The patriot. [volume] (Indiana, Pa.) 1914-1955, 1915-07-17
DARING COSSACKS
Russian Rough Riders an Old and
Famous Body.
ONCE KNIGHTS OF FREEDOM.

Inc popular conception OF the RuS-
sian COSsack is a whiSkered atrocity
who rides with the speed of the wind,
comes to do acts of pillage and of ra-
pine and then goes back again into the
bosom of the tall grass from which he
came. By many he is supposed to be-
long to 4 legendary tribe whose history
stretches back into the blackneSS Of
the dark ages from which he has not
yet emerged.
No; the Cossack is in many respects
like the simple Russian peasant. In
others he is like the cowboy of the
western PLAINS, whose home is as much
in the saddle as in his own village.
Far from being oppressors. the Cos
sacks were once known entirely as the
defenders of the poor and the wrong
ed. They belonged to an order of rus
tic chivalry, the Kazachestvo, the
knights Of Freedom.
The name Kazak is of Tartar origin
and means freeman" 1t was applied
to men driven from the more settled
countries and who under the blue sky
rode without the trammel of tradition,
without the interference Of kings, pO-
tentates and powers. There was time
when mobiles laid heavy hand upon the
subject and human life was held in
small account.
The thirteenth and the fourteenth
centuries saw the CossackS developed
into communities living in the neigh
borhood of the river Dnieper and rid
ing hither and thither to keep watch
and ward over the domain of the en-
peror.
The cowboy guards of the great
southwest in this country, who are
/ now disappearing from our American
/ life, are Cossacks in spirit. When they
| become cavalrymen, Texas Rangers or
rough riders they are American Cos
sacks.
I There were some criminals among
the Cossacks, but once they had en-
rolled in the COssack legions they left
behind them ali their past. Some were
exiles for political reasons, others had
/ been hunted for taking into their own
| hands the avenging of wrongs. And
what availS name after all? When
the officers of the state came inquiring
! into the COSSack encampments for De-
metri this and Ivan that nothing was
known of them at ALL for the Cossacks
permitted men to divest themselves of
former titles and to begin the free life
with a new nomenclature. To them
the newcomer were Big Nose" ''Yel-
low Buttons or some other nicknamed
comrade.
While other persons paid taxes the
4 Cossack was subject to no such incOn~
venient levy. His share was paid by
the power of his sword and his pistols.
/ He insisted always that he was not to
be assessed, but that he should give
his military service when Russia re-
quired it of him.
! When the CoSSack communities were
; first formed they were inhabited only
! by men. The KaZacheStvo took vows
! of celibacy. 1t was an order that lived
| like anchorites and fought like demons.
AS the ages have passed there have
been many changes. The Cossacks
have families and their own home life
At first, however, young and daring
I CossackS and there was no system Of
chivalry more punctilious than was this
! government Of the men of the steppes.
Ofrenses that involved violation of
their COWS or the i'll treatment Of the
weak and the oppressed were punished
with death The sentences were quick
Iy imposed and speedily executed
| / nd aly % 1sa
the same in principle.
The dress of the Cossack has become
more or less conventional as the years
have gone. We see him in the long
coat of brown or @" green. with the
+ great lambskin cap on Eis head. with
/ strong belts containing cartridges about
his waist He shows the influence Of
military training. The Cossack Of TO
day is 4 model of elegance compared
with what he used to be He seized
i garments covered with gold lace, coats
of silks and sable and smeared them
with mire and talIOw to show bis su-
preme disregard for fine trappings. He
wore coarse garb, but in the care OF
his weapons the Cossack has always
been punctiious.
! His Workmanship was deadly and
/ accurate. even when riding at full
+ speed, as that of the cowboys of the
/ western United States. The Cossacks
/ have been expert swordsmen for CEN
/ turies. Their proficiency in arms came
/ from their environment. The steppes
in which they sought their livelihood
/ were covered with grass often go high
only the head and shoulders of the rid
/ ers appeared above the top of it. Game
was abundant in those thick tangles:
/ fruit could be obtained easily: the riv-
ers teemed with fish. The wants Of
the Cossacks were few and simple
They could do with much or little 4
slice of horsefesh carried under the
saddle to keep it warm was a ration
fit to be called a luxury.-New York
EeraId