MEN OF VLADIVOSTOK.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 590, 31 December 1915, Page 8

MEN OF VLADIVOSTOK.

CALLED TO FIGHT FOR RUSSIA. A THOUSAND RECRUITS EACH DAY. Before the great European war began, Vladivostok had more than 100,000 inhabitants. To-day its population is less than 75,000, so heavy have been the calls of the Russian array upon the men of eastern Siberia. The latest summons will take 10,000 from Vladivostok alone (says a correspondent of the York "Evening Post"). These new recruits are being sent away at the rate of 1000 a day. Many of them are badly needed in Vladivostok to help take care of the war supplies which are glutting the port. But the call of the army is unqualified. Trained and untrained men alike of military age, men of all classes, are being sent away daily to interior Siberia, where they will go into training, replacing others now ready to go to the front. Russia has such a great number of men that all of them are not compelled to undergo military training. Exceptions are made in the case of an only son in a family, as well asunder other special conditions, but now all males in Siberia are called out. More than 100 were taken by this call from a single firm in Vladivostok. Many Of the American concerns with offices here have lost virtually their entire Russian office forces to the army. Retail and v -wholesale establishments have such reduced forces that, through a general agreement, all the larger places of business close at the lunch hour, not having men enough left to arrange reliefs at meal-times. Women are being trained for positions they are fitted for, preference being given, to wives of men called to the front. Koreans and Chinese Come In.

Koreans and Chinese are coming into Vladivostok to replace dock labourers called to war. Virtually all the heavy work on the docks now is being done by them, but they are so unskilled there is much uneasiness as to the effect the removal of the better trained Russians will have on the handling of war supplies. The Russian Government was slow to call out reservists in Siberia. Men are few and much needed in this new country. The Government has expended great sums in encouraging emigration to Siberia and hesitates to take the cream of the colony's manhood back to the battleline. But the need evidently became so great it was necessary to claim Siberia's men. The railroad guard, numbering more than 150,000 was called immediately after the, regular army forces were sent.back to Russia. Then three calls were made, and it is reported another is soon to come, which will claim all men in Siberia up to 45. Owners of large businesses have been taken along with their humblest employees. Apparently no exceptions have been made.

A Troop Train Every Night. Every night about 8 o'clock a troop train starts for the East. Hours before train time, the relatives and friends of departing reservists begin to gather at the Trans-Siberian railway station, which lies along the waterfront in the heart of the city. Few of the new soldiers have uniforms. They carry rolls of bedding boxes, and carpet bags, such as one sees immigrants lugging from the docks in New York. For many days it has been raining, but frequently mothers with young babies sit or stand in the rain, weeping as they wait for the train which is to carry their husbands away. There is little jubilation among the departing soldiers. The war has dragged on so long, it has become a nightmare to the families of the men liable to service, and there are so many women in black now in Vladivostok, that duty at the front is regarded as almost certain death. A band plays each night as the troop train leaves the station, but its music cannot drown the audible grief of the women and children, who cling

pitifully to the departing soldiers, and follow the train until its speed becomes so great they cannot keep pace with it. The reservists are transported in ordinary freight cars. Each of the cars has a stove in the middle, and board benches and bunks at the ends. A single candle in a lantern lights each car. The Russian cars are small, and only 40 luen can be crowded into each. The troop trains ordinarily consist of about 25 freight cars, and one passenger coach for the officers. Enthusiasm is. apparently little greater among the officers than among privates. Each night officers* families accompany them to the station/and silent groups have farewell dinners in the station cafe. Many of the women in these parties are in mourning, and the leave-taking is gloomy, in spite of the self-control shown. A Few Wounded Return. A few wounded officers and privates have returned to Vladivostok, but the losses have been so great that men coming back from the fighting line are received with surprise. "We used to send flowers to the troop trains and give the men a rous- v ing send-off," a Russian lady remarked to-day, "but one cannot keep that up forever. They are going constantly now. So many of lis ~ have lost relatives and friends that we haven't the heart to cheer, and pretend to be gay when we are not." An officer's funeral moved through the main street of Vladivostok today. Such processions are not unusual in Siberia, but the Russian men always stand in silence with bared heads when a coffin covered with the Russian flag moves past them. A man dressed in high white hut and a long white ulster walked at the head of the procession, bearing a large golden cross. Next came four black horses, covered with heavy white nets, drawing a white flower carriage banked high with elaborate floral designs. Then came a white hearse drawn by four horses, also covered with white nets, and led by Korean grooms in white uniforms. ' The hearse was without sides or cover and the silver plated coffin was partly covered with a Russian flag. Immediately behind the hearse walked the wife and daughters of the officer. After them were the male relatives and frielnds, all walking, and with bared heads. While the weekly express trains still make the trip between Petrograd and Vladivostok in nine days, \ the movement of other trains is"' very slow. Troop trains frequently require 30 days for the trip. The double track is said to be practically completed through European Russia east as far as Irkutsk in Siberia, but from there on to the Pacific the double tracking, has been delayed, and trains move very slowly. This is especially true of the line from Harbin to Vladivostok.