morning News and secured
the following statement from the two
soldiers:
Routkowsky said: When the news
of the war between our country and
Japan first reached me l was stationed
on the German frontier. We realized
that it would not be long until we
would be ordered to the front, and as
the news spread among the soldiers
many of them declared that they would
desert before they would fight Japan.
After talking the matter over for sew
eral DAYS we decided that we would
take our horses and make our way
into Germany and then sell the horses
and come TO the United States, where
many of US have friends and rela-
tives.
Went Into German Empire.
I'VE kept our plans very quiet as
we feared that if the officers learned
of our plot that we would be sent on
to Siberia We met and agreed that
on a certain night. between the hours
OF midnight and day, we would assem-
Bile and saddle our horses and make
for the German Empire. At the ap-
pointed time we met. 1t was a very
dark night, and the snow was falling.
We took what rations and liquors that
we could get our hands on and quiet
~ marched out of the fort and then
mounted our horses and put spurs to
them.
The next afternoon, when we were
we'll into Germany. our horses were
tagged out and we sold them for the
best prices that we could receive and
went by rail to Bremen. When we
arrived there we had some difficulty
in securing passage over but finally
one of our men, who was an officer
in the Russian army, succeeded in
raising a sufficient amount of money
to buy passage for four of our men
who were without funds"
Are in the Coal Fields.
Routkowsky said that the majority
of the men who came over have gone
to the Pennsylvania coal fields to try
10 secure employment, and that two
of the men went to North Dakota to
join relatives. According to Rout-
kowsky all the men fear that the Rus
sian government win make an effort
to have them returned. They dare not
return to their native country, where
they would be held in contempt, and
communicated from society, and per-
haps severely dealt with. 1t is their
intention to send for their families as
soon as they have secured permanent
employment.
Kozakevitch did not desert with the
soldiers stationed on the German from
tier. but escaped from his regiment at
Moscow. on the voyage over he be-
came a close friend of Routkowsky
and persuaded him to go with him to
Tampa, where his brother Pierre Ko-
zakevitch has been in business for
over a year. The deserters are both
intelligent looking fellows and declare
that they are we'll pleased with the
United States and do not want to re-
turn to Russia. Routkowsky is mar
ried man and hopes to bring his wife