The daily Alaskan., 1915-04-09
DARING COSSACkS
Russian Rough Riders an Old and
 Famous Body.
ONCE KNIGHTS OF FREEDOM.

l In Former limos They Were Known
 Entirely as Defenders of the Poor and
 tho oppressed-Dsadya as Marksmen
 and Experts With the Sword.
 The popular conception of the Rus. sian Cossack is a whlskered 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 1 bosom of the tall grass from which he came. By many be Is supposed to be- long to a 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 chiYalry, the Kazachestyo, the Knights of Freedom.
 The name Kazak Is of Tartar origin and means Freeman" It was applied | to men driven from the more settled countries and who under the blue sky rode without the tramme of tradition without the interference of kings, po- FIhnWn l when nobleS laid heavy hand upon the subject and human life waS hch in small account
 The thirteenth and the fourteenth l centuries saw the COssacks developed 1 into communities living in the neigh borhood Of the river Dnieper and rid ing hither snd thither to keep watch and ward over the domain of the em- peror.
 The cowuoy guards of the great southwest in thls 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.
 There were some criminals among the CossauRs, but once they had on. rolled In the CoSSack legionS they left behind them all their past. Some were exIles for political reasons. others had been hunted for taking into their own hands the averaging of wrongs. And what avaIlS name after all? When the officers of the state came inQuirinS | into the CoSSack encampmcnts for De metri thls and Ivan that nothing was known of them at all, for the CosSackS permitted lhen to diyeSt themselves of former titles and to begin the free life with a new nomenclature. To them the newcomer were Big Nose" "Nel- low Buttons" or some other nicknamed comrade.
 While other persons paid taxes the 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 be was not to be assessed, but that he should give his military service when Russia re- Quired 1t of him.
 When the CossaCk communities were first formed they were inhabited only by men. The KazachestyO took VOWS of celihacy. It 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 youths were sent out to ride with the Cossacks, and there was no system of chiyalry more punctllious than was this government of the men of the steppes Offenses that involved violation of their VOWS or the III treatment of the weak and the oppressed were punished with death. The sentences were quick ly imposed and speedily executed Cowboy justice and COssack rule are 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 of green, with the great lambsku cap on his head, with strong belts containing cartridges about his waist. He shows the Influence Of military training. The Cossack Of to- day is a model of elegance compared | with what he used to be. He seized garments covered with gold lace, coats | of silks and sable and smenred them with mlre and tallow to show his su- preme disregard for fine trappings. He wore coarse -garb, but in the care Of ! his weapons the Cossack has always been punctilious.
 His markmanship was deadly and accurate, even when riding at full speed, as that of the cowboys of the western United States. The Cossocks have been expert swOrdsmen for cen turtles. Their proficiency in arms came from their environment. The steppes In which they sought their livelihood were covered with grass often so high only the head and shoulders of the rid