Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-04-24
LETTER FROM RUSSIA,

1he following letter was Wrltten 10 cltl-
zen of this county by James L. Orr, jr., son
of our Minister to Russia, and who at one
time was cadet at the Kings Mountain
Military School, in Yorkville The letter
was not intended for publication, but mas
much as it will prove Of interest to number
of the readers of the ENQUIRER, it has been
placed at our disposal. The letter is dated
at the "Legation of the United States, St.
Petersburg, 18th March, 1872:
now take pleasure in fulfilling my prom
ise, of informing you of our arrival at this
place and of some of the incidents of the trip.
After leaving Washington we went to New
York, expecting to sail in day or two; but
the steamer in which we secured our passage,
met with very heavy weather in her trip from
Liverpool to New York, had to put in at
Halifax for, coal and some repairs, and was,
consequently, five days later than expected.
We, however, got off on the 9th of February,
and after a trip Of eleven days, landed at
Liverpool. The passage was quite pleasant
one for winter, though we had three days of
very rough weather, the wind being stiff and
the sea very high. Strange to say, however,
neither father nor I were sick at all during
the voyage, and consequently enjoyed it a
good deal.
We spent one day in Liverpool, to recruit
up little, and started next day for London.
The cars are arranged entirely different from
ours. The coaches for passengers are divided
into three compartments-tw for persons
and one for baggage. These are all entered
from the side Of the car, and there is no in.
tercourse one with another, each being fixed
up for six persons. The train goes much
more rapidly than with us, averaging forty
FIVE miles per hour, including stoppages, which,
however, are not of much consequence, as
they only stop one or two minutes.
On reaching London, we secured two cabs,
which are in reality, one-horse carriages so
constructed that they can carry baggage on
top. We put five large trunks and four per-
sons on and in these, went two miles and-a-
half to our hotel, and the fare was one dollar
and-a-half, for all, ! e., seventy-fve cents for
each cab. They are, however, almost the
only cheap things in London. When once
in London, there is 80 much to see, that one
scarcely knows where to start. We, howev-
er, commenced at Westminster Abbey, that
being nearest our quarters, and also possessing
great interest, both on account of its antiquity
and sacredness. 1t was built eight hundred
years ago, of brown sandstone, which is crum-
bling, or rather shelling of, on the exterior
as we'll as interior. Within are the bones OF
all the kings and queens Of England also, of
most of the eminent statesmen, poets, novel
lists and divines, and to these are erected
monuments and statuary of different degrees
of splendor and beauty. There are also stat
ues of men of less eminence, so that the Alb
bey contains thousands of monuments and stat
uary. There are busts of Shakespeare, Dry
den, Milton, Pope, Burns, Moore, Goldsmith,
Scott, Dickens, and numerous other distln-
guished men, too numerous to mention.
Next we visited the Parliament Houses.
They are situated on the Thames river, and
are very elegant buildings. I saw the two
houses in session, and noticed their proceed
ings minutely, and do not think they can be
compared (not with our House Of Represen-
tatives) but not even with a good specimen
of one of our State legislatures, either for elo-
quence or dispatch Of business. They have
too much formality and fogyism, and not
enough life and vigor.
The tower of London was also very inter-
esting. First, on account of its ancientness.;
and secondly, on account of the things now
on exhibition and the occurrences which have
taken place within its walls. 1t situated on
the Thames also-lower down. 1t is eight or
nine hundred years old, and the walls are
fifteen feet thick, of solid granite The
armory contains all the different armor worn
by the ancient kings and warriors, together
with their munitions of war, just as they have
improved from the two.handed battle-axe, to
the breach-loading rifle and needle-gun Of the
Franco .Prussian war. There the Imperial
Jewels are on exhibition, which are worth be-
tween twenty and thirty millions Of dollars.
There are thousands of other things Of inter-
est, but lest I tire you, I will stop.
We spent FIVE days in London. Next we
went to Paris, which is far the most beautiful
city of Europe Much is to be seen there, al
so, of gaiety, life and beauty. We went by
Cologne and Weimar-where we left the
young ladies at school-thence to Berlin,
where we spent couple of days, and landed