Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1859-02-04
Winter in Russia.

winter, we have bad but lew "cold snaps
to remind us of what this period Of th'
year was in former times, and ought, fol
the sake Of health and pleasure, now to be
Snow has fallen only to disappear; ice ha:
been formed, only to dissolve. All class
es have been cheated-the boys Of theil
skating and sliding, the young men and
maidens of their sleighing, the middle
aged Of that toning up Of the physical
system which comes Of good, honest, fros
ty weather, aud the old Of that tranquil
flow Of pleasing "reminiscences which a
hearty, old fashioned winter seems peculi.
arly to provoke.
| 1t is pleasant to turn from the damp, fog
gy, rheumatic days, the miserable, rainy
nights, the eternal mud, the fee,iug sun
shine, all too warm for the time Of the
year, to the genuine, permanent, Intense
winter portrayed in the "Ske'ches and
Studies in Russia" of ii. Sutherland Ed
wards, one of the most chatty, graphic,
and agreeable writers Of the day.
In Russia, the gray-beard king Of the
year gives timely warning Of his approach,
in the shape Of two snow storms: the
first Of which lasts but few days, the
second about a week. Then comes the
third snow storm, which remains FIVE
months. 1t is not like our snow-soft,
feathery, faky, but SO thoroughly crystal
lied as to resemble EPSON salts. OF
course it lasts, just as Northern ice outlasts
Southern ice. Nor is the approach of cold
more sudden than that Of the five months
snow. The Russians have ample time for
preparation. Winter sets in early III Sep
tember, but not until Christmas does the
Nikolshy llsros or Frost of St. Nicholas
begin. Long before that time, the houses
have been provided with double and even
triple sashes, with cotton placed in the
space between the sashes to serve as still
further protection against the keen, insid-
ious wind, which Gregorovich, in his Win
ter's Tale, says, "howl= like a dog, and like
dog will bite the feet aud calves Of those
who have not provided themselves with
furgoloshes and doubly y-thick pantaloons."
Simultaneously with the doubling of the
sasbes, the stove is lighted, never to go
out until winter is over. The Russian
stove is not made of iron or any other
metal, nor is it yisi6Is ,be y wallis Iali In iu the
centre of the house, SO that one stove may
serve to warm many rooms. In furnace
in the basement fire is built of wood, and
permitted to burn until the wood is thor
oughly charred, and every vestige of fame
has disappeared; then the top Of the
chimney is shut down, and, as it were,
Theoretically sealed, and certain port holes
opening from the oven or stove into the
room, are unclosed, permitting the no, dry
air to enter, whereby the apartment is kept
warm for twelve or fourteen hours, and
even longer If by mistake the port holes
are opened before the charring process is
completed, then Death enters the room in
the form Of carbonic acid gas, or Ongar as
the Russians call it. Strangers are always
in danger, but the natives instantly rec
ognize the oagar, and, rushing into the
open air, counteract its effects by applying
snow to the temples and forehead.
Snow is the Russians best friend. 1t
converts his vast country into sea Of
smooth ice, bridges the rivers at all points,
and renders transportation SO easy that the
game of Finland and Siberia, the fish
from every sea and river in the Empire,
are furnished to the markets Of NJ oscow
and St. Petersburg in a state of perfect
freshness and preservation. One of the
most curious sights in Moscow, about
Christmas, is the Frozen Market" Here,
under a forest Of Christmas trees, is ex-
hibted all manner Of fish, flesh and fowl:
frozen stiff as stone; and, besides these,
little jars of cream, hundreds
of cabbages, thousands of potatoes, each
and every jar, cabbage and potato, careful
ly wrapped up in mating to prevent them
from freezing. The animal provisions
thus frozen, will keep sweet and fresh du-
ring the whole winter, and if placed in
the ice cellar with which almost every
Russian house is provided, may be kept
far into the summer months.
We learn from Mr.. Edwards, that the
of cold, in Russia, has been
greatly exaggerated. Travellers speak of
thirty aud thirty-fve degrees (Reaumur)
below the freezing point, as if it were
nothing unusual; but the thermometer
loes not mark thirty degrees more than
once in twelve years; the average maxi
mum for seventeen years being twenty-one
md two-ffth degrees-a temperature
not unfrequent!y experienced in Maine,
and even iu Northern New
York. But, generally, there is differ