Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1904-02-25
RUSSIANS PRAY FERvENrLy.
Thousands kneel in Snow outsid
Churches in Moscow.

Thousands kneel in Snow outsid.
Churches in Moscow.
ST. Petersburg. Feb. 25.-All over tn
thusiasm continue at the departure o
soldiers. Moscow. of course, is tn
center of all such sentiment. 1t woul
not be Moscow otherwise. In Mos
COW, also in keeping with tradition
that 1T is the holy city, there have bee
great religious demonstrations whei
the favorite churches are filled wit.
people who surround them and pra.
outside.
instance, there have been crowds o
1000 people or more on their knees 4.
the snow, crossing themselves, prayini
for long periods and listening to tn
echoes of the sacred music of the re
ligious services waited through tn
open doors. They We're praying for tn
success of the Russian arms.
Perhaps one of the most strikinl
features of the day in summing up tn
condition of the Russian people is tn
frequency with which one hears tn
cussed Another is the opinion pre-
vailing almost universally in the mind
of those intelligent enough to thin.
that whether the Russians or Japanes
win intervention and international ar
engagements are sure to occur. TIL
idea of international complications re
sulting from the war does not NEE
the same amount of popular credenc
which obtained few weeks ago.
Gifts OF very large sums continue t
pour in from all over the country. Thi
city can now boast OF having raise,
One characteristic gift fsi6nhi orb 81 sizes
from the trotting association.
An anonymous Englishman has come t
the fore. He gives a very useful presen
for the i'll. 1t consists of $500 bottles o
the porter ale of his country. Tea, suga
and tobacco are given in great quantitie
to the departing soldiers. while as tn,
trains start off the peasants throw cd,
bits of wearing apparel into the car
riages.
AS two companies were leaving Min
Novogorod lot of peasants took off thei
long felt boots and presented them to TIL
soldiers with the cry: Keep warm am
healthy" And the poor people returne,
home over the snow happy, yet bare
footed.
The tension of public feeling under tn
utter absence of news is very severe, an
made much worse by the sudden inter
ruption Of the wires. The telegraph i
closed entirely for private messages. Thi
time as this. but 1t is absolutely neccs
sary.
Even for government need the existin
telegraph facilities scarce suffice and 7
is an open secret that the wires have bee
repeatedly cut. and this, painful as 1t ma
be to say, not by the red bearded, relent
less Hunzees of Manchuria, but by tn
enemies of their country nearer home
Yes. even so near as In the neighborhoo
of Moscow
Already the people are realizing wit
terror the possibility that later telegraph
communication with the far east may b
entirely cut off. Unless the Russian force
make some sweeping and victorious move
ment very soon 1t is freely accepted tina
the Japs will surely cut both the tele
graphic and railway communication.
AS the vastness of the undertaken
which this war means dawns fully upo
the minds of the more intelligent peopl
here they realize how almost impossible
1T would be to guard effectually such lon
stretches of wires and railway as wi
need protection. AT the same time the
realize how terrible might be the effect
of serious blockade on the railway a
such time in the prevailing cold.