The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-24

| cars loaded with soldiers. although this was strictly forbidden. He found the 1 men in miserable condition. half starv- ed. clothed in rags mostly barefoot, ] and covered with vermin. The foul odor of the cars was beyond descrfp- | tion. And wherever he appeared bony hands were reached out toward him and | hoarse voices cried:
 1 For the sake of Christ, Barin. give us a few kopeks-we are starving" | Tn contrast to those scenes of utmost misery, he says. he beheld the trains carrying the higher offcers--roiiins palaces that could not be surpassed In l this country for comfort and luxury. There were bands playing and buffets | alted with wines, bathrooms and read l ing rooms and soft couches. And yet. even the officers enjoying these luxu- | ries were as unwilling as the hungry 1 soldiers to go to the front. By chance, | MT. Madeikern. became the eyewitness of A parting scene at Moscow. when xro,fp of trains were to start on the I long tourney to Manchuria. one of them l carrying officers. the rest loaded with the rank and file.
 | e-oionel of infantry was standing near his car waiting for the third bell which l on Russian railroads gives the signal l for the start. The man stood like | marble statue, his head bent forward. his right arm around the waist of his l sobbing wife. His sister clung to him | on the other side. Two tiny iittie girls. apparently twin sisters, held nim by the legs. Slightly aside stood his old father and mother.
 "why so away to be kiiledr' cried his wife. Let them kill us both here together"
 The oficer did not show by the I movement of a muscle that he heard A white haired General came up to him He spoke to the younger man with a catch in his voice. as if with dim- cuity he kept back the tears: | "The second bell has rung-remember brother, we are soldiers. We must not l forget ourselves"
 | Then the colonel muttered to his wife, without looking at her: You know I don't want to so, but must l must"
 Just then the station bell rang out | three strokes. Two young women | tainted. They were carried into the l staation. The officer hurried blindly, with head still lowered, into the car, and tho train started.
 | Mir. Mandeikern walked over to the l troop train. which was to be the next l to go. He saw a young woman rum ming excitedly along the open freight | crowded so closely that they had bare ly room to sit down. Under her arm she carried a bundle. a small child. l suddenly she caught sight of the man she was looking for. and stopped as near as she could get to him.
 Ivan, thou foolr' she cried. Don't go; they'll kill you. Much better you stay here and we may be killed to- gether. Whom do you fear7 May they all perish, those who have the power. Come out of there. Ivan, thou fool, or take your child along"
 As she shrieked out the last words she threw the child into the open car, where 1t was caught by the father. l5tandlng up. with the child raised above his head. the young soldier shouted at his wife:
 Thou beast. dost come to put salt into my wounds! Take this and keep it--foE thou knowest I am forced to lgo."
 Then, to the horror of all who saw it, Mir. Mandelkern said. the soldier cast his own child down on the platform as if 1t had been some inanimate object There it was left. bleeding from a wound in the head till a gendarme picked 1t up and carried 1t into the sta tion, where the mother. raving and shouting, had been led by two police men.
 Reaching Moscow Mir. Mandelkern took a drosky and ordered the dvornik to drive him around the City of Forty Times Forty Churches. as it is called by It's own inhabitants. Each time a church was passed the dvornik had to stop and cross himself three times. At last his passenger offered him five rou- bles-a large sum in Russia-if he would refrain from crossing himself again during the rest of the trip. The driver succeeded in passing two churches without performing the usual movements of the right hand. Then he forgot himself. Alterward he con- fessed that it would be impossible for him to abstain.
 It's just a habit. BarIn." he ex- plained.
 This started a conversation which caused the dvornik to take Mfr. Mandel- kern to the spot where Grand Duke Serguis was killed by bomb Point ing to the place, the man said:
 Look. Barin-that's where that dog was blown to pieces. A fine sight 1t was All they found of him was a few finRere Where do you think they found those, Barin7 Tn a Red Cross box. They were accustomed to be in that box. He had 400, ,00O,0 900 rubles when he died. and he stole 1t from the poor soldiers in Manchuria."
 How can you speak that way of your validi knaiz?" (grand duke) ask ed Mir Mendelkern.
 My valiki knaiz." repeated the dvor- nix. Met, Barin (no. no. Lord), they are not ours. They are thieves and we have nothing to do with them. The more of them are killed the better foi Russia"
 That Mir. Mendelkern says, was thc spirit he heard expressed everywhere in Russia, by high and low, by educat ed and ignorant. It was common. h' told the reporter. next to the corrup ton, which was even more pervasive When he was about to buy his railroad tickets 1t happened several times tha Iconductors whispered to him:
 Don't be a fool with your money Hi sell you a tciket at half price or the train. There are no controllers ol
 this road"
 Baggage is carried free up to
 weight of forty pounds. Mir. Mendel
 kern had a large overweight Ever,
 time he wanted to check his baggag
 the man who received 1t would say;
 "GIve me a drink, and I'll let 1t 2
 for one-haif."
 "They are all corrupt-that is, al
 who are in power" said Mir. Mendel
 kern in conclusion yesterday. Eve
 witte and his assistants are charge
 with having created a monopoly out c
 the vodka trade for the purpose c
 graft The government is now losin
 some 70,000,0O0 rubles on the conduc
 of that monopoly a year. And who
 getting it?