LIFE ON A RUSSIAN TROOPER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 11

LIFE ON A RUSSIAN TROOPER.

Lieutenant G. E Warnei. R X.R in charge of the « s. Monmouthshire (who married Miss Edirh Moon* of this city), in a letter ju^i r^ceive-l from ym<;ai:oi<'. writes: — "We wen* (harterod to carry Russian troops from Vladi\o«rock to Odr^j. and wo fitted up for th's work at Y< kohama. I arrived at the ice-bound pon of Vladiiostack on Februnrv 27. a r d had to plough through ico for 4 0 miles he o>v reaching it. At present there «iro about 850 mechanical mines scattered abour outside, which the Japanese put down befoiv the war ended, and. onini t-o the ice. th*"=o have not been able to he lifted, and norojy at present soems to Inow quite where they a,re, as the ice has moved them about. One ship (German), the Siha. struck one and blew half her bottom out, and so I was particularly careful in approaching this place; but we got safely in. Owir>g to the ice in the harbour, which was about 3ft thick, we couldn't reach a wharf and had just to moor the ship to the ico. Then my ship had to pass the Russian pispec tion. which she did successfully, and was certified to carry 2350 men and 24 officers. These, with our own crew make a^totai of j 2985 men. which, I thjnk, will be the largest number of men any ship has carried such a long distance (9500 mile*) During the I South African war some of the largest carried 3000. but only one or two. and this was under 5000 miles. The feeding of all , these men is a big undertaking, for they get three meals a day hot, and each man | gets 2^lb of bread. This all has to ho baked, and so we have to put three tons of ■ llJLL— _«l— ■—!■! !■ II 111 ■■! II I II I

flonr through the )vens each day Th« t- >p- are a filthy lot of men, and when t!»v-j came on board I'm sure they hadn't washed for months: and the Russian officerc v, ore r.s dirty as the nv»'\ but now the ■warm weather has set in they arc crajualiy uottinar cleaner, and are washing their r'othf*. I have 810 Cossacks, with 21 officer^, who arc fully armed, the remain- <.><->!■ aire re-'-orvists. and as far r.s discipline is concerned are bad characters, and tbev are all unarmed — not even a knife fo - or.tti'g their food is allowed them Th«j officer* S'Tm to have very htfle control ovc" t'lem. and are tcrribl- nnvou 1 - of them and fear a mutiny They g-o aboufc \vi'!i 'e\o!vers> buckled on all cay. while <irm*?d Cossack? control the principal thoroughfares; but I think they fear their own men's loyalty too, and so are not quite happy. The fa,vourite amusement of the officers scorns to bo brandy-drinkinsr: thoy start at breakfast and pour it out in tumblers, without water, and sip it as we should warm tea. and some of them con sumo two bottles per day. At present it is very hot (85deg Fahrenheit in tihecoolest part of the ship), and no wind. We ail wish we could mix up a little of the weather wo loft at Via/livestock, as it has bf^n a very quick change of temperature. Twelve day? ago we had it sdeg below zero, and now we haw it 85dp£ above, which gives a eh:in?p of 90dcg — rather too rapid to be pleasant."'

Spurious ha if -crowns are said to he in circulation in Nelson. '