El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-04-17
5IBERIANSARE
TEN MILLIONS
Tartars Number 100000
Among Many Tribes
AND, Religions.

Omsk. Siberia. April 17-(Corre-
spondence Of the Associated Press)--
Siberia. which has forced world atten-
ton. by reason Of the important po-
litical events there includes all the
Asiatic possessions Of Russia. with the
exception OF the trans-Caspian and
trans-Caucasion regions and the gov
eminent general Of Turkestan. whose
capital. Tashkent. was captured by
the Bolshevikf and whose American
vice consul, Roger c Tredweu, was
arrested and left TO lauguish in prison
Since the Monaghan invasions in the
18th century, Siberia has been the
homeo many tribes. descended from
that race. To the foreigner the Tar
tars are perhaps the most interesting
Their great center is kazan. though
the national Tartar council, which,
like Ukraine and other regions Of
Russia. seeks the developments Of KS
national aspirations is now located
at PetrOpaTlovsk, not FAR from Omsk.
This is on account Of Bolshevtk ter
rorism-
The Tartars are true followers Of
Mahomet and their mosques are found
in almost every city They are esti-
mated 10 number l,6oU,uu0 IN the dis
trfcts Of KaZan and Crimea- They are
many Tartar boys and girls receive
lessons in French. English and Ger
man from foreign instructors in places
like Kazan. Samara and Ufa- The
last two of these places were occu-
pied several months ago by the Boil
shevik armies. The Tartars have oval
faces. black eyes, placed obliquely,I
and their skins are brown Their cos
tune is unusual their Distinguishing
feature being their coiffure. over.
which is worn a tight fitting calocte,
or skull cap
lIOuntaineers IdOIaters.
A considerable number of Tartars
live in the Altai mountains. on the
frontier Of China They are still no
mads and given over 10 idolatry. Many
Of them worship the sun
The people Of the Monaghan race
inhabiting Russia. either European OF
Siberian. should be generally divided
into groups The Finnish group in
cludes Firms. Esthonians. Mordva and
Cheremises. The Tartar group is COM
posed Of Tartars. and smaller tribal
peoples.
An important nomadic Monaghan
tribe is the KirEhis. who live in the
steppe regions Of Akmolinsk and Sc
They aggregate more
are chiefly cattle raisers-
The Iakouts inhabit the region Of
Irkutslz. near lake Baikal. and speak
a language principally Turkish huc
partly Monaghan They are idola-
trous and live by the hunt and by the
raising OF cattle.
In the province Of TObolsk. and gen =.
orally in the north. even up TO the
Arctic ocean, are found the Foguls
and the Ostiacks- They descend from
an ancient Finnish branch Although
in principle converted TO Christianity. /
they have no real idea of the Chris T
tan religion and. as in ancient times, I
practice Chamanism. the religion OF ]
their ancestors Still other tribes are
the Teleouts. on the plateaus Of the
Atlas: the Buriats, in the trans I
Baikal district; the Manchus. in the
Amur. and the Samoyedes. on the
Arctic borders. where they engage in /
the raising Of reindeer.
In the large cities like Harbir, 4
IIszutsk and Omsk. Americans are
struck by the large number Of Buriats I
and Tartars who are drivers OF public 4
droskies. They seem 10 speak the /
Russian language indifferently and