The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-23
RUSSIA'S .ASIATIC SOLDIERS

Warsaw May 1O.-(Special Corres- pondence. e.)-Over the yistula bridge which leads from the Brest (Moscow) depot-'the finest bridge in Europe'- up the Jerusalem Alley thence to the Vienna depot for the front. march bat talions of warriors from Asia. It seems they will never end. You get the impression that now, after half Europe is out fighting for Czar Nieho- las. half of Asia is on the way In the new troops you See more and more Asatic types: sometimes Asiatics from Europe such as Volga Tartars some
 times Caucasus Asiatics; sometimes Kirghizes and Turcomans from Aoa proper; sometimes Siberians. W A,
 though Europeans by race, have physical type of their own. Among these men from Asia are Christians, Moslems, Buddhists even heather fire worshippers. For the purposes of this war all are Russians. When you see the heterogeneous types of men tramp ing westward, you begin to under stand what an interminable empire Is Czar Nicholas; and what a little thing in comparison is Kaiser Wilhelm's.
 Two hundred thousand me nof Rus Sld S DIE dTnN III ptdCt lillc dic ihtu from Asia or from the Caucasus. Now in war there are at least half mil lion Asiatics in the field. It is these Asiatics and European Asiatics who play the greatest role on Russias side. Being far from Poland they arrived late, and when they were wanted most. Russia has been saved by her Asiatics. It was three corps of Siberians who turned up in October and prevented Hindenburg crossing the Vistula Had it not been for the Siberians, War saw today would be in German hands. Two Caucasus corps at the same time did the main work of checking the Austrian assault on the Upper Nlstula south of Ivangorod fortress, The Asiatic troops are now the best off cered and have the biggest propor- ton of well trained men. That is be- cause they came late, and have had the smallest losses. In all the com hatant armies most of the original troops have been killed or wounded and war is now being waged wltf second line men and new formations The Asiatic corps are still intact. The part they play grows daily more i'm portant.
 I have had today on the Skierniewic' front an example of the strange rac' 1 types in Russia's army. l got to Ghira doff, a factory town southwest or nere | in the daily military train, ana iron 1 there was driven to- Radsiwilon, whence l you can see the German shells bursting | A mile north I came on the Asiatics There was a big. water-fllled hole. mad | by German 12-inch shell last october | and in the middle of the water was
 good looking. ruddy soldier with obliqu eyes. He had no clothes on, ana m 1 head and shoulders projected out or tn
 water. The shell hole is 10 fe>t deer | loo~ Stan0tu | on petroleum cans. Around the pit wer 1 other Asiatic soldiers in uniformA Tn | letters on their shoulder straps shove l that they came from different units Ihe
 were all sturdy, intelligent looking mer
 with the same oblique eyes. The ma
 in the water took with his left hand handful of beans, threw them on tn up the water and the beans and sent bot flying over the soldiers who stood around The soldiers looked serious and bawie'
 "Ya. Va. Yar The naked soldier kicke from under him the petroleum cans; awe entirely under the water. reappeareo' se out and dressed. ...
 I asked Captain volkoh what the
 meant. He said 1t was a Kama chris
 ening." The soldiers were half-Cnris
 tisns. half-Moslems from Finno-ia'
 tar tribe which lives on the Kama rive
 a volga tributary. The Kama chr1s
 ening,' has nothing to do with cnristef
 ing. It has ablutionary significance vo
 kofr said That's nothing. There are nr'
 worshippers in the Eleventh army Thes
 also come from the volga They worsnl
 the sun; and in Poland In winter wne
 the sun is mostly absent. they light
 fire and worship it. The fire worshippt 1 soldier carries, sewn to his uniform.
 ball of yellow silk This symboii.es tr
 sun. In Siberian corps whicn 10 pa . of one of the southern armies are paea Yakhuts, Buriats from Mongolia and Jal anese (Russian subjects) etntoists. 1nel are. in all Czar Nichola6s armies O'V men who are neither Christfans nor o lems. but are either mixtures of bot or are pure heathens." | Far the best horsemen seen by me the front are Asiatics. There are sever' units of Turcoman and Kirghiz cavalr The Turcomans from the oases alor the Transcaspian railway are uniformt much as are the Conacks. Ths late oe'