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the Russian railway system, made certain recomendations to the
Provisional Russian Goverment, including various changes in their
methods of railway operation. The Russian officials, however,
stated that it would be impossible to comply with these recommenda-
tions unless man familiar with the methods involved were secured
to personally instruct their railway men. In order to carry out
the conmission's recommendations, the Russian Provisional Govern-
ment formally requested Mr. Stevens for a specific number of
experienced American railway men, stating that that Government
would assume all salaries and expenses in connection with their
employment. Mr. Stevens forwarded this request to the Department,
recommending that an engineering unit be formed and sent to Russia
in accordance with the desires of the Provisional Russian Govern-
ment. The State Department approved Mr. Stevens' recommendations
and requested the Director General of Military Railways, through
the War Department, to recruit men along these lines, and the
Russian Railway Service Corps was the result.

It develops that the actual recruiting of the original mem-
bers of the Corps, of which Mr. Richardson was one, was done by
Mr. George H. Emerson of St. Paul, Minnesota, who was appointed
Colonel in command. All the files of Colonel Emerson’s office,
which would indicate how the recruiting was done, are now at the
headquarters of the Corps in Harbin, Manchuria.

The members of the Corps are unifored similarly to officers
of the

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