Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-10-31
ALONG THE FIRING LINE.
Various Incidents Sketched by Cores
pondents at the Front.


details number of incidents illustrat-
ing the characteristics Of the opposing
armies THE Japanese" he says ARE
like the Chinese. the Indians and other
Oriental peoples. extremely addicted
to early rising. and in the course of
the present war they seem to invaria-
bly, begin battles at an unearthly hour.
On July 80 I heard their cannon about
o'clock in the morning and i'm
mediately prepared to leave for the
position or place where the principal
battery was located and where the
general would remain throughout the
battle.
Before the battle began. the Rus
sian soldiers snatched moment to
turn toward the rising sun in order to
cross themselves repeatedly and say
their morning prayers. first standing
and then kneeling. after the Mussul-
man custom. They did not pray
simultaneously, but at odd moments:
they We're therefore, it was plain, not
praying to order. also noticed a
gunner cross himself reverently before
loading his CUR for the first time that
day. 1t is strange, when one reflects
on It. to find the cross of Christ behind
find that incongruity almost since the
: establishment of Christianity
II do not think that there is
Christian army in the world which
makes more open profession of it's
Christianity than the army Of Russia
An Irish or French or even Spanish
soldier, vino Wore the number OF re-
lieiols emblems which the Russian sol
n 81
such Mohammedan disregard of on
lockers would be teased to death by his
comrades The officers, too, are as
profuse in their use of religious en-
blems as the men. and. if the Japanese
collect all the crucifixes and religious
medals which they find on the bodies
OF dead Russians. they must by this
tins have accumulated a large stock |
1t is painful to think of the bad effect |
all this is sure to have on the nascent |
Christianity of eastern Asia.
almost as unbearatle as the whistle |
of the shells was the overpowering
heat. | have lived in India and Siam. |
and ] had thought when l came to
Manchuria. that / would have nothing |
new to learn about heat. but thirteen |
definitely extended my knowledge Of |
it. The sun beat down on US relent- |
lessly and there was not a leaf to
shade us.
Some ingenious person put two |
stfetchers on end. bound them together |
ard thus formed a sort of shade for |
tho general. A Cossack officer formed |
second shade out of three lances and |
some canvas. But the total amount |
of shade thus produced would not
shelter more than few persons at |
most. and though I was for a time one
of the privileged few l do not know
that | found the shade much of a pro-
lection.
''Georgeous uniforms became as wet
as II bucket of water had been
thrown over their wearers. and the
thirst everybody suddenly developed
and kept up for the rest Of the day
would have done credit to wanderers
in the Sahara. Unfortunately, there
was no way Of satisfying this thirst
save by drinking Of the well water
that Chinese coolies carried up the hill
at long intervals in wooden buckets,
which were emptied before they had
gone very far. These Chinese coolies
may have been Japanese, or Cinnamon
disguised as Japanese. but nobody paid
any attention to them. they only
wanted the water they carried.
eve are in the heart Of noun
famous, but beautiful country, we'll
cultivated and evidently supporting a
large population. Soon after daybreak
we passed through a village whose
riSin haI |
less with wonder at the passage of
such a large body of horsemen There
We're in this village and in the others
VIC &ftcrward visited plenty Of women
and children. who were not molested
ny the Cossacks and who did not seem
to fear the Russians.
Il am told that the women and chill
dren fly before the Japanese and have
myself seen some half dozen China
men do so. The villagers seem to re- ,
gard us simply with looks of blank as {
tonlshment and probably the children
VINO saw us pass will often tell their Il
grandchildren of this night march of {
the c"ssacks. possibly the last march
white soldiers will make in these VIII r
lagos.
-, -
pe:autiiui ana prosperous little village .
WIN big wooden peak rising precpitous- I
" ~ pehlnd 1t and making 1t look like a {
J y: village in the Nikko or Hakone r
uLstrlct-the resemblance being still fur
.her increased by the little Buddhist
Shflnes at the foot of the mountain. T
Our colonel Immediately ordered the !.
ntau man of the village to be brought be-
lore MN and that worthy gentleman. who t
pnopaply expected to have his head taken d
OF, was agreeably surprised to hear that +
the visitors did not intend to modest wo- !,
men or to trouble the people in any way, u
put would pay for everything they took. +
u may here mention the fact that, SO
1ar as ! can see, these Cossacks pay for
everything with the scrupulousness OF il
touTisss. At Tsee Lao eau / saw our IN +,
tendant give the Chinaman in. whose !
mouse We stayed a sheaf of bank notes. o.
ana the mere fact that the Chinaman W
haggied and tried to get more proved 10 III
much Il
have never known Of a case IN when ci
thls Cossack general did not pay N tnrs a,
manner. and believe that all his 0mcers =,
do likewise. In spite of this the emma ! y