Dewey County advocate. [volume] (Timber Lake, S.D.) 1910-1913, 1912-02-23

~ 'l|s|9 01ze4x Nyzr,
"a most startling feature Of
modern history is the marve
lous expansion Of Russia
Americans speak with we'll
based pride of the immense ex'
y Of our contiguous territory,
NJ thing from ocean to ocean and
the lakes to the gulf. but after
hcle Sam has only little more
100000 square miles in one
while Russia has 8,647, 657
A(1e miles, or almost three times
4 nch. The empire comprises one
rNth Of the land surface of the
and the population which pro-
allegiance to the Car is esti-
1eqd atsI60. 000, 900, or approximately
~ atNrnany as the men. and wom-
IND the Star Spangled Banner.
peS9lRtion Of the empire has in
!. At; rate which puts our
mated ~ Increase clear into the
ehode. In 1922 Russia was supposed
Az have only 100000 900 people, and as
~ e. 1879 she had 13o.O00,000.
When the men who fought in the
4 way o. the rebellion were studying
IL Ge0gTAphy Russia's boundaries did not
3 0sAe Far south as the eastern end Of
~ Black Sea. and thrilling we're the
+ 1t0f1es Of her war with the Circas-
Aians and the feats Of Schamyl. the
1 1eador who defied for years the over
L Sfing forces Of the great white
3 (;xI y Caucasus has long been a
c9lbIe part Of the Russian en-
~ Years later the whole interior
Asia was occupied by wandering
tTeb4s iof Tartars and Turkomans,
axaong whom no civilized man ven
fSd except at the imminent peril of
life The first civilized man since
hrco Polo to traverse this region
u ! - Arminius vambery, Hungarian.
who was attached to the embassy at
Il Constantinople. This was IN 1864.
Since that time Russia has acquired
Samarkand, Bokhara, Khiva, Turke-
stan and the Transcaucasian country,
ana extended her borders southwark
until the little country Of Afghanis-
tan is all that interposes between her
and British India. On the southeast
she reaches to the mountains which
form the western boundary of China
and on the extreme west she has
taken on large slice Of Armenia ~
ing between the Black Sea and the
Caspian until she touches the border
Of Persia. All this annexation has
been accomplished with comparative
,,ly little trouble. and the murderous
Irobber tribes have been reduced to
comparative peace and order without
any great smell of blood.
The news of the day shows far
more startling annexation than any
OF her previous feats in this direction.
1t IL believed that she will soon have
under her control the great country
Of Mongolia and large part. II not
all, of the ancient empire of Persia.
It seems conceded that Mongolia,
which is1Alieved to be the home of |
the Mon9he IAN race, embracing near
AIy one-third of3Aumanity. is an i'm
lmense stretch of country estimated |
lat about 100000 square miles, or |
much more than the entire United |
States east Of the Mississippi. It |
stretches through Central Asia from |
Eastern Turkestan to Sungaria and
the Altai mountains on the west to
Manchuria on the east, and from the
empire Of China proper on the south
to Russian Siberia on the north.
The people are supposed to be the
original Mongols, and are described
as a cheerful. good-natured and hos
pitable people. They live in tents
lined with felt. with hole in the
roof to serve as a chimney. Their
ordinary food consists Of preparations
Of milk and millet. buckwheat -four
and oatmeal. Their number Is esti-
mated all the way from 100000 to
5000. 900. They are divided into tribes
governed each by its own chieftain,
- In the northern part of these are
{(llhsred into four Khanates. each
by a prince claiming de-
scent from Genghis Kahn, the great
ccnoueror. Women are not secluded
ss IN China, and marriage consists In
= ceremony which IL bassd upon the
old fashion Of marriage by capture.
Tar deeper sentimental interest
IS connected with Russia's acquisition
of the ancient kingdom of Persia,
which for time irnmemorial has played
a greater part in the civilization Of
the world than that of Mongolia.
Persia is country 100000 square
miles in extent. or about one-f1fth of
that Of the United States. excluding
Alaska. I'll )ins the Russian province
Of Transcaucasia on that part of Asia
Minor lying between the Black and
the Caspian Seas and the Russian
province IT Transcaspia still farther
10 the east On it, eastern boundary