Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-07-09
COLUMBUS, OHIO. MONDAY MORNIN
{, 9, JULY 8, 1866.
QD5io Stta1ttLe:'sjj.,nt1,r1Ia''.rI,,t.... ! j.t 1,I''.I,. i i.
ONLY ONE ROOM.

ONLH VNE KOUM,
"Change carriages here, gentlemen, on
account of the Russian frontier Every
one descends. Purdon, gnadiger Herr, but
you must remove your effects. for the Visite
dc dounane." Thus, the civil Prussian
guard of the train, for the station was
EydCkuhhen on the Eastern railroad. The
| flat-capped porterslaid violent hands upon
the luggage, and we all went through the
| Prussian bureau and across to- that over
which was painted the black eagle of Rus
! sia, and through the dim glass of whose
windows appeared the green uniforms and
glistening pewter medals of the Russian
frontier guard Hflsw sll ln 3.
| This was my first northern journey, and
it was undertaken chiefly, though not en-
tirely, on account of business. was not,
strictly speaking,a a business man, being in
fact sleeping partner In the old establish-
ed house of Hutchmerey Lowndes & Co.,
bankers of Lothbury, London.
| AS Mr.. D6wndes, who managed most OF
the affairs of the house since Mr.. Hutch
mere had grown so very old and frail, con-
| fidently informed me, we had long been on
terms of business intimacy with one Uf the
oldest and most respected of the English
| firms in st. Petersburg that otDruce, Gray
81 DruGe, in the tallow trade whose sig
nature was known and honored on every
exchange in Europe. But Druce, Gray u
Druce, who were truly reported to have
anlassed great wealth In 40 years. expert
| ence of the gainful Russian traffic, had inn
| prudently invested in other securities than
| tallow. In this emergency, our house was
applied to for aid, and we agreed to come
to the rescue, on condition that valuable
securities, for the realization of which we
could afford to wait, should be lodged in
our hands, These securities were trans
mitted to London, and but one thing re-
mained-to forward the money urgently
| needed. t
This, however, was not easy. Under
ordinary circumstances, a draft on a St.
Petersburg bank, or a parcel of bills of ex-
| change, would have answered the purpose;
but not then. The credit of commercial
house Is as sdelicate thinga as the white coat
| of the ermine, and as easily tarnished; and
Drlce, Gray 81 Druce had stipulated that
every. conceivable precaution should be
| taken to keep the affair profound secret.
Thus II fell out that / found myself on
the Russo Prussian frontier on a gray and
moist afternoon in autumn, bound for st.
Petersburg. l found the custom house
officials at Eydtkuhnen much less trouble-
some than | had expected. My passport
was perfectly en- regle, duly emblazoned
with the British arms, and stamped with
red and black eagles in every absurd atti-
tude-to say nothing of the Belgian lion
thereon imprinted at 0stend. 7r "
In the tirst-class, carriage of the Russian
train | had no companion to KoWno; but
there gentleman got in. He was awell-
dressed, well-looking man of 50; dark,
wiry and active, with lively hazel eyes and
superb teeth. With him he brought q
heap of fur coats and pelisses as well as a
portmanteau closely resembling that which
kept under my feet and which contained,
in gold and notes, the large sum to be ad-
Yanced by our house to the firm Of Druce,
Gray & Druce. The new arrival took off
his hat on getting into the carriage, aecord-
ing t0the polite fashion abroad, and as he
settled himself in his seat, eyed me with a
quick sidelong glance that seemed to take
my measure in a moment. 'fa g sIO1t' z
We were soon engaged in conversation,
our talk beginning in French, and gliding
imperceptibly into English. My new ac-
quaintatice spoke both languages with per-
feet fluency, and with no perceptible for
eign accent. He was very chatty and
agreeable, full of anecdote and iniorma-
tion, and told me much about the country
and people of the district we were travers-
ing, as if his iife5had been spent in the
neighborhood. set him down, inwardly,
for Russian nobleman, till by some chance
remark he changed the current of my ideas /;
and he afterwards frankly owned that he
vas Dutch engineer, and named Van
Marum. ... -.. ..,...... .,.. ....r.
I presently gathered from NJ. Van
Marum's discourse that he was in the en-
ploy, for the time being, of the imperial
Government and was preparing estimates
for an extensive system of drainage and
embankment to be carried into effect on the
crown estates, / mentioned that business
of unusual importance had prompted my
journey, and mentioned the name Of the
firm to which wasaccrdited. O. 'rs dT.
You don't say so, my dear SIR exclaim-
ed the, Dutchman. "Luce & Co., of
Nevskoi Prosbekt and the Admiralty quay!
In that case, permit me TO congratulate YOU
in advance upon the brilliantrec that
awaits you. The hospitality, of that great
house is neutrality-suspicious.. Here is
Wilma. What on earth is the matter s'h
M. Van Marum might well ask d The
train had just stopped with ajarring jolt,
the brakes were giving out grating noise,
the steam. pipe had begun to utter its an
CRY foaro inipatience, and thump !thufnp!
went the buffersl0f the carriages together,
as we came to an abrupt halt. On our
right appeared the town Of wilma, with its
gray roofs, and the dOmes ohthe numerous
churches, sheathed in polished metal,
bronzed and gilt, or blazing with green and
vermtlion, under the watery rays of the
setting sun. C"". f v N'hroiuj st
"SOme aceidentl" ] said, jumping up to
look QUITO the window, took long
look, but could not exactly make out the
cause Of our detention. ''It looks like a
line OF bullock-cars," said l. 1resuming my
seat. -'..t ege. ana. er. Hiie,,, IN.
My companion thrust his head out of the
window, saying, "Not so, my dear Mon
sleur Bainbridge. Those are the carriages
that soldiers travel in. The Government
nustbe forwarding troops in haste along
the railroad. S99metbilg must have hap
pened in the SOUTH"
And SO it proved. IA strong force Of
troops was beingsentto the south and west1 q
to repress some threatened outbreak among
the Polish peasants or Russian serfs, aud
the authorities had pressed all the STAFF
and rolling stock ofthe line into their SER
vice., For forty EIGHT hours there was no
hope that the regular passenger traffic
cOnld go on3 and 1t was compulsory that wel
should stop at WILMA, aoW vAog0N Ier,rI
@Come along, Mr., BaiAbridge," said my
new friend, ''fknow wilma well. There *
but one inn above the rank of tavern, and
if we do onOtlnakBhaste 1t wilpbe filed ip!
Here is the drosky of the hotel, which the
proprietor fondly calls his omnibus
Jump In tH,9H tsllU E,A nabHRag seT'T
congratulated myself as we iolted
along, on the good fortune Which had pro.