Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-01-05

a Caey where the People are
either Very netgsh - Watched
~ Peer.
The 81. Petersburg correspondent Of The
Lcndc, Telegraph WHITES "Somsbody once
called Washington city Of magnificent dis>
tances. should be inclined to call ST. Pc
tcrsburg the c.ty Of extraordinary contrast.
The more see Of this strange capital the
more am struck with the spectacle once
of-its luxury and its squaicr. Fore eners
often say that in London YOU see the eS-
,romss OF wealth and poverty. The re
mark is true enough hut then between tie
two extremes there ez SITS enormous inter-
mediate issgss % comfort St. james j.
uNlisc -. GREE. hgt between tie qpaftets
tstste IL a tc3tsn f. reseect45Afv. IN -.
pes rst.urr, however, poverty aad wealth.
luxury aud misery. splendor and shabsi
ness, civilization and barbsrism, 60 hand In
hard, lie side by side together. It is a
place which can only be described by super.
iatives. Everything IS either superb or
wretched; everybody is either wealthy or
poor Dives aud Lazarus are the only parts
10 the Russian life drama.
Nothing can be more splendid than the
Winter Palace yet in many parts the stuc-
CO il left in . state which the occur ant Of
any sixty pound house in dec cnt suburban
stree, In London would be ashame d TO be
hold on the front Of his dwelling. Of al
the gorgeous shrines which | have entered,
think the Graco's Church Is perhaps in the
most perfect Il 10 Absolutely matchless in
the richness Of its decorations The por<
ophyry steps, the pssait pillars, the marble
walls, tbs brouac capitals. The gilded dome.
are all narvcls Of splen1or yet the square,
in the center Of which the shrine is placed, 10
worse paved than the back street Of the
poorest German town with which ! am nc
quainted The same sort Of contrast pre-.
sades everything. There is not, for instance,
q frs. class, or even second class hotel in
the city The inn where ! am lodged IL
rerkoned the best ia ST. Petersburg its
prices are certainly high enough to Justify
its rcputatie n .4r excellence, ami being III
,hs hnnds Of German proprietors, it is well
managed and arranged. Bat even here the
native savagery exerts itself
The Russian servants are incurably diriy;
in the middle Of the day you will iind groupi
OF walters playing cards aud smoking about
the passages, the eating rooms are seldom
w,hon, stale smoke; the floors arc left un'
swept the whole place is hopclcssly un'
tidy and yet it is Cited up with many
Of the latest appliances Of Western luxury
| Ia the aamc way there 10 not cafe or res
taurant ia the capital. equal to what you
would find in any third rate provincial towf
in France. At the very best and most ex
pensivs you must up with soied table cloths
dirt bvgrim med floors, aud unwsshed wait,
ara IN tho other la nd the cluhs are yerv
handsome and well appointed. People say
that il you choose 10 psy two shillings o.
40, you can get an excellent dinner II III,
public eating houses. il may be SO; ! car
only state that the dinners they provide FOL
their customers are miserably bad. In fact
ltt 10 . mystsry - M how people Of moder
ate incomes live at ST. Petersburg. Ny ex
planation 10, that there are very few peopl,
there With moderate incomes and that thee,
few live wrctchedly. never was in's city
in which the million seemed to be 80 it'll,
cared for. There are shops Of every kins
| hut cheaD Onea