Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 429, 4 August 1904, Page 3

Traveller.

THE JAP'S DUAL EXISTENCE. SFJ99IKE the hero is the sensational W@£? story, the Jap leads a dual exjfiySti istence. In the morning (sg*"e the * Free Lance') he is the shrewd man of bnsicese, whether as seller or buyer, oa whom it would be vain for the cnnningeat rogue to attempt the conScience trick; in the evening, or os a holiday, this astute Jay may be seen, his whole mind absorbed while he keeps a paper butterfly from falling to the ground by the vigorous flirting of a fas, or nods his grey head with glee at the gay-colored kite as it soars above him, the string held with trembling joy is his withered old bands. The nest day butterfly and kite have been put away, and. the old man is circumventing a 'cute Yankee trader or with unrivalled art is converting the simplest material into a thing of beauty.

A MEMOEABLE DAY FOB JAPAN.

The 11th February seems destined to become a noted day is Japanese annuals. On that day 64 years ago the Emperor Jimgmu, the first sovereign of the country, ascended the Imperial throne, and founded the line of sovereigns which is unbroken lineal succession has reigned over Japan till this day. It is the day from which all Japanese chronology and history begin, and it is one of the great national festivals celebrated every year by a public holiday throughout the Empirn Fourteen years ago it was ohosen as the day on which the new constitution should be granted by the present Emperor, conferring representative government on his people, end two years ago it was the day on which the fact of the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese alliance was notified to the world. Finally the eve of the day was chosen by the Emperor for the formal declaration of war p gainst Russia,' so that war dtfiaitely broke out on the day itself, an event which will make it sot jess memorable in the national history than any of those which previously marked it.

THE WICKED CITY OP IRKUTSK. Irkutsk, an important city on the TransSiberian railway, is 3200 miles from Moscow, and is situated on the Angara river, which flows out of Lake Baikal and falls into the lenssi. The place is celebrated for the number of its churches and the religiousness of its inhabitants. On Sundays the churches are always well filled. In spite of thiß fact, this town is credited with being the worst in Rassii, if not in the world. It has a population of 65,000, out of which number there are 30,000 criminals, who have to report themselves monthly to the police, the majority having been exiled for murder. Every. body goes about armed, and there is an average of a murder a day throughout the year. In one month there were over 200 musdsss, but thiß is set up as a record.

On oae occasion aa Eaffji.9b.iaan was driving tan sb'Ssi ah Eigai; when he saw three rues on she ground. He fired kis revolves in the air, when two of the men decamped, leaving the third robbed of everything, including his clothes. In another case two men went up to a bar and called for drinks, A dispute arose about the price, and the barman was shot dead. The other two tben jumped into a conveyance and went down the street, shooting four more before they had done.

Jest one more instance to show the lawabiding qualities of the citizens of Irkutsk. A lady had taken a fancy to another man, so she daoidjd-fce get rid of her husband, promising to reward her new friend handsomo!yriE he would help her. On his agreeing to do so she formed the following plan, namely, to take her husband out mushrooming, and then to go over the brow of a hill out of his sight, when the friend was to come up and shoot the husband. She, on hearing the shot, was to run back and find her husband dead. The plan was carried out, but, unfortunately for the lady, there was a police inquiry, and at the trial she confessed everything. Both were found guilty of murder, and the man got eight years' imprisonment, while she, as accessory to the fact, got twenty yearß.

THE COSSACKS. The Cossacks, those terrible light horsemen of the Czar, are drawn from Russian tribes which originally were settled in Southern Russia, but are now distributed over various parts of the Empire. Kazak ia Tartar for freebooter, and in Turkish the word is synonymous with a light armed soldier. Racially and historically the Cossacks are divided into two principal sections the Cos Jacks of the Dnieper, and the Cossacks of the Don. The former are supposed to have owed their existence to tho necessities of self-defence against the Tartar invasion, when bands of Russian refugees fortified themselves in the islands of the Dnieper. A military confederation, not unlike the orders of knights in Western Europe, whose members were bound by a vow of celibacy. Purely democratic in constitution, their leaders, or hetmans, as they were called, were chosen by popular election, and held office for one year only. Like the Swiss of old, they enlisted uader the banners of the highest bidder— Poland, Russia, the Sultan, or even the Khan of Tartary. Ia the seventeenth century, after waging a successful war againßt Poland, whose king, Bathori, had put to death their leader for an act of indiscipline, they sought and obtained the protection of Russia. The revolt of the famous Ivan Sievanovitch Mazeppa, who joined the standard of Charles XII. of Sweden, brought down upon them the vengeance of Peter the Great, who deprived them of their privileges and abolished their military organisation. Recalled by the Empress Anne, their turbulence brought about their expulsion to the Crimea and elsewhere. According to the point of view, the Cossacks of the Dnieper have been described as ruffims or patriots. The Cossacks of the Don, while preserving a more direct connection with the Empire, have from time to time the sama spirit of turbulence which, however, has seldom taken the form of organised revolt. In later times, under a stricter military discipline, their value as irregular cavalry and as ecouta and skirmishers is unquestioned, though their conduct in the larger operations of the field may leave something to desire In former times the young Cossack was broken from his earliest youth to equestrian and warlike pursuits. At the present day, when frontier combats with Torks and Tartars have almost, if not wholly, ceased, the' Cossack has lost much of his warlike character. In his new guise, however, the Cosaack bear? little resemblance to the cavalryman as we know him in more Western countries, and he still retains much of the old free-hooting and ' mosstroopmg' instincts of his forefathers.

The seat of the Cossack cavalry has little tha£ is military, and is not; wellsuited for close formation. To this, however, it may be answered that the Cossack's mount, being Btns.ll and deficient m strength, although nimble, is not intended by nature for the shock oF close formations, and that for pitting against regular cavalry the value of the Cossack u only when the ranks of the former axe

already broken, and Cossack horsemen are ! in largely outnumbering or overwhelming foroe. The Cosaaok cavalryman is trained to mount and dismount from his horse while in full career % to pick up coins and small objects from the ground; to stand on the saddle, and eves on the head of his steed; to rescue wounded comrades from between two horses; to shoot while standing ©r sitting, and forward or backward, and other feats of horsemanship, to the neglect of more solid if less showj qualifications, like cohesion and combination in actios,