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Show THE CZAR'S GREAT ARMY. It Is One of the Great Civilizing Forces of the Muscovite Empire. Tho czar Is in favor of universal peace, but ho has tho largest army of tho world. Ho hns moro officers than wo havo officers and men In our regular regu-lar army and, even In these piping times of peace his troops exceed 1.000,-000, 1.000,-000, writes Frank a. Carpenter, Should war bo declared ho could Increase them to B.000,000, and could put Into tho field 560,000 of tho best horses in tho world. For tho past thirty years military sorvlco has been obligatory upon nil Russians. Every boy on becoming or ago Is llnblo to pervlco, and thoro aro 870,000 now recruits every year. Or thoso 219,000 aro taken Into tho actlvo army nnd fleet nnd of tho rest tho majority go Into tho mllltla. They servo off and on until they nro 43 jcars old, and nro always ready to be called out In caso of war. It takes a vast number of troops to keep this great empire In order. During Dur-ing tho Chincso war 200,000 men wero sent Into Siberia and a grent wall of fortifications hns to bo kept up along tho western frontier to guard against Invasion from Europe. Tho frontlor guard now amounts to 35,000 men and In addition vnst numbers havo to bo pcattered throughout tho various states and tho Russian territories In Asia. Thd Cossacks aro dark-facod, rough looking fellows from about tho BlacV A Cossack Officer. ' sea. There are about 3.000,000 of them all told mnd they furnish 160,000 men for thi army. They are sent out by thB various Cossack Btatcs, each o! which equips, clothes and arms Its own soldiers. They belong mostly to tho cavalry and are nmong tho finest horsemen of tho world. Indeed it is said that the average Cossack can rldo bareback, standing up llko the athlote of the circus. Tho Russian army Is one of the great civilizing forces of this country. Tho peasants aro very Ignorant and there aro but fow schoola. Those drafted Into tho army aro taught to' read and wrlto and they aro sent back home with new ideas got through their service In different parts' of the Russian Rus-sian world. Indeed tho change la so marked that a man who has had military mili-tary service can command 25 per cent higher wages in almost any pursuit than those who havo not senred. TJtica Globe. |