Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1865-07-13
RUTLAND HERALD
MONDAY, JULY 10, 1885.
letter from Russian kmerica.


sxtracts ara taken, was written by DR..
Henry p. Fisher, Surgeon and Journal
,st NJ the Collins Overland Telegraph
Company. 1t was written from sltEa
In the Russsion Possessions, ana thouSn
). nriyate letter, the extracts which we
are permitted to make, contain accounts
of certain customs, etc, in that unire-
ouented part Of the globe, which Will oe
fopnd OF interest. DR.. Fisher Is a resi- !
dent of Brooklyn, n. Y, and brother
. Of Mr.. Fisher of Sutherland Falls.
srrKA, Sunday April %, 1860
- Such. complete isolation from
all that is congenial or even inter-
esting, / assure you it were impossible
to imagine and yet ! have been here
during the most interesting period of
the year (they tell me) Easter holidays.
will describe in the course OF my let
ter the way they celebrate them
The "shubrick" with Col. Bulkley lett
I here on the Sd of this month, the sec
ond after our arrival, to return and com
plete arrangements for our summer
work. As you probably already know,
was left here with only servant to
remain till his return and CLEAN all in
formation possible of the natives, traders
and coasters, also to copy some charts
of the northern coast which the govern
or has loaned us, and also to observe
the horary oscillations of the barometer,
as well as thermometer, and make col
lections generally of interest to science.
You may Judge that my time is pretty
well employed, as / have made Observa-
tions each day and each hour from five
a. m, to II p. m, never yet having been
absent from my point of observation
during the time over two hours, which |
am permitted to do, by having instructed
my boy, whois intelligent, how to move
''vernier" at the end of the first hour,
where it remains for my computation
and record, before charging it for the
next. The Governor and his lady seem
only too anxious for my comfort and In
fact it is somewhat of bore for me to
dine with them every day and be sub
iected to the infliction of the varied
courses served after the Russian style
i which with all my culinary knowledge
cannot classify or discover the COM
ponent parts thereof
Several of the officers speak
French and with them get on nicely.
The weather here at present is most
villainous, assimilating to our March
month. To-day sunshine, tomorrow six
inches snow, next rain and wind in
gales, and so on. keep myself housed
principally.
The observance of Lent in the Greek
church has just closed and the Easter
holidays follow and last for about one
week. No labor is expected, and all de-
vote themselves to feasting and drink
ing. | called at the room Of one of the
officers here, who, | was told, had just
taken the Sacrament after having tasted
for two days, as is the custom, and OC
ours only once q year and during this
period found the room full of peo-
pie and all gorging themselves with
food, as if it were the last and only
meal they expected to have again. A
large dish is placed in the center OF the
table, containing, what they name, "Per-
ogue." 1t is sort of pie and contains
salmon, eggs onions, pickles, meat and
potatoes and covered with crust. You
can Judge if / INDUCED largely in such
a mess The Russians consider this
very fine and In fact, all their food is
prepared in this villainous style, All
smoke and drink brandy at the same
time and wind up with strong tea. The
priests are not an exception, neither are
She females; all appear to keep themselves
full of rum and tea. A pleasant society
isit not On the ight of the 18th, being
the last day of Lent, l was told should
attend church and witness the ceremo-
nv of the burial and resurrection of the
Savior. At one o'clock of that morning,
one of the officers Capt. Hanssom, who
speaks the best English and whom the
governor recommended to me as an in
terpreter, came and woke me. Accord
iuglv, l dressed myself In full uniform
and accompanied him. On entering the
church, we were presented, each, with a
wax candle for which, one ruble, 20 cts
is paid and you hold lighted in front OF
you during the services. After the long
ceremonies are gone through with, re-
sponses, chants, &c, &c, burning of in
cense and walking around the mock
coffin, covered with velvet and gold, by
the bishops and attending priests and
deacons, the audience in the meantime
standing; it is taken on the shoulders
of the priests, and the bishop in the
center underneath procession fol.
lows, according to rank, and marches
outside and around the church with
heads uncovered, bearing the torches
crosses, banners, &c, meanwhile chant.
ing solemn dirge. took place, by 8
sign from the governor, next bebisd him