ACROSS SIBERIA AND RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 152, 3 December 1914, Page 2

ACROSS SIBERIA AND RUSSIA.

EXBHRHONCES OF A NEIW 1 1 ZEALAiNiDBR. the might of muscovy. (Written for Christcliureh Sun by its Special 'Representative vrith. the Russian Army in G-alicia, Dr ,H. C. ' Barclay, Liout.-Col. N.Z.M.F., and E. J. Harrison, of the London Times, Pctrograd.) ' "Tha Coming of the Slav!" That is lihn world phenomenon of which we are privileged to (bo witnesses to-day—some of us at long range; others, more 'fortunate., perhaps, at close quarters. And the coming of the Slav is' by many interpreted to imply the forced retirement of the Teuton from an arena | which till now he has held almost undisputed sway over his slower and more I unwieldy rival. Tf> an instinctive, rather than a coldly-reasoned, recognition of tins menace from out of the East, say some Russian observers, must we ascribe the seeming insensate impetuosity, reeking not of ultimate consequences, with which the Kaiser lias challenged the Slav and his congeners to thc.arbitrament of the sword. Not for the sake of the Polish, provinces of Prussia, not for the sake of a profitable commercial treaty, has Germany staked her very existence, but rather in terror of the growing might of Muscovy. So long as Russians remained supine, sluggish, unprogressive, and unenterprising, the Teuton world felt confident of tie future, and could even expand and flourish within the very borders of the Russian Empire. THE REGENERATION OF RUSSIA. But towards the end of the last century the -East began to stir; the ChinoJapanese war, the. great Russian convulsion, the disturbances and uprisings in Turkey, Persia and China, and then" the -Balkan outbreak followed one another in bewildering succession. Closely associated with all these phenomena is the political, economical and ethical regeneration of Russia, which to-day manifests itself in an astounding outburst of national self-confidence—an uplifting of the national voice in a thunderous summons to imperial reconstruction. Thus in the heart of Germanism has been engendered the dread of this neighbouring colossus which is at length beginning to rouse itself from the sleep of centuries.

Why, indeed, should a regenerate Russia thoroughly waken to the consciousness of her giant's strength, can hope to co l w _ successfully with a power whose dominions embrace a sixth part of the earth's surface, and whose population comprises ISO million souls? The Teuton hegemony, trembling for its verv life, has been goaded into war in the vain hope of crushing its presumptuous and newly-,assertive neighbour with one blow of the mailed fist.

During the Russo-Japanese conflict, tlm lingo bulk of the Muscovite Empire inclined to the East; but the angle of oscillation was f too acute for stability, and wo know the result. *' To-day the contrary is true; Russia is concentrating her forces in the West, and thither, as I know from personal observation, her Siberian levies are being I hurried over 7000 miles of railway track ,to swell the tiue of bayonets rolling I Berlin-wards. JA LONG JOURNEY. I have jftst reached the Russian capital after a tiring but an absorbingly interesting journey of nearly three* weeks' duration fromShimbashi'(Tokio. Japan), scarcely a moment of which, was free from some concrete reminder that 'frighted peace" had fled and that the body of a mighty empire was in the tluoes of a titanic struggle for supremacy. 1

Irom Harbin to Petrograd, day and night, by a TTgure of speech it may be said that we passed nn endless chain of troop trams bearing to the front thousands of hardy men—many seasoned veterans of the recent war and hundreds of Suns to fight the hated "Nyemtsi," as all Germans are styled in Russia. Indeed, the strategic significance of the great Siberian route has never been more strongly emphasised than at a-time when to purely military exigencies the convenience of private civilian travel has been remorselessly subordinated. Hie troop trains set a pace to "which all others must conform, and thus a journey which by Russian mail train, under normal conditions, can be made in twelve or thirteen days, with but one change en route, has taken 'us fully sixteen from Harbin, which in turn'is at least another day and a night from ladivostock. Our itinerary in its ontirety read as follows-.—Shimbashi Mmuonseki Fusan, Seul, Wiju, Antung, \ ( cllan fT e >- Harbin (change , Manclmli (change), Irkutsk (change), Chelyabinsk (change), St. etersburg. The experience is'not 'one should care to recommend to anyone whose minimum standard of comfort is the Pullman car, but it is one which will appeal powerfully to those who rank somo sensations in life a thought higher than meals a-la-carte and platz-kart loin tho start to the terminus. THE TRAGEDY OF PARTING. scenes . S " V " l P at ' lCit ' c witnesses of a , , 1101 botlle and repelled which b,,t W0 saw noconst,-,, • , 011 ca ?'pi«g criticism could On fl,„ * unwi,li »«ness, to fight. S W„ii,^ I V ,,OU «» at almost u ™ry of ine "tl t i llS "' (!ar - V strct c'h hiothers i S ' U y ° f parti "P between and wvr a 0" S ' wcct,lCilr '«, husbands tin,, - * n as onact «l with cruel iterasaiidVnf ' f thc faCO3 ° f «"> thousands of recruits which we noted w™, o* men faces were at he-i,-*-" 1 f I of conscri Ption tini,-,/ volunteers in a great na- £ iu,a - d,ibb<,d aaemi capable ? slan people—a cause politicil t m "'acle of reconciling ™ I , foemo "> stilling the raucous anMoV XT ty f rifG ' ftnd llnitin S ''igli totfeoif Lest Tl' ? bond ° f inf ;+ i ■> Cs ™ (louKts remain has won +' iat j* is a ca,ISR which' to the T,nn P , a , IKI wi,lin S obedience hoi wf.il?' ° ri , a l Ukase Prohibiting the houses am?" t °" e aa! ' 0(1 onose l f : 4i 1, aUran , t3 throughout the imwsiaii Empire, and also forbidding hoi anii , ° m ™ r3 to touch aTcoCan thoxo dU - V ,", °" e aske<l ons elf: me>. imL,"i r'°« ,y tc,n l ,Rrate young about ! i I-, Sfi sam ° Corinthians about whose bibulous exploits I have ' so "inch in my time?" fin exp,anation was fwthcom"WOMEN MUST WEEP."

j' mt 1 7° mon as our ponderous train, liko some remorseless iixrgernaut, swept on its way, taking its toll man flesh and blood at almost

every town and village in East audi West Liberia. Too often their erics ' were heartbreaking; not a few women were so overcome that they fell senseless, and one poor creature had to be forcibly removed from the track in front of the engine, where in despair she had hurled herself. Many wept, but not all, and as I write I seem to see before me the stern visage of an elderly peasant woman at one of the railway stations, as with Spartan calmness she kissed her stalwart son and dismissed him with the simple words,- 'Tray to Gbd!"("Molccu )> then watched with apparent uuconcern as the train bore him away into the unknown.

As a rule, those of the better class showed greater restraint, but even to ; a non-religious onlooker there was somothing sadly impressive and touching in the sight of refined ladies crossing their loved oi\es at the last fateful moment and indulging in a parting embrace. v\ ith us from Irkutsk travelled a young and handsome qfficer who had beenjnarried but a year; and his case was probably by no means singular. In the same coupe was a small and elderly lieutenant-colonel, called up from the reserves, to take part hi his third campaign his previous experience having been gained in the Boxer rising and the Russo-Japanese war. But aibelt rejoining the colours meant for him the loss of a remunerative position, apart from the possibility of wounds or death, he faced the prospect with perfect equanimity. The Germans must be crushed," was the laconic burden of his philosophy. Ho had been married several years, and had to support a wife and several children, but he resembled the younger man in this that he never let a day pass without writing to his wife. "It's our duty to console the women," he would say with a tender smile. THE RUSSIAN OFFICERS. The more we saw of the bearing and behaviour of these Russian officers, the more cordially _we admired and liked them. Their simplicity, freedom from side, unfailing good humour, and politeness under conditions frequently calculated to provoke a Mark Tapley, were truly surprising. Our lieutenant-colonel never deemed it beneath his dignity to j join in the mad rush for boiling water [ across the rails, gingerly carrying a ' roasted chicken or a piece of fish to tho sanctuary of his coupe. Other officers did much the same, and no less a dignitary than a major-general among our fellow passengers was never too proud to take his daily stand in the jueue outside the lavatory, waiting his proper turn to perform his ablutions. Even a full general, the commander of an army corps, who also travelled part of the way with us, was almost equally unassuming.

The generosity of all these men was another dominant characteristic, and I verily believe had we been minded to work our way, penniless, through Siberia, we could have lived at the expense of our coupe companions, who never lost an opportunity of pressing food upon us, but, on the other hand, would accept very little from us in return. We were particularly taken with one young captain of the 2Gth Siberian Regiment, a bright, handsome fellow with auburn hair and moustache, who might easily have passed for an Englishman or an American.

3 Knowing our intense interest in all , that concerned the war, he made it bis ■ special business to communicate every <' itom-of news culled from the papers and ; telegraphic "extras" published at the I larger towns and settlements along the line.