The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-18
calm REIGNS in
ALEXEIEFF CAMP
Military Appearance Lacking
at Russian Generals
Quarters.
HAS QUIET PERSONALITY
Commander Of Northern Armies Of
Gar Regarded as Officer Of
Unusual Ability.

srecial Cable :, TIE Washington Herald.
| Warsaw. July 11.-Simpicity and lack
| Of ostentatIon are the LEADING character
istics Of everything Russian in this war.
and particularly Of the army. The two
! most simple mon l have met are III"
Grand Duke Nicholas and Cen. AleyeieT.
| who has been appointed TO the Conlnlan nd
/ of the Mort hcrn armies.
| The theory in tho japanese army is
| that the brain of the army should he So
| far away from the actual scene 81 opera
| tions that he Is absolutely detached from
J the atmospher" Of war and that between
! himself and the front there should he
! installed MANY nervous sho"k-a hsorh-
ers that the quarters of the great chief
! himself should he the realm Of pure rea-
son. with noise and excitement and
! hUrryinC aides to impair his iud -rent
! recall conversation I once !ad with
Mai 'now lieutenant general Tanaka.
Field Marshal Oyamas personal aid-jlr-
camp
II should have liked to be with the
general staff" | remarked 70 him dur
ing the hattie Of NIkden. II must have
been an exciting time with YOU NV
friend laughed and answered: You would
have had great surprise. ima CINE
There was no excitement at all. How Do
Won suppose Fled Marshal Oyama spent
! much Of his time during the hattie
One naturally ina =ined that it vas
spent scrutinizinC maps and making
plans. and l said this to Tauaka
Not u all" ne replied. when rhe
battle h\ln our work was largely I'm
ished. II was nut necessary to make an
occasional change in the line here and
there, and this took but few minutes
| Most of the time the field arshal and
k"dame 'chief of the general STAFF were
playing crnquet
Atmosphere Of Detachment.
Much the same atmosphere of deracr-
mont from tn" activities Of the campaign
may h" seen today IN the little Polish
TCity. where Cen. Aisxeicr has his head
quarters. except that no one here hrs
time for CroTuet. u is safe to saw that
beyond his own staff. there are not fifty
soldiers in the place. In fact il is less
military in appearance than anv "iry
have seen since I have heen in Russia.
In front Of his quarters are n couple
of soldiers. and a small Russian flag
hangs over the door. Nothing could lead
one to believe that within IS the indi-
Vidual in the palm of whose hand lie the
fate and movements Of hundreds upon
hundreds Of thousands of mon and ~
whose word a thousand guns will waken
the echoes with their metal thrnats IN
trenches miles away. stretching fhrorC1
forest and along hilt,Ps. nunherl"Ss
regiments and hricadeS await N" curt
order from this building to launch them
selves against tn" German lines.
TIL. man himself is as quiet and rI-l0h-
trusive as are his surroundings. Per-
hans IS or % years Of age. with = yarv
intellectual face and an almost shy nm
ner. Gen. Aleyeief is currently reported
to have the keenest brain in the Russian
Held armies. Tho staff consists Of about
- members. If their looks do not h"!ir
them they are about the most sorioris ard
hard-working men that one can f:nd in
long Journey.
While at Warsaw rImors are flying
thick and fast as to German advances
and Rvss;an mishaps. at Gen. .tlcNeiefl's
headquarters everything is serene and
calm. Tho general opinion Of tn" staff
is one Of optimism. ru,n,.- for the
moment III" Russians are in the trough
of the sea.