ON THE WAY TO THE WAR

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 270, 18 December 1914, Page 6

ON THE WAY TO THE WAR

EXPERIENCES OF A NEW ZEALANDER. [Written for THE SUN by Lieut.Colonel H. C. Barclay, M.D., Special Correspondent with the Russian Red Cross Service in Galicia; ] PETROGRAD, September 26. Arriving at Petrograd, I took up my quarters at the Hotel d'Angleterre in the Square, of St. Isaac's, It seems it is called the English Hotel because it is run by a German and there was 'extremely little English about it. The German proprietor was promptly seized on the declaration of war and his new £BOO motor car confiscated for the use of the Russian forces. Ms hotel narrowly escaped being wrecked by the mob that tore down the statues of the Embassy Opposite, sacked the rooms of all their furniture, fine linen, silver, pictures, and grand piano and burned them joyfully in the square. RUSSIAN HABITS.

One of the three grandees who in turn (for a small consideration) swing open the doors and solemnly salute or raise their hats as you walk in, knows a little English, and the head waiter can understand with difficulty our Saxon tongue, but with these exceptions the hotel is as un-English as' it can be.

•; Tllou S h called an);hotel, you merely |ajfc6 -rooms jo sleeps there, and dine 4& the restaurant or not as you choose? In liussia everyone "dines out! If, you invite guests, you select a restaurant somewhere>lse,.e.g., iuneh at the Astorik, dine at the Hotel Europe, ancU probably even take your' coffee and roll in the-morning at the Albert or the Bear. Saving ordered dinner, you wait halfah'hour for the first course, smoke persistently for. ten. to 15 minutes between ■iefach course, and so' the pleasant function lasts from 8 o'clock till 10 p.m. After that, . under ordinary circumstances (that is, hot in war time), you refresh yourself with beverages - and tobacco till 11 p.m., and then start out to spend the evening—-say the Bouff Gardens till 12.30, then to the adjacent cafe chantant till 2 a.m.; then a light little supper at a fashionable cafe keeps things pleasant till daylight, when it seems about time to go home. GLADNESS AND GOOD NATURE.

The Russian takes life easily. He doesn't talk commerce or money or dollars—at least not ostentatiously so; though, to give him his due, he spends the latter, like water when he is in an entertaining mood, and nothing is cheap in Petrograd. Some very mild little dinners—the ordinary hotel meal (table d 'hote) cost hie 10/- a head without wines or beer, and at Kief four of : us officers paid, with the customary tips, 11/- a head for a three-course meal with coffee.

Notwithstanding all we have 'read, the Russian is a democrat through and through. He even elects by popular vote' his justices of the peace. His military classes, have no vote, and entrance to the Civil Service of the country is by examination and merit only. As ff>v the people, they are huge (one notes it after being in Japan), and their hearts arc built in proportion to their bodies, brimful of gladness and optimism, of good nature, charity, and politeriess. Their mirth seems to come from the mere joy of living; their hands are always in their pockets for something or someone, and if you need to borrow, your friend never,says you nay. If he has no money himself, he.borrows from a friend who has, and then, lends you. The peasant has a keeD sense of justice and largely governs himself by courts formed from his own class. They are indulgent to defendants. CONSIDERATE JURIES.

Lawyers are mere "hirelings," and a jury takes no notice of them. If you cannot find an- excuse for your conduct, the jury will probably find it for you; and if it comes to the worst they will .find. (as actually occurred) a verdict, "Not guilty, with extenuating circumstances."

"Judge not that ye be not judged" is a fundamental -. Christian ' doctrine which Russian juries jdaily carry out in practice. Another strange thing is that they always balance the crime with the punishment. * ' "My object all sublime I shall achieve in time

To make the punishment fit the crime, The punishment fit the. crime.' * is not a Gilbertian joke with them. If three years is the term of imprisonment for arson, you will have no hope of getting a man gaol who burns your house down. You will be able to build a new house, and three years is a very long time to put a man in gaol; and, in any case, why should a man's wife and children be compelled to earn their own living, aye, even starve, while the breadwinner is in gaol? They didn't burn the house down, and why should they suffer? W«H,--'I have, known persons' in New. Zealand who have been

influenced in their judgments by the same reasoning, though the oracular pronouncements from the bench ..recited a number of other arguments for the acquittal of the accused. THE DOWAGER EMPRESS.

Arriving in Petrograd, after a tedious twenty-two days' journey from Japan, I was anxious to waste no time, but to get to the front. At that time no reverses had befallen the French or English troops, and the idea of my commission leading to an appointment in England among the army that was to be recruited had not occurred to me, and so I promptly offered myself as an army surgeon to the Eussiansiand was accepted as an operating surgeon, 'though.! of the language I knew nothing. Still, if they were game to take me I was game to go. During the ten days of waiting I had some interesting, if not exciting, personal experiences. I had the honour of being presented to. the ; Empress—that is, the Dowager Empress, the mother of the present Tsar. It was at one of the summer palaces on the island of the Neva, on the borders of Petrograd.

After some formal introduction to a' Baroness arid one of the Princesses'the Empress came in. She was attired in black with a plain "white collar and a pearl necklace, her hair dressed in I ordinary English fashion. There*- was no difficulty in seeing r at onee the likeness to Queen Alexandra, whose sister she is, but; she was not as Jail "nor as impressive in appearance as I' understand the late Queen of England to be. She was exceedingly gracious in manner and,in speech/ and spoke English like an English lady would. Among other things she expressed her pleasure, at seeing an .Englishman ~ with her troops, and when she spoke of the Ariglo-Bussian alliance; 1 the'eniotion be a hind the words was visible to me. ' ~ .-. ..;,.'..., 7 . .. ;'/. ... , ,;". A TALISMAN. When I said that while.with her trymen I hoped to do any duty faithfully and well, she slipped a little "present into my handy 'saying, '' Keep-this for my sake,* and may it protect you." Then her Majesty/ lopked rae ~ very straight in the., face, and paused—her eyes were moist—'' Thank 'Gfbd for the English alliance, 5 ' she said, and raising her hand to my lips I kissed it, bowed, and she passed out.. It needed .no keen observer to be aware of the feeling at the back of words in themselves so simple.; ■ Needless, to, say, ,the little gift was of the nature of an amulet, a religious token to be worn round the neck. Of her interest in my reasons for being in Eussia at the tiui<>, and of her questions about New Zealand and Australia I need not write. The queries were numerous and to the point. . I had a heavy morning that morning. Before driving to the palace it so happened that I had an interesting experience - of performing an operation in a private hospital with three Eussian doctors as assistants and four Eussian nurses, and not one of us being able to speak ten words of the other's language". It came about very simply. An Englishman representing a large English motor firm had been ill for some three months and he could get no satisfaction from his Eussian attendants. Friends of his requested me to, see him. This I agreed to, and getting an interpreter I met the Eussian : doctor in consultation. I thought his attendant had done all he could up to the present time, but I advised surgical interference now, and the removal of a growth that would get no .better by medieal measures. The Eussian doctor explained that he was a physician and asked if' I would operate. The patient; wishing it, I agreed, and the following morning being my only spare hours before I left for the front I had to be "up and doing" to leave time for the eventualities of a motor drive of half an hour, the risk of not' landing at,the right place, besides the risk of delays during an pperatiori under unusual circumstances, and getting to the palace at the tiirie appointed. Everything passed off well, and after cigarettes and coffee and many hand r shakes and bows I left the hospital with even higher opinions of the courtesy and kindness of the Eussian, be he doctor or peasant.