Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-07
RUSSIAN NAVY OFFICERS
An Estimate of Their Ability
 and Characteristics.
RECRUITS FROM THE ARIsToORAOY

A war COrrSSpOmOent says the Ekus-
 sian Naval Omcer Regards His
 Army Brother As His Interior I'm
 Every Respect--Does Not Consider
 It His Duty to Do Any Fighting.
 From an intimate knowledge of tho Russian naval officer, whom he has studied ill the Baltic, the Black and the Yellow seas, at Vladivostok and elsewhere, W. Greener, war corre- spondent of the London Times, who has recently been ill the far east, writes as follows:
 Tie Russian naval officer considers himself no end of fellow The navy is the petted service, its personnel is recruited from the cream of aristo- cratic society, and no one without blue nections at court can aspire to the quarter deck Of the czars navy.
 The army officer is envious of the partiality royalty has shown for the navy, and the naval officer regards his army brother as his inferior in every respect and as q mujik in comparison with a lender of the fighting men of the sea. The result is that the two services have never co-operated, have never worked together tremendously and never will
 The army officer has to take his pro- fession more or less seriously. The na- val officer never does. He Is in the navy merely because 1t is the correct thing for young aristocrat to be there and affords opportunities for travel oyer strange seas and for hay ing rollicking good time in every port of the world where there is any society at all.
 The Russian naval officer models his conduct and demeanor for social func- tions in accordance with the example set by the British navy. He does it with fair success and is invariably q generous, hospitable and delightful host and almost always charming, frank and amusing guest.
 The good points end with the man as a society unit As leader of fighting men, as trained expert in the art of war, any Cossack commander is his superior. He does not regard it as a part of his business to do any fighting.
 At Port Arthur the officers who will fully neglected their duty were so nll-i merous that it'were easier to count the exceptions. Man who were ordered to command the naval gunners in the forts again and again were absent from their posts. An officer absolutely refused to take command of the tor pedo boat destroyer to which he had been appointed because he dreaded the risk the duty entailed.
 To walk the deck of an ironclad was one thing, to stick in the coming tow ror remain in the turrets during an engagement quite another, duty the naval officer regarded as scarcely part of, his contract. @,.
 I have been told by naval officers since the war commenced that ill their opinion it was the duty of the army to defend the country and that they, the naval officers, ought net to be expected to risk their ships and their lives in such unequal encounters as the Japa- nese have forced upon them.
 Before the war commenced naval officer on board one of the finest battle ships fn the world informed me that if there should be war between Russia and Japan the Russian navy would not fight. Ten days later his ship was tor pedoed at Port Arthur, but neither then nor at any other time has she shown any fight
 The naval officer when his passions are infamed by wine or vodka is apt to become auarrelsome, and when in the. company of his interiors i'll rank he bullies unmercif,llly. A naval officer struck an American citizen at Port Arthur merely because the lad was a civilian and an American.
 The, Russian naval officer will knock down walters, smash tables and crock cry in restaurants with drawn side, arms and cooked revolvers, terrorize chorusegirls at cafe cbantau and so enjoy himself. But in that direction he knows his limitations. He rarely so far forgets himself as to strike one his equal in rank and never hits man whom he knows is able to hit back.
 The engineer officers are different sort and belong to quite another caste. For the most part they are plain liv- ing Baltic Russians, men of quiet de meanor and genial temperament, but pusillanimous in tho extrcme.
 The Russian Jack Tar Is the Russian peasant sent to sea. Unless Finn he is just drilled mujik, made ht food for powder and sacrificed without compunction. With such navy Rus. sia is no more able to drive Japan from the Yellow sea than she is to coerce Great Britain or intimidate the United Stutes of America by display of powder.
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