Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-05-01
RUSSIA'S WEAKNESS
Army Traders Story of Muk-
 den Defeat.
WANT OF DISCIPLINE IN CARS ARMY
pFunkenness and Thievery on the Part of 0Mcers Graphically Por- trayed by an Eyewitness of
 Muscovites' Great Retreat.


 Part of 0Mcers Graphically Por-
 trayed by an Eyewitness of
 Muscovites' Great Retreat.
 LONDON, May 1.-The following story of the retreat from Mukden by an army trader with the Russian forces, who tells very graphically of incidents in the great defeat of Kuropatkin's ar my, has been received here:
 T went with the retreat to Tie pass. l saw it all. I don't want any more. I knew that the retreat was coming. I've seen 'em before. l saw the Boers clear out of Pretoria. know the signs. The Russian officers jeered when I suggested such thing. but l knew. They were packing their stores, getting their papers together in the various offices. Trunks. boxes, valises of all sorts, were ready to be sent oil at a moments notice. They tried to keep up their bluff until the very last. Cherchoff. the head of the gendamerie, Cas a bad one. We had to get our passes from him. We left our pass ports in his office. and he gave us permit to stay week. ten days. two weeks, as the case might be, until we sold our milk or brandy, whatever it was. Sometimes we had to pay, some times not. If Cherchoff sized us up as easy it went badly with us. otherwise we got of with only small squeeze. Just the day before the evacuation commenced Cherchoff charged two Greeks $500 apiece for two weeks per init and then cleared out at midnight, leaving the men without their passes. "All during the weeks fighting. from the time the Russians first heard the Japanese guns to the west of Mukden, their preparations for flight had been going on. Commissary trains trun1led 1 north. Files of men moved slowly out of the city, gun teams dSagged the can. l non away one after the other Tn Mukden many were drunk. Off' cers came in from the front. went to the restaurants and drank themselves | stupid. Chinese servants threw theil masters into their carts like so much | wood and started them on their jour ney north. Officers and men. senseless | with vodka, were piled in the waiting trains. When the news came that tht | railway had been cut the retreat be gan in good earnest.
 | ayv.1 xx-;fh fhnrn cfiI had some goods in Tie pass-,ham pagne, brandy. sugar and preserved 1 fruits.
 | ssThe artillerymen abandoned gull ! after gun. The ice was already weak ening in the smaller streams and thu heavy carriages crashed through al they slid and bumped across. No on' thought of trying to drag them ou again. The gun teams were hurried ol and hitched up somewhere else or seiz ed by the men who had been riding ol the caissons. They rode of. leavinl ], eterythipg 70 thee ehe1iy,.. dftentiritee t two on horse.
 "Only once did I see any evidence O authority. A party of Cossacks in
 side street found a Chinese begga whom they thought was Japanes spy. They set upon and yanked at hi pigtail till it came off Then they trie to carry him away. The man clutche the spokes of passing cart. He rt fused to let go his grip. The Russian tore his clothes from his back in thei efforts to drag him of. He would nc
 let go. They drew their swords an
 hacked his hands of at the wrists. Tn
 man turned upon them. licking an biting. waving his arm stumps. H
 seizece Cossack's hand in his teet ! and bit the fingers of. Crazed wit pain. the Russian drew his sword wit
 his left hand and stabbed the Chin; . man. companion slashed at him frol : the other side and nearly severed h
 head from his body. A third man fiji . ished the work half done. and the bod
 was dragged to the company headqua ters. The Russian commander sto1
 the bloodstained soldiers in the yar
 and shot them down for killing tt Chinaman. All four bodies were le
 uncared for.
 ''The town was in a turmoil. W
 couldn't get hold of any of our store
 IL was hopeless More troops wei
 coming in. Misfchenko was out on il
 Russian flank with 6.OO0 cavalry ar
 a couple of batteries. Splendid me
 they were too. He is lazy. Mis;chenk
 or be would have done something. F
 had his headquarters in little villa.
 under a hill. All about him In Il
 plain were the cavalry patrols. som
 times ten. sometimes fifty. sometim