THE RUSSIAN OFFICEt
A "Splendid Fallow, a Oraal,
FiIIHmM Man" — An Inti
mate Sketch al Him.
Ch«iU> n. Hull la th< Loatoa Mill.
Mukden, Manchuria, May 12.
—1 traveled half way acrosa the
world with the Russian officer—
a trainload of him from the gen
eral officer down to the junior
subaltern—and by the time yon
reach the other end of the Si
berian Railway you know some
thing of yonr fellow passenger.
I have lived with him in a
smelly base town through .he
dreary longneura of the con
centration stage of warfare. I
have eaten with him the ill
cooked food of tbe tenth-rate
Eastern hotel, and drunk with
him the sweet champagne of far
Eastern conviviality. I have
talked politics with him and
cookery and religion. I have
played cheas with him and done
horse deals with him, and played
vlnt with him—which is bridge
of tbe fourth dimension. It is
true I have saen nothing of him
—out with his men in the open,
and the other fellows on the
skyline, bnt that is' neither his
fault nor mine. Nevertheless, 1
have seeu enough of him to
think that I know him pretty
well. And be is a splendid fel
low, a great, grand, big-hearted,
fnll-blooded man, and for friend
and comrade as good as I either
hope or desire ever to possess.
There are some 8,000 versts of
line between Moscow and Har
bin, and I estimate that the acts
ot kindness, consideration and
courtesy extended to me by my
officer fellow passengers aver
aged one to every verst of the
journey.
I was an absolute stranger to
every one on the train, utterly
unknown and speaking scarce a
word of the impossible Russian
language, but on the first day
out the three officers aboard who
spoke Bnglisb came to me and
introduced themselves, and
nearly all the remainder took
pains to let me known that they
spoke French or German, cr
both. Some of them took in
finite trouble in trying to teach
me Russian.
There was a general officer of
high distinction with whom I
had exchanged bnt a few words
on the jonrney. since he spoke
no language but Russian. But
at Irkutsk he put himself to no
end of personal trouble to have
a place found for me in the next
Trans-Baikal train.
The Ruaaian officer is a gen
tleman. Bat what is more, he
is a gentleman an nature]. He
is a man as well as a gentleman,
and his gentlemanliness is of the
rich lustre of the polish that on
ly t rough surface can take. Ha
is without trace of affectation or
pose. In all the Russian officers
I have met I have never en
countered a single example of
the family—the curled darling of
thelashionable regiments of the
ornamental armies. Perhaps it
is because there are too many of
him to regard himself at a class
apart. The officers of an army
that runs up into millions can
hardly look upon themselves as
a little nltra-fasbionable set with
special social privileges.
The Russian army officer is
vety ranch like the American
army officer. Ridiculous anom
aly that anything in the great
Western democracy should seem
to bear a resemblance to any
thing in the great Bastern au
tocracy. Bnt it is true.
Aitnougb id tbe United States
there is not much of su army
for a man to belong to, while in
Russia there is not much else,
soldiering in the two countries
has at least this much in com
mem—that in both it offers a
career which tbe man of enter
prise and ambition need bot
despise.
In America it ia snfficieutly
well paid to make it worth the
while of the competent man
whom the limitations of com
mercial life do not satisfy. In
Russia, as yet, the commercial
life does not provide tbe same
kind of man with opportunities,
sufficient to appeal to bis im
agination. Business in Rossis
is in its infancy still. The as
sociations of serfdom still cling
to it A merchant, though
prosperous to tbe SogU.h or
American degree, has no niece
in the larger life of the nation
A manufacturer, though be
controls a vast enterprise which
adds enormously U> the national
wealth, is without standing or
recognition, except among bis
own class. In fact the greater
his commercial success, tbe
greater suspicion that his father
was a pheasant a Jew or a
foreigner. Nor have the learned
professions the same attract ions
and advantages as in Western
lierope.
Fc’ the young Russian oi
brains and energy and character
/ L yVi ... /J, iv *
and ambition there is always th<
anuy and only the army
Soldiering is tbe largest and
most important of tbe national
employments—l h c staple in
dustry, so to speak, of tkc
country, with all the sense ol
dignity aod real importance thal
attaches to the staple indastry,
It offer* a career, and a real and
satisfying career; and it offers,
moreover, all the attractions oi
the larger, more spacious life,
such as appeal to toe Russians,
who have not yet become a
nation of town dwellers. It
shows them the world as no
other army, not even onr own,
•ee* it—the adventnre of distant
frontier lines, tbe strange sights
of old civilisations and old bar
barisms.
Yon may find among the Rus
sian officers here and there a prig
and here and there a boor, but
be will be one only among thou
sands. Whenever and wherever
von may chance to encounter
a Russian officer you may safely
make sure that you will nod him
a healthy minded, hearty gentle
man, brimming over with good
humor and good apirita, with
tbe cheerfulest and kindest in
terest in yourself and your af
fairs, that makes you feel after
an hour's casual acquaintance as
though you had known him all
your life.
nucn yon ire laiinancra to
him—sad even when you are
not- he grips yon by the band
in the heartiest way, tella you
his name, joins with the roost
perfect frankness in whatever
diactission ia going on, without
the slightest trace of affect km or
self-consciousness. He has
healthy hanger at meal limes,
and whether the food be good or
bad—in the far East it ia almost
invariably bad—he eats it all.
When be takes a glass of vodka
or wine be drinks it at a draught.
When be laughs it ia great,
healthy, hearty laughter, and
when he is angry it ia great,
healthy, hearty anger that he
■hows. A cheerful, healthy,
hearty, full-blooded man getting
all there is ont of life—a good
lover, a good hater, and a fine
fellow all Tound. Yon see him
at his best, perhaps, when he is
with other officers on account of
the perfect camaraderie and en
tire absence of restraint that
mark the social intercourse of
officers of all grades. A little
group of them round a dinner
table are as light besrtedly hap
py as a hunting party, and you
may see a graybearded old gen
eral and a boyish lieutenant
seated together at the same
cheerful supper table with such
a perfect frank understanding in
tbeir camaraderie that the
younger man lacks nothing in
deference and the senior noth
ing iu dignity.
It is in lonely, frost-bound
posts in Siberia, in the isolation
of stations among Central Asian
tribes along the frontiers, where
the companionship of one’a own
kind means so much more than
it is realized to mean in cities,
that this spirit of camaraderie is
bred and developed. And in the
American army the same result
comes from somewhat similar
conditions.
But of the Russian officer as a
fighting man I am unable to
because I know nothing.
He is too good a man to be any
thing but a good soldier—of that
I am certain. But as to the man
ner in which his qualities trans
late themselvea Into terms of war
I know no more than I know of
the fighting planet Mars. 1 know
that it is blood-colored and that
I “ __
Confederate Saldiar Oats Pay
ler fila Bara# Takao Sana Af
ter the War.
Darina IHnQV
.,At,lcVt one Confederate aol
dfer in this county it to recover
P*}«f of property ttlcea by
the Union tra»y directly after
the torreoder. Under the act of
Congress of March 27, 1902, J.
L. All, of Durham, will recdve
bridle token by the Yankee
troopa. He tent in hit claim,
and after conaiderable corres
pondence and Sling of evidence
be baa received a voucher from
the government, which meant
he anil Mt $105 from the United
State* Treasury.
leaping in Tench With Oncaeetf.
■**•»•** lanu M.
It’a good to have money and
the thing* that money will buy,
but It a good, too, to check up
one# In a while and make atire
ycu h.yen't lo.t the things that
money won t bny. When a frj
' SfJiSP J* M> out lor (a
.* ,}T,d *° off InU
the woods for a few weeks no*
and tbea to make rare be*a still
• man, and not n plug hat and i
frock coat sad a wad of bill*.
THE A. < N. C, BA1L1QA0.
Allaftl Tirm •( the Variant
Offara la Laass.
Kateiah Tiara.
Although no official statement
can be secured as to the terms
of the seversl offers to lease the
■ A. Ac N. C. Railroad, now in the
liandt of the Governor, it fa said
that they are substantially aa
follows ; The meeting to take
np the lease propositions takes
place at New Bern next Thurs
day, September 1st :
The Philadelphia syndicate's
bid is something like 5 per cent
for s fifty-year term. It is not
yet known whether it will com
plete its offer. The Atlantic
Railway Company has put np a
guarantee of $100,000 and so has
Howland, of Asheville.
i*lie local syndicate has not yet
filed its bid, but if it does so it
will probably be on Monday.
Howland’s proposition is aot so
good in point of rental as that of
tne Atlantic Railway and aver
ages a little over 4X per cent
for something like 90 years, be
ing for a term which will end at
the tame time aa the lease of
the North Carolina Railway to
the Southern so that both these
leases would fall in together.
Howlaud'a proposition it to pay
•«* • w.auu iuiciciv uij inc
bonded indebted ness, taxes, end
the cost of maintaining tbe or
ganisation of tbe Atlantic &
North Carolina Railway. It
doer not cover any extension of
the road. The lease to Howland
Is said to be a valuable one be
cause it is not doubted that be
would at onto proceed to devel
op that section and tbe road as
well; that lie ia able to do these
things and that in order to make
any money he would have to do
them.
The proposition msde by the
Atlantic Railway Company is
lor an extension, and the rental
rate ia something like 6 per cent
on a 50-year basis. It is declared
that there is really much more
opposition to any lease at all
that has been made public; that
is not by its stockholders, but by
people living along the line of
the road. There is considerable
inquiry for stock of the road,
*na there must be some specula
ting in it The highest sale re
Kted officially is said to have
u made during the present
week at $55 a abate. It is de
clared that the stock is really
worth $75 a share. No one can
tell what may happen during tbe
next few days; what new bids
will be made, what changes pro
posed, or what bids withdrawn.
IHfOITEO ELAWBS.
SentJi Africa Game fa ha latra
da cad In the Sentbwest.
VwkrUI* Enquirer.
The introduction of elands
iuto this country is likely to be
attempted before long, the De
partment of Agriculture haying
given its approval to the idea.
All that is needed is money
which Congress will be asked to
rive. The animals which are
tbe largest of all antelopes,
would be very valuable in tbe
desert regions of tbe Southwest
as a source of meat supply.
They require almost no water,
are accustomed to forage for
themselves and are quite tract
able.
The eland la nearly six feet
high at the shoulder when full
grown aod weighs 1,000 pounds.
It is not particularly swift (un
like moat of Ha congeners), and
a man cats, sometimes overtake
it by running. Its flesh is con
sidered a delicacy. Commonly
it browaaa in herds in the water
less deserts of South Africa, to
which it is s native, its ability
to get along for months to
gether trithont water being a
mystery. T6 some extent
doubtless, it depends npon
moisture derived from succulent
plants, anch as the wild water
melon.
- .■ -.. '
• .
traAMAnERonuAtnt
/>>& tk
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ntMMMommmm
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— u-nu.
THE TOO AFFECTIONATE MAN.
to u Owrliu at Lav* mm tit*
DukaaFa Fart Eaairalaat fa
Craalty?
PbiMalphia loqvlrtr.
Divorce court* have produced
many strange causes for marital
separations, but we venture to
aay that the tsoet astonishing
one on record is that of tka wo
man who wants the hoods lay
ered because her husband since
marriage has gratified her every
wish. She cannot content to
live with inch a man, and the
courts arc asked to give her a
chance to many a man who
may be expected to fight at the
drop of the bat.
The astonishing thing about
this is not the fact, but the ad
mission of the woman. It seems
certain to the unprejudiced man
who has followed toe course of
divorce cases for many yeais
that the same reason underlies
all such applications, but it baa
not been generally expressed.
We leave it to husbands, even
to those who are and*r fire, H
they will aot state with an on
prejudiced mind, that every
WMM HI IHCU Wives oil DfCU
granted, that nothing has been
done from the beginning except
U> let them have their own way.
It would be absurd to suppose
that a man would beat his wife
or otherwise abase her, after
bavin* taken tbs- most solemn
obligation* to tbc contrary.
Men are to? good to their wives
and sailer accordingly.
A recent sociologist of distinc
tion wrote a book on the sub
ject: "Why are divorces so
much more common now than
formerly?" He failed to mention
the fact that women now get
everything they want, while the
husband is not permitted to use
even moral suasion to protect
bis own interests. Has it ever
struck this man that the divorce
problem came up at the very
time when the husbands gave up
beating their wives? It used to
be that a man who married a
woman had a perpetual owner
ship in her. He secured her
under s contract, as be did a
horse or dog, and when things
did not go right be administered
the corrective lash—always,
mind you, in a thoroughly
Christian spirit and for the good
of the punished. It hurt him
much more to beat his wife than
to take a licking himself, but he
did it in a spirit of self-abnega
tion. wbicb had most admirable
results.
In these day* when a man
cannot knock bis wife down
without unfavorable comment,
it is natural that there is a laxi
ty of discipline. It would ap
pear that .the good old days are
gone foreyer.
layaatigadsu af ilcBiMumj
The United States Depart
ment of Agriculture is investi
gating the Scnppernong grape
with a view to determining the
best varieties, methods of cul
ture, pruning, training, etc., sa
well as the uses to which the
fruit can be put. One of the
features of this investigation
which is considered of particular
importance is the locating of
vines of this type, either wild or
in cultivation, that are known to
excel in productiveness, size,
WWW or ijcajiiy oi mill, or IQ
some other important perticalar.
In this connection, the Viti
culturist of the Bareau of Rant
Industry, who has the work in
charge, will be glad to receive
reports on men vines from
persona who know of their ex
istence, stating the facts re*
garding them and the points of
special merit that have been
observed in them.
Correspondence regarding
sach vines shook) be addressed
to Geo. C. Husmann. VHJ
cultnrist Bureau of Plant In
dustry, U. S. Department of
Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
The department will, upon
application, famish special
mailing boxes and freaks with
which sped mens of choice
varieties can be forwarded to
the Viticultnritt for examina
tion, without cost to the sender.
la the Bock.
Lttmtv. Xaa.. Osama.
Jess Pinkston's neck was as
stiff as sa old ox handle the first
of this week, the direct cense
of which, it is universally
thought .was too mneh arm pres
sure.
The State baa offered a reward
of $150 and.the authorities of
Modissa connty au additional
reward of $150 for the arrest of
John Pate, of Madison, who
some weeks ago wantonly and
brutally kinedMra. John Crow
der la tkot county.
N» Accssnt Labor sa Impeverlsh
RsMahTUMB.
***** *■ tbc
Washington Post that the Sooth
necda 2,000,000 Italian laborers
to cultivate her cotton fields.
Tbc Sooth can make more
cotton now than tbc balance of
the world can spin and weave.
A few years ago cotton went
down to 4 cents a pound. The
People planted other crops,
which they hoped to be mors
profitable, and so the supply of
cotton went of. The number
of mills multiplied the demand
tor cotton, the price went np,
and hence aa increase in the
sapply of cotton. Tbc crop
now promises to be more then
12,000,000 bales, the largest the
world ever saw. If we need
mow cotton we can have it
•imply by rahdag the price.
Poor labor, that ia, tbc poor
ES& £
locality. There k no incentive
to invent any labor-saving im
plement while cheap labor can
be had. It’s when labor is high
uni me a UUL locix
inventive geaitu to plow two
furrow* where before he cat bet
one. Labor, wbeq it bscomes
high tad scarce, causes men to
fertilise their fanes so that oae
acre shall make more thee two
used to. Koae of these things
will be done when poor, oo
sccoent pauper labor is stand
ing around to work for whatever
it can get, and be dear at that.
A typesetting machine it worth
eight slow printers. A sulky
plow can cultivate more land
and do it better tbae a half
dosen Dago* following dead
liae mules. And ao we can
show that reapers, Madera sad
separators have come is the
absence of labor. Thera is al
ways compensation for what we
most give up. When oar wives
sad daughters sad sisters most
cook and keep boose we look
out for better cooking ate mils,
better well fixtures, more con
venient cook rooms. sad warm
er dining room*. The clearer
is any country from unreliable,
cheap, inefficient labor, the
better; ia fact, as long as aay
section relies upon k, it will
have nothing better to look to.
Was Sanctified and Destroyed
Bis Tobacco Crap.
SaKttrld KanU.
Some time ago Rev. Gaston
W. Csshwefl was bolding a
meeting In BentonsvOle town
ship and Mr. Jaa. Johnson ac
cepted the doctrine of sanctifies
tioo and made a profession of ft.
During the meeting the minister
spent the night with Mr. John
son. The next morning the
two men took boes and went in
to the field and cut down all of
Mr. Johnson's tobacco. They
believe it is wrong to make or
use tobacco and so they decided
to destroy k.
Green McAdoo, colored, who
killed his wife in Greensboro
two years ago and escaped ar
rest until this Sommer, plead
guilty of murder in the second
degrae in Guilford Superior
Court last week and was sen
tenced to 90 years is the peni
tentiary.
WHAT IS CATA—B7