THE HAPPY RUSSIAN SOLDIER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16285, 19 January 1915, Page 8

THE HAPPY RUSSIAN SOLDIER

By 11. lLnm/roN Ft it.. PF/J'KOGIiAIi). All soldier* have some qualities in common, but every national army has also a character of its owu, some viee or virtue which hiakes it different irom other armies. 'Lite British soldier is distinguished by bis cynical iukl often ironical imperturbability ; the French soldier by his highly dramatic intelligence; the German soldier by his doglike oliedience. From wliat I have, seen of the Russian soldier I should say that the outstanding points in his character, the qualities which mark him off from all other soldiers, arc his jolly, schoolboy gaiety and the sincere religious simplicity of his mmd. You must remember that, whereas British and French soldiers are children of civilisation, the Russian soldier is a child of the soil. Behind them are gcnerat.ons of piople. whose manners have boon polished and whose wits shirnened by constant intercourse. For hundreds of years their ancestors have sat at table to eat from plates, have slept in beds, have taken their clothes off at night. His ancestors were until lately slaves, and next door to savages. Probably neither his father nor his mother can read or write. He knows of nothing, as a rule, outside tho limits of his village, probably a village remote and primitive, where people have lived in much the same way for centuries.

He may have served his time with tho army in a town, but that alters him scarcely at all. He may have learned in an army school to read a little and to write easy phrases, but since he dors not. practise these accomplishments they are soon lost. He has not the same quick comprehension, the same familiarity with modern conditions a» the British and the Frencli private. His thoughts compared with theirs are as (ho thoughts of a child. But, I think he is happier th-nn they are. I am sure he has greater powers of endurance. His unquestioning faith in God and in his Emperor makes him face death* not alone willingly, but eagerly, and with a light heart which gives his naturally jovial spirits full play. A HAPPY FAMILY. Oomo with mo and watch squads of reservists in their khaki overcoats drilling on this cold morning, with the thermometer marking 20dcg of frost and a steady flicker of light snowflakes in tho air. Sergeants and men alike tteat the whole business as a huge joke. <i do not mean that they are unbusinesslike. Far from it Their drill is smart and "snappy." No '' more or less" about it. Sharp's tho word and quick's the motion. See that lot practising with the bayonet They have to plunge their steel into a bag of straw which represents a German body. To plunge it, give it a tw.st, and pull it up again. Those who do it briskly get an approving pat on tho shoulders from the drill sergeant. The bunglers get each a kick, and a good hard kick too, given as if it were all oart of the joke, and taken in the same spirit, with a ruoi'ul grin. There arc brutal " non-coms" in all armies. I have no doubt there are some in the Russian army, but they are certainly rare. In general there is none of the castiron inbumanity of tho German drill sergeant's method; none of the biting satirical superiority of tho British instructor. The Russian sergeant treats his men as comrades, jokes with them, makes goodnatured fun of them; praises them if he can, and gives them a kick when he thinks it will cho them good.

It is a very human country Russia. Relations between all classes are more natural, Jess stilted and snobbish, than with us. Peasants chat with princes, a cabman will ask a colonel for a light. Officers, especially the older officers, are lookei upon almost as fathers or as elder broth :rr by the soldiers serving under them. Thej are asked for advice in all sorts of difficulties, for' information on no matter what subject. Off duty they encourage thie filial attitude. Their men never fail to salute; they often keep their hands to their foreheads all the time they are speaking with them. But they feci that their officers are also their friends, and that makes a good deal of difference when those officers confc to lead them in the field. REGIMENTAL SINGERS.

See. here is .an officer strolling; round to see how the drill goes. Now the men an doing a hop-step, just the thing for a cold morning. "But the officer docs not think they have quite caught the idea. " Show them," h? says to the instructor; whereupon we have a pas soul. Tlie men are immensely amused. They laugh and laugh. The oflicor laughs too. Even the sergeant laughs, hopping away busily all the time. And the men do it the better for their enjoyment, just as children always learn most

quickly wlieii tiio lesson is treated as a Lit of tun.

'1 hey (an march very long distances, and Hii-y never weary so lull}? as the rcgiiiumtul singers lit their head keep up a How jf song, 'l'lnse suigcrri arc as much an instilul.on as icgim.riUl bunds. Tlicy have good voices us a rule, and many of them am clever at. improvising, nuking uy verses to souk; popular tune on I.Lie spot. Some of the, marching songs they sing arc patriotic, some riCiiLuiicntal (in " 'J ipperary " style), some iunny, with tiie broad, obvious humour Hiut the peatsant foldier appreciates. The siiiiiiiest jukes suit the Russian la.slo. 1 recoiled, a I.Vi,, A , ail isvuitcllik (eabdriver) laughing once, .ill tin: way from tin.: N'evski to tiie yacht club on the Kivstovsky Island because un Englishman, wishing to tell him " straight on," said, instead of "souila," "souilac," which is the name of a lish. He kept on turning round and imploring. " Hay it again, burin, bay _it again." That is "the kind of fun tlie soldier likes—that, ami horseplay, lie gete plenty of both during ms military service. . It is because they are trained, in this cheery, laughing way that Russian soldieiH look upon war as "fun." 'I"hey treat it like a game (so far as they can) in which they must do their individual beat to outwit the. enemy. They beg for leave to go out singiy' or in small parties, to do a little hunting on their own account. One man told his captain ho thought he could catch a German patrol. He surprised it, brought down one man; the vest bolted, thinking from the noise he made that the Russians were upon them in force ! Why had he risked his. life? Because a follow "non-com." had done the same thing and brought back a flask of cognac His reward was some chocolate and a few cigarettes. Another man, a sergeant, bad set his heart upon capturing a machine gun. He wa.s allowed to take his section out, and sure enough they brought one back, all of them as pleased "as a schoolboy eleven that lias won a match. HIS RI.FLR TO THE END.

Even their wounds they treat lightly, just as boys hate to admit they are hurt. On the ground outside a field hospital there lay a private, Michael Govanov his name, badly wounded in the breast and stomach by shrapnel bullets. Ho insisted on tolling the surgeon who examined him that ho was only bruised.

" It's nothing, little father," he said. "I felt, something hit mc, and then I saw vellow and red and green balls in the air. But I'm not really wounded, just bruised. I don't want any medicine. Let me lie down for an hour or two. Then I can go back, can't I?"

"No, no, golubchik" (little pigeon—ild chap), "you must be sent to hospital," tho doctor answered him, adding to himself, " if you last long enough.'' "Well, let mc have my rifle," pleaded Govanov; " we've been told to be always ready for a surprise, never to be caught napping. Let me have my rifle, barin" (lord). " Give it to him," the, doctor said, patting his cheek kindly. But before they could fetch it Govanov war. dead.