Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-21
RUSSIAN CAMP IN WAR
ILLUSTRATED LECTURE BEFORE
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Col. John Y. B. Hoff, an Eyewitness,
Graphically Depicts Scenes in
Manchuria.

John Y. r. Hoff, lieutenant colonel of the
United States army medical corps, while
he was at the front with the Russian army
In Manchuria during the recent Russian
japanese war, were exhibited Wednesday
evening as the special feature of a meet
Ing Of the Sons of the Revolution, which
was held in the parlors of the New VIII
lard Hotel. The pictures were given with
a stereopticOn lantern, and were fully ex-
planned by Col. Hoff. The meeting was
well attended by the members of the or
der and invited guests. After the lecture
and the business session, collation. was
served to the members, and social hour
was enjoyed.
F.. W. Huidekoper, president of the So
ciety, presided over the meeting, and DR..
Marcus Benjamin recorded minutes of the
business that was transacted Others who
were present were Surgeon General Walter
Wyman, Col. J. NJ. Morgan, Thomas Blag-
den, Lewis z. Clephane, r. R. Bennett DR..
f. o. Belt, Admiral j. G. Walker, ex-As-
sistant Secretary of the Navy, f. w Hack
EFT, A. X Paris, Irving II. Dunlop of the
fish commission and others. The principal
business which was tranSa cited was that of
adopting bylaws for the society. 1t
was explained that the old ones were not
satisfactory or complete and new ones
were framed to meet the peculiar needs
which experience had emphasized.
Col. Hoff's Lecture.
Col. Hoff went with Gen. Berry and other
representatives of the military service of
the United States, to study conditions on the
firing line, and he found many surprises
there. In opening his lecture, he said in
part:
IF you could have seen the tremendous
difficulties which Russia had to overcome in
preparing for the exigencies of the war. you
would have believed kuropatkin when he
Said that Russia neither expected nor was
prepared for war, when it started In Feb
Tuary, 1904. At the time she had less than
boOUO troops in the far east 1t was neces-
sary to carry every soldier over single
track nearly 6,0G0 miles. And when the war
began, that line lacked two important links
one around a lake, 1870 miles the other a
tunnel of two miles. At the beginning OF
the war Russia could handle only two and
one-half trains per day But under great
difficulties the road was finished and they
were able to handle fifteen trains per day
What did l see in Manchuria? | reach
ed there sixteen months after the war
broke out. l saw an army of about l. 49, 900
men, perfectly equipped in every detail
in the medical department with which L
am familiar and in the fighting department
with which my companions were familiar
me RUSSIAN forces were divided into five
armies, three on the lines in front of the
Japanese, another stationed along the rail-
road and fifth at Vladivostok
Net Results of the War.
What were the net results of the war
In mortality and sickness? Russia lost. kill
ed and identified, 10000; she lost Of the
wounded in the hospitals, 1000: and there
were missing $1,000, which can be regard
ed as dead. This gives a total legitimate
loss Of over 10000 men. The losses from
disease were $4,000. To sum up the re-
SUITS, three men died from wounds on the
pdtteHeId 10 every one who died from dis
ease a remarkable record. In our own civil
war two were lost from disease TO every
one lost through wounds. In the Franco
German war the losses among the Ger
mans were two from wounds on the hsttIe-
HeIu 10 one from disease, the record until
the Russian war
At this point in his lecture ba oxh;t;t,
the pictures, explaining each one as in was
thrown on the screen. He found that the
sanitary conditions among the Russians
az the front We're excellent, and many of
ms pictures bore out that Statement In
the greatest degree. He stated that he
never saw drunken soldier all the time
ne was at the front, due to the fact he
Salo' that there was no liquor to be had
In many cases running water was rsod
for cooking and other like purposes and
wells were sunk with the old-fasbioned
chan and bucAet arrangement to suppIy
drinking water fP''
novelty in that army We're the shelters
and sod houses. The shelter tents were
made of millet, which is like our Indian
corn. The sod houses We're used in win
ter, We're five feet deep in the ground, forty
feet wide and 200 feet long and provided
shelter for one company of about $50 men
The earth taken out of the excava tion
was piled up on the rafters to make the
house warm.
Kitchen on Wheels.
Another feature which attracted internal
tonal attention was the soup kitchen, or
kitchen on wheels. AS an institution, It
is like the American fire engine. This
kitchen is in use while being moved. SO
that food can be cooking while the com
pany is marching and the food can he
served the men soon as they make a
halt. In the time of actual battle these
soup kitchens have been moved IN to
the very firing line and the men there
served with hot soup while firing It's APP
phcability in TINS country is questioned on
the ground that the American soldier
wants more than soup for his meal.
The sanitation department of the army,
Col Hoff stated, has lieutenant general
as its chief, and he has as his staff chiefs
Of three departments The Red Cross did
a great work in the Russian army Women.
born in the lap of luxury, highly cultured
and tenderly nurtured, volunteered to nurse
the soldiers at the front. There were sixty