The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-03-27

It long Intervals and keep up as well {
they can with the affairs of the gree
world
II have spent many an evening in isc
lated military posts hundreds of mile
1 from the nearest town, and perhaps fit
miles from even q telegraph station,
said Russian officer who rode on horse
back throush Siberia, land the societ
was so refined and even brilliant, tina
1 almost imagined I was In st. Peters
burg.
: remember one such post in particular
on the fringe of the Pamirs; it was tn
nearest Russian post. at that time, to tn
Indian frontier.
There were three officers there. two o
whom were married and living with thei
wives in that desolate waste. They wert
ladies Of noble birth ard the best socia
experience. They had lived in court cir
cles at st. Petersburg and Moscow, and
were familiar with the society of Vienns
and Paris. Yet they cheerfulIy buried
themselves alive there in order TO be with
their husbands; their children were being
educated in Russia, and they had moi
seen them for years
Il think they spent a happy life. They
went hunting a good deal with their hus-
bands. The commandant showed me the
biggest bear skin ] had ever seen, and
told me his wife hao killed the brute
single-handed. The other lady was a fine
artist, and her sketches of mountain
scenery were among the best have ever
seen.
In the evenings they had a jolly time.
They invited one another to dinner as
formally as if they had lived mile apart
in big city,~and they gave pleasant little
! dances, card parties, and musical soirees.
! Although they knew one another so well,
they never relaxed the formal etiquette
usual among married officers and their
wives in the Russian service. 1 chaffed
/ the commandment about this once, but he
replied:
q If we did, we should quarrel, and be
/ flying at one anothers Threats in less
than a week You have no idea how
such solitude as this gets upon peoples
nerves. Your only salvation is to play
that you are living in the midst Of a big
society,"
The work Of the officers was interest
ing and dangerous. They were there main
among the tribes living around the Pa
Mrs. They surveyed the mountain rang
IS and mapped out routes by which arm
les could cross them, and they travelled
among the tribes, seeking to persuade the
headmen that it was TO their interest TO
become allies with Russia and fight for
her whenever a clash came with Eng
land. Sometimes they We're away from
the fort for weeks and months on these
dangerous expeditions, and you can i'm
agine the terrible anxiety their wives suf-
fered The wife of a Russian outpost
officer needs to be woman Of high cour-
age and infinite capacity for self-sacri-
fee"
Like the English on the frontiers of
India, the Russians in half a dozen parts
of Asia are constantly engaged in little
wars of which the world hears nothing
Even now that the Trans Caspian railway
has been run through Russian Turkestan
to the borders of Afghanistan, tribal feuds
and petty risings are not infrequent
among the NIoslem tribes of Central Asia. /
They usually begin through cattle lift
ing or camel lifting by one tribe in an
others territory, very much after the
fashion in which Rob Roy and his cater
ans harried the lowlands of Scotland.
1t is the business of the Russian out !
post officer to suppress promptly these
lawless manifestations before they reach |
a point where they can be dignified by the |
name of war. He must strike quickly and |
strike hard in order to teach the tribes |
men TO respect the peace of the Car.
Above all. he must never be defeated, for |
that would lead to rapid extension of !
the rising, and it would become necessary
to dispatch a large expedition, with all
the attendant publicity SO distasteful to
the Russian government.
For this reason the troops kept at the
in the danger zones are always
Of the most mobile kind. Usually they are
Cossacks. who can always be depended on
to ride day and night for a week If nee
essary, and fight like furies at the end OF
that time. Even if a Cossack is a coward
at heart-a rare case-he dares not show
the white feather
If he refused to so to war when the
Gar sent the fiery cross''-a large strip
Of red clOth-to the Cossack villages, his
own wife and mother would put out his
eyes; and If he showed the slightest trace
Of cowardice in action. his own comrades
would promptly kill him. a story is told
in Turkestan of a Cossack officer who
was tortured to death by his men because
he tried to avoid a fight with superior
force of Turcomans during one of Skobe-
ef's campaigns. 1t may not be true, but
It is the kind of story that might be true
Of the Cossacks
rt~t-- IT..
Eskimos Of Siberia, often give trouble,
and small expeditions have TO be unob-
rusively dispatched against them. This
Kind of warfare gives the Russian officer
Inc training in which it is necessary 10
march troops long distances over frozen
country and supply them with food in
'egion where little or no food can be
ocally obtained
Until quite recently, hardly day passed
without a fight with the Buriat Mongils,
who are now sending a contingent to help
light the Cars battles in MGnchuria. /
They are a warlike barbarian race. who
gave the Russians more trouble than any
'ther of their Asiatic Subjects except the
7urcomans. Even now the outpost officers
ife in Buriat territory is an anxious one,
or his turbulent charges are fond OF
aiding into Tibet. and the Russian policy I,
or some years past has been TO do every
hing possible to win the friendship of
he Tibotsns.
on the one hand. the outpost officer
must keep the Buriats in good humor. as
lis superiors believe in winning their
friendship. rather than rer0etuaIly fight
ng them; on the other nand he must
ot let the Buriats trouble the Tibetans
I IS 4 unsLtinn Which oils or al dirln- !