in all the battles of the war in the eastern theatre of operations in
which they have taken part have gained for them, as the accounts of the
different actions sent to London from Petrograd testify, the outspoken
admiration of the whole Russian Army. Particularly singled out for praise
has been their audacious expertness in close-quarter combats. They supply
both infantry and artillery, and are recruited all over Siberia, forming
ordinarily two separate commands, the East Siberian and the West Siberian
troops, which garrison the fortresses and districts between Vladisvostock
and the Ural Mountains, the dividing range between European and Asiatic
Russia.




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THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, DEC. 30, 1914--[Part 21]--41


[Illustration: THE LETTER HOME: A BRITISH SOLDIER WRITING IN A LOFT OVER
A COW-SHED "SOMEWHERE NEAR THE FRONT."]

One of the happiest features of the Great War, and one of its most
favourable omens, is the optimistic spirit in which our troops, officers
and men alike, are making the best of things, in spite of the trying
conditions in which they have to live and carry out their arduous work.
They are as proof against physical discomfort or hardships, and as
determined to be "jolly," as was Mark Tapley himself. Our illustration
shows one of our soldiers writing home from the loft over a cow-shed, his
only shelter "somewhere near the front." A shaft of sunlight relieves the
gloom of his rough surroundings, and no doubt is reflected in the messages