New Oregon plaindealer. (New Oregon, Iowa) 1859-1866, 1861-12-27
NEW OREGON IOWA, DECEMBER 27. 1861
WINTER SKETCHES in RUSSIA.
SETTING IN or WINTER.

sHo" stOrMS Dy way OF warning before WIN
ter fairly commences its reign. The first fall
OF snow thaws perhaps few days afterwards.
the second IN about week, the third in five
months. If a lady drops her bracelet or
brooch in the street during the period OF this
third fall, she need not trouble herself to put
out handbil's offering a reward for it's rccov-
cry, at all events not until the spring; for it
will be preserved i'll its hiding place, as vel
rs ice can preserve it, until about the mid
die of April, when, if the amount of the re-
ward be greater than the va]aa of The a, tcle
lost, it will in all probability be restored to
her. The Russians put on their furs at the
first signs of winter, and the sled.cs make
their appearance in the streets as soon as the
snow is an inch or two thick. The earlier
frosts of October and November mav or may
not be attended to without any very danger
| ous results ensuing; but when the frigid St.
| Nicholas makes his appearance--stoping the
most rapid currents: forming bridges over
| the broadcst rivers, and converting seas into
deserts of ce-then blast from his breath,
if not properly guarded against, may prove
fatal. However, forei gncrs alone are afraid
Of him. lie is the Eussian's best friend. OF
the Russian posant he is not only the patron
, saint, but also the real bcneactor. He is the
greatest eng necr in the country, and does
more in the department Of roads and bridges
in Il single night, th.n..th once illustr;ous
Kleinmichel did in the whole course of his
ministry.
RUSSIAN STOVES.
The house lived in was in the middle Of
Moscow; and with the exception fthc stoves.
the internal arrangement was like that OF
most other Dwellings in Europe. The stoves
however. were nothing but thick no, ow
party walls built of brick, and sometimes
separating, or connecting AS many us three
or four rooms, which arc, Of course, con-
trivcd as to meet at the corners If, instead
Of opening like furnaces at the bottom. they
had opened all the way down The 'front.' like
cAphords, they would have made excellent
wardroLes Ter hanging ny clothes in during
the summer months bat rs il was. thsy re-
maincd useless during nearly half the year.
The outer sides of these lofty ntramura' fur
nacos were faced with klnd of porcelain.
though in many houses .hey are prepared
Ike tie other walls Of the room: so that tie
presence Of the stove is only known in sum-
ncr by two Or three apertures like portfolios,
which have been male for the purpose of
admitting the hot ar, and which. when
there is no heat within, are closed with
round metal covers Ike the tops Of canistcrs.
Sometimes, especially in country houses, the
stove or ps1tchka, as it is called, is not only
wall, but a wall which, towards the botr
tom projects so as to form kind OF dresser or
sofa. and which the l;lz er Of tho inmates use
not untrcqucntly III the latter capacity
When stove is first lighted the port
holes are kept carefully closed, to prevent the
cgrcss of carDonic aoid gas; but after the
wood has become thoroughly ciarrcd. and
every vcstlgo of flame has disappeared, the
chimney is shut down from the tip he COY.
crs are removed from the anertures, and the
hot mir is allowed to penetrate freely into the
room; then ifenough wood has been put IN
to the pcitchka, and the lid Of the chimney
closes hermetcaly, the SIDES of the stove vii
remain warm for twelve or fourteen hours
and the sir of the room for much longer pc
riod. Occasionally it happens that the port
holes are opened while there still aickers Il
Il ~, =,
In this case there is death in the stove
THE co,E
1t appears strange to assert that. in Il conn-
try where every year men are frozen to death,
the amount of cold is Eesertheless much ex-
aggerated. However it requires no very low
+, temperature for humaa being to freeze to
death in it, if he takes care beforehand to
get drunk and 20 to Sleep and does not
awake before tic warmth produced by the
alcohol has left his body. Travellers speak of
the cold represented by thirty degrees and
thirty-fve degrees Reaumur, as if it werc
nothing extraordinary; but the thermclnetor
does not mark thirty degrees more than onae
in about twenty years. and it ap! ears from
the published tables that in seventeen years
the everaga maximun ofcold was twepty-one
and two .tifths desreas. In a work putlishc!
| in 1S4O it is mentioned as an extraordinary
fact that the thermometer was at thirty de-
grees on the 9th of February, 1910. How
ever, it really happens that the thermometer
does not descend to twenty-five degrees for q
few days in the winter.
RUSSIAN JACK-AT.ALL- TRADES.
Ofcourse very large portion Of the popu-
lation-ttat is to say, all who are engaged in
agriculture, as we'll as builders, and gencr-
| .lIx thncc who lnhor out n. loors=xare tl-n,rn