The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-24
RUSSIAN GOSSIP.
what an American Tourist Saw In the
Land OF the CZars.

Land OF the CZarss
The st. Petersburg correspondent of the Cleve-
land Herald gives the folio wing interesting gos-
sips
LANGUAGE AT THE CAPITAL.
There Is very little English spoken here, not
so much among the traders even, Us ia most
cities In Europe. The Germans and their Ian
guage predominate among the foreigners, as
well as their beer. The GaSt-H aus is frequent
institution in many parts OF the city. one
writer says, that almost invariably When he
spoke to people here in his peculiar style of
French and German, he always received unn-
telllglole answers in Russian. When | got lost
among palaces and grand military establish
ments, or cast my eyes up az the sgn-boards
and read about grand fabrications and steam
companies, and walked along the quays OF the
Neya, and saw wood enough piled up in big
bToad-Ootiomed boats to last myeelf and family
ten thousand years; when | strolled into the
Nevskoi, and jostled my way through crowds OF
Bobles, officers, soldiers, dandies, and common.
ers, stopping, as usual, at every picture sh ID,
gazing dneamlly into the gorgeous millinery es.
tablisl mentS, ponderiDg thOughtfully over the
Phttering wares OF the jewellers, snuffiRg re-
hectvely the odors that came from the restau-
Tants--when all this occurred aud tried to
make an inquiry oil q worthy German Wha was
standing at the door of his beer cellar, and who
seemed 10 think l had meerschauns to sell. l
began to think had no particular business in
this costly and luxurious city.
The French language is almost universally
spoken by the nobility and the Court, and TO
such an extent is the Russian ignored, that it
has been made the subject OF much aumadver-
SION among the patriot writers OF the day, The
Russian language, itself, is dialect of the Sla-
vonisn, the common source of the language Of
the Poles, SeIvians, and Bohemians, and, sup
pose, other tribes.
The Pole, Russian, and Tartar can understand
each other but only to a certain extent
notice quite difference in their printed venqcu-
lars, although they seem to be derived from the
Greek.
FOREIGN LITERATURE.
While we are so dilatory in translating the
best Russian works. they have many of Shake.
speares plays, Buckles History Of CivilIz4
ton - almost every standard work in the English
shelves OF some of their numerous book stores
you find many American authors. l could not
help noticing, in one place, the little work on
Petroleum, written by Nj. Bone, of the Herald
some time ago. which had straJed off here to
aid and assist the people in their knowledge OF
| the article, which, judge, they seem to appre-
ciate, not only the book, by its presence bat By
| the numerous casks OF the ''rehnedn itself we
see carted through the streets.
ABOUT DINNERS.
The landlord of the HNoyo Troitski" and the
| proprietor of the 'Palkin Trakur" have serVed
us dinners la RuSSe, much more elaborately
| gotten up than those obtained at the hands OF
| the two fat, fine looking OEcassian dressed ald
| orDamented girls at the Russian pavilion az the
Great Exposition in Paris The dish most
affected here and throughout the north of RUS
sia is called ZakuSkd, which word compre-
| hends A naeiange OF everything that hSppsns to
| be in season, In the way OF comesubles. A, tor
instance, fresh caviar, raw herring, raw smoked
Poose, salmon, radishes witt cheese and butter.
| For soups We have the OkrOshkd, cold iced
soup. with beverage in 1t, made OF fermented
| rye, by way OF favor, and with herring, cucam-
Der, and meat hOating In 1t; also the Cabbage
soup, with sour cream, called Hctt THIS you
ppd at the Exposition Restaurant IN PsE's'