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Show Russia's War Commander. Out of the mass of diplomatic fuss and nonsense non-sense that is burdening the cables and the telegraph wires these days it is difficult to approximate lhe date on which active hostilities between Japan and Russia will begin. Despite the protests of the ministers, min-isters, however, it seems to lc) pretty generally be--lieved among the. powers that war is inevitable. Hence speculation as to the personnel of the armies that will be engaged is rife. ' ' , ' L'nofKcial. but no doubt correct, announcement announce-ment comes from St. Petersburg that, in the event of war, General Kouropatkin. at. present Russian minister of war, will command the Russian force?. He is the czar's greatest fighting man. acknowledged by military men the world over as a brilliant strategist, strat-egist, a bold and brave leader, a cool-headed director of movements. The right-hand man of the f annus Skobeleff a name to be conjured with in Rifssi-i in four campaigns the Russian-Turkish war. the. Khivan expedition and the Khokandese and Men campaigns he is the idol of the Russian army. He is said to possess, all the characteristics of Skobeleff Sko-beleff cast in a colder mold. Like Kitchener and Roberts, he won his chief fame by accomplishing the seemingly impossible in war. But while the Russians may idolize this military leader, in the eyes of civilized nations there is a great, blot on his record, the same blot that, sullied the name of his former chief. The incident occurred oc-curred at the Russian brilliant victory at Geok Tepe, the stronghold of . the Turcomans, in .185$, when Skobeleff was in supreme command of the Russian troops, and Kouropatkin, his chief lieutenant, lieu-tenant, in command of a contingent of light troops from Turkestan. The brunt of the attack fell on this contingent. Skobeleff and Kouropatkin gave orders to grant no quarter to the Turcomans of either sex. and all the horrors usual when such orders or-ders are given were perpetrated. Spectators say that even when the Turcomans fled in a disorderly mob across the desert, men, women wo-men and children mingled together, no mercy was given them. In a few hours' chase 1,000 pursuing Russians slaughtered 8,000 fugitives, while more than ,000 were massacred in a fortified camp of Geok Tepe. Women were sabered and babies bayonet bay-onet led. Many women were ravished hefore being killed. The troops, mad with drink and the lust of fighting, were 'allowed lo plunder and kill for three days after the assault. - -j While Kouropatkin was not iu supreme command, com-mand, his responsibility for the horror cannot be ! avoided. With a man of this character in comm.md j of the Slav troops' in the operations against th"! ( Japanese! oho can imagine the bloody character of j the war that will be waged in the Orient. ! |
