Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1877 — The Russian Soldier. [ARTICLE]

The Russian Soldier.

So many stories are told in England of want of care for the Russian soldiers’ health and food, that it may be well to say, once for all, that the men of all arms look well and strong, with plenty of flesh on their bones, though little fat. They are in excellent working condition, and carry weights which would break down any but strong constitutions, including biscuits for three days, which form part -of the kit, packed in the knapsack, and bread, which they manage to carry in a bag on their shoulders. The Russian private in a marching regiment carries no less than seventy-two pounds English. In his own country he received daily three pounds of bread and seven and one-half copecks for all else; but in Roumania his copecks would not buy him the meat he wanted, so the Government gives him half a pound of meat and two and one-half copecks, instead of the full money he received before. He has also served out to him a small ration of spirits to counteract the deadly damps of the river. His greatcoat is lung and heavy; he carries it in the shape of a horse-collar round his leftshoulder.- Round the coat is wrapped one man’s share of the tent, a square piece of canvas furnished with eyelet-holes and a string. Four of such pieces .are bound .♦ngetunr, sad fonn a 'Sort of rough gypsy tent, the ends of which are carried by two other men; the seventh carries the sticks which form upright and ridgepoles. The seven men carry the tent under which they can sleep; but it is small, hot and stuffy by day, while a -heavy shower of rain penetrates easily through the eyelet-holes, the ill-closed apertures, and even through the canvas itself. Were it not that one sees the Russian soldier carrying his enormous load every day with seeming ease, arriving in good condition at the'end of his long march, and frequently singing to Deguile the way and refresh the jaded nerves, we might at once condemn the practice of so loading the infantry, which ought to arrive as fresh as possible in presence of the enemy. The kit contains much the same articles as those of the English private, but one pair of long boots is carried outside and wrapped round with a strap under the flap of the knapsack, so that the feet of the boots are visible on either side. The men in a camp which I visited yesterday said that the food supplied to them is very satisfactory in every respect. Their "average height was equal or superior to that of au English marching regiment, and their muscular development particularly good. They are not well set up, and do not show thatcurious flat-backed stiff position so dear to the drill-sergeant. On the contrary, there are big, humpy muscles on their shoulder-blades, and the Cossacks especially are splendidly made for strength. It may be usefuj for England to know that those who represent the Russian soldier of to-day as a half starved, ill-treated creature, who has to be primed to fight are grievously mistaken.—Ciurgevo Cor. London Times.