The sun., 1904-11-13

by a Ccssack, and ] was ushered into a
large hall where ! was received and my
walls Of the noble apartment were adorned
with Asia ic weapons. ancient and modern,
and viii h portraits OF the Imperial family;
After l had waited little, the General
entered dressed in full uniform. for he was
He Is short but strongly built man, with
a black beard and small but kindly and
int eligent eyes ! wss then just setting
out on my first journey 10 kashgar, and
Kuropatkin gave me a good zeal OF IN.
forma ion about the dangerous pass OF
Te-ek6avan.
Although expected to find II buried in
snow, he did not attempt to dissuade me
from the Journey; n Northerner would not
Permit himself to be deferred by either snow
or cold. When let fall the remark that
book about Turkestan, Kuropatkin repiied,
humorously, that there were no secrets
in Askabaa. / was at perfect liberty 70 60
where liked; ! might freely visit all the
institutions in the town. might count the
soldiers in the barracks, as well AZ the big
guns, the rifles and the cartridges in the
magazines sketch whatever l thought At.
and he added, you may even write articles
about it all to the Times Ii you like IL
met with any difficulty had only to report
the matter TO him and he would see me
rightei.
III was interesting 10 Ot)SeTNt VIII Wia'
energy and yigor Kuropntsin directed the
military and even the civil affairs OF his
province. Everything worked like clock.
work. with the greatest regularity ana
punotualty. Every Tuesday he directed
the manpuvres of his troops, not seldom
On the following day he called his officers
together and criticised the evolutions Of
the preceding days march. In his Cos
sacks. their troubles, their wishes, their
needs, he took direct personal interest,
and always liked to see happy and con-
tented faces about him, But on the other
hand he maintained rigid military disci-
pline, and would tolerate neither laxity
ncr weakness.
Since then have had several occasions Of
meeting Gen. Kuropatkin, and when jour
neying to and from Asia have never failed
to call upon him, either at his house in St
Petersburg, or at his ddfchd, or villa,
on one OF the islands Of the Gulf OF Finland
but. on the other hand. although have been
invited to visit him on his estate at Teri
joki, IL Finland, have never been able to
do 80. His villa, which is only twenty
minutes drive outside OF st. Petersburg,
is severely simple, not trace Of luxury
about it: q well to do tchinornik would
he rdly be able to abstain from turning
up his nose at IT, And yet the General is
a millionaire; but he il too honest and too
proud a man to employ his wealth In min
istering to his own selfish pleasure-such
use for 1t he would look upon as absurd.
He has consistently set his face against
pomp and ceremony and epdeavored,
even while at the summit OF honor and
power, TO preserve the simplicity Of the
soldier: indeed. IL has seemed to him a sim
pie matter of duty that the man who has
the leading Of the army ought, In point Of
both conduct and manner of life, to set an
example to the men under his charge And
even now, when the destinies OF Russia
are in his hands. when he is leading her
armies through showers OF shot and shell.
when his name Is daily upon thousands
and thousands OF lips all the world over
and heads the columns Of all the newspapers
in existence-even now he is distinguished
by the same outer simplicity; no recherche
dishes, no choice wines are allowed to ap-
pear on his table; he makes no claim for
special comforts, but leads the simple SOL
troubles Of his men, takes an interest In
the wel-being OF each company, sees to It
that no man wants for anything, visits
the sick In the hospital. speals words Of
kindness and encouragement to all, has
time for everything and is at all times and
under all circumstances calm and unruffied.
/ am convinced that the Japanese must
have an unbounded admiration for their
great opponent
Kuropatkin has always been a very hard
Of War he did not forget the interests Of
his earlier life. He has always remained
keen geographer and has constantly
kept himself abreast Of the progress Of
Asiatic discovery. ! have more than once
had occasion to wonder at his knowledge
in this field. For instance, he has always
closely followed even In detail every phase
of the Dopnor controversy. In his book.
"Kashgaria, he describes the discoveries
which Prijevalsky made In the region Of
that lake; but when | subsequently showed
hin, the untcnability OF the great Russian
discov rer's views kuropatkin wa, one OF
the few Russ'an scientific geoeraphers who
wnre convinced. and he gave up his country
mems - -i.s Once, after ] had been