Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-09-25

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-, name only. and that
iN the manor at least
one of the principal men--behind the Sav
resurgence that even Berlin cannot deny is
General Kuropatlin, recalled" again.
His name must be added to the long lis
OF sexagenarian commanders in the present
conflict He Is e7 years old, an hereditary
noble Of Pskof His ancestry runs back to
the Cars of Moscow, with a tradition that
stretches across the centuries TO Odin AID
Thor At the age Of 1s he entered the army
He wanted work, hard work, as always
through his long life. and So scorning an
appointment in the fashionable Imperial
Guards, he chose a commission in the
Turkestan Rifles. And from then on his
career is rich in dramatic color. The stage
setting has vared-the northern lights over
the fIozen Neva River: the Arabian Nights
country Of Tashkent and Samarcand; Paris
of the Debacle: a moonlight oasis In the
Sahara; tire Tartar cities under the roof of
the world; the blue Danube, Plevna, the Bal
knns; the brigand-ridden Turcoman steppes
the shores Of the Caspian; the ruins of Merry,
and then again the wintry Neva. the war
ministry, the Russian army, the Far East
and then obscurity.
Covered With Glory
In these years he has received every
decoration for valor that his sovereign has
II in his power to bestow. And he wears
them ALA carload of ICONS amulets and
crosses cover his breast He knows full we'll
the value of the theatrical pomp and brag-
gadocio that appeal to the hearts of his
soldiers. Ostentatiously he slaps on the back
his brother" Ivan, the private. But he is
a cold-blooded calculator a. student who
nn Of fHa
And despite his misfortunes it is probable
that today. as in 1904 and 1905, he is the idol
OF his soldiers. For he is a great ''leader of
men, like most OF the military heroes in
history
In the Russo-TurlSish war he fought bv
the side of skobeleff and at Plevna he saw
5000 of his chiefs $1,000 men fall in a single
battle before the enemy's fire The only
Russian officer not killed or wounded. he
led brave 300 men In n charge against a
Turkish battalion. Only a hundred returned,
but the Turks had been driven into the
famous Redoubt No. 13. This is but one OF
his many brilliant and brave exploits.
Much Of his fame rests on his ability as
an organizer. AS youth he helped reor-
ganize the French cavalry. This was after
the Franco Prussian War. So valuable were
his services considered that he was made
an efiicer in the Legion Of Honor-the frs.
Russian to receive the distinction. After
wards he reorga2ised the Russian army and
in 1898 was appointed Minister of War.
For seven years previously he was Gov
ernor of Transcaucasia. He succeeded. after
others had failed, in pacifying the wild
hordes OF Turcoman robbers He built rail-
roads and carriage roads churches and many
public buildings. Thirty schools and COLLEGES
were opened, and judicial department was
organized He induced the natives TO take
to cotton planting which is now the principal
industry of the country. A rare thing for a
Russian Governor, he brought happiness and
prosperity TO his conquered province. Among
his other works of peace IL they may be so
called, are several volumes of military his
tory and strategy
The Seesaw Goes Up Again
The causes OF his removal from supreme
command in the Far East have been the sub
ject OF much discussion but this seems to be
sure, that he was hampered by intrigues and
Jealousies and by meddlings of various sorts
on the part OF officers at the front and in
competent advisers OF the Czar back in st.
Petersburg. The history of the campaign
was one of imperial orders and orders coun-
termanded and a whole lot OF petty inter-
ference. Administrative corruption had
part ana supplies ana money Tor supplies
were stolen. The unreadinese of Russia for
war; the childish presumption OF Russian
diplomacy, the hopeless failure of the Rus
sian navy, the inferiority of many Of the
troops first dispatched TO the seat OF war, tho
Incompetence OF Russian generals and OF
the Headquarters Staff in the field, the APP
paliing difficulties of reinforcement, supply
and transport, and worst OF all. the marked
superiority Of the Japanese army as an in
strument OF war. which gradually became
disclosed during the course OF operations, all
served TO extend to Kuropatlxin no small
measure OF public sympathy. But when war
between great nations is concerned, and
when rulers or people gamble for empire with
mems lives as counters. the question OF the
individual Is matter OF infinite unimport-
ance compared with that OF the achievement
OF national end. II is generals business TO
succeed, and the Russian commander failed.
And now, Il seems, kuropatltin Is needed
BY the czar. He came out Of the Russo
Japanese war without losing all OF his repu-
tation as one OF the greatest OF the worlds
military men. He is man Of iron win. yet
unbroken. and now comes another opportu-
nifty for its exercise. skobeIen said OF him
that he was the coolest and hardest -nerved
man he had ever seen under fire.