The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1904-04-08
SOLDIERS OF TIE CAR
Former Russian Sergeant De-
scriEcs Their Life and Traits.
FEARLESS AND EVER READY TO DIE

Theodor DobrolubOT Likens Russia
to Cas-. Playing with Mouse;
When 1t Springs, Japan is Crashed,
He snys-Declares the Army "a Etot-
OfEicers Pocket RakeofTs-Miscr.. BILE
Rations of the Soldiers.
Iheouor Dobroluboff, an eX-Ilussian
soldier in Cleveland, O.. who WIS uI4el
wn4le IN Il penniless con .ition ly Isaac
Spcctorsky, superintendent Of the
Council Educational alliance of tliat
Mir. Spectorsky 10 tell of the strength
of tie cars army ANA of the oaily
lie If Ike sol>..ery. Ills IS tie story
which DcLrolubon, SIX years Il soldier
Of the car, told Il reporter Of the
Cleveland Hahn Dealer through an i'll
terpreler:
II came from the province Of hinv
in Russia My home was in Tetieif.
town OF 5000 population. In the Rus
sian army Leld the rank of 'felGeEel.
the first remove above the private and,
| think, possibly the equivalent OIL
what you call the sergeant here. Ny
friend tells me you want to know how
we lived when we protected what
the other nations are pleased to cali
the great bear We hardly lived at
all, and yet the Russian soldier is
hardy, and cannot help believing that
the army to which | belonged will yet
conquer Japan.
why? My friend. | will tell you
why. The soldiers who serve the car
know not the name of fear. They will
hurl themselves in the face of certain
death with as little concern as You will
go to your supper this evening. There
are so many of them that if Calling
gun were turned on them thousand
times and they were mown down like
swaths of hay there would always be
others to fill up the ranks instantly.
The czars soldiers are not towards.
my friend. They would laugh like
mad if told that any nation on earth
could conquer them. They are always
ready to die, but never to submit to
foreign power.
mo, my friend. the Russian bear
let us call it a cat for the moment-the
cat but plays with the mouse before
crushing it.
1T is true that the Russian soldier
is Ill paid and i'll treated. 1t is also
true that he is compelled to become
soldier, but once enlisted his country
is his life. The blood of generations
of patriots surges in his heart beat
The Russian soldiers pay is 221a cents
n month. about two-thirds of cent a
day. This is the stipend of the infan-
tryman; the cavalryman gets about
45 cents month.
The Russian army is q hOtbed of
corruption. Every transaction. great
or small. involves rakeoffs OF several
kinds and shades. The common sol
der is allowed two meals a day. one
in the middle of the day, when he gets
'borshtch,' something like cabbage
soup. and another in the evening. The
soldier is allowed black bread, but he
has to eat 1t when it is half baked in
order that his superior may get a rake
off. The army is allowed -four enough
to make bread weighing certain
amount. The bread weighs much heav-
Ter when 1t is half done than it does
when properly baked. and the superior
sells the rest of the -four and pockets
the rakeoff. If any of the black bread
is left over it is made into zwiebach
and again fed to the soldiers instead Of
the fresh bread which they are entitled
to. Thus the otIice- gets a little more
money. The government allows each
soldier half pound OF meat day
The superior officer gives each man a
quarter of pound and keeps the mon
ey placed in his hands for the purchase