The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1874-09-03
THE COs'HIERS OF THE CZAR,

The Russian couries, OF pony ex-
pressmen, or mail-carriers, as you
may choose to call them, travel nei-
Their on foot nor ON horseback. You
will find that in this matter, as in al
most every custom apd habit ofevery
people, nature compels man to alter
his arrangements to suit her condi-
tions. In Tartary they have fine
horses, great wide deserts, and splen-
did roads, and, naturally, the couriers
there are mounted; in England,
where the roads are bad, running
through boys and marshes, the old
couriers were tootmen in Russia,
where the snow lies on the ground
nearly the whole year, sleighs are
used by the couriers. The "Couriers
Of the Gar" as the mail-carriers are
called, travel with great rapidity.
Fresh horses and drivers are ready
at stations every twenty miles apart !;
but the couriers themselves sleep in
the sleighs, and travel from one end
Of a mail route to the other. Special
messengers OF the Gar, on public bus
mess, travel by these same routes,
and even with greater rapidity than
the mail-carriers. During the Cri-
mean war there occurred an incident
illustrating the severity of this SER
vice. The Russian General, Prince
Mentchikoff,, who defended Sebastopol,
had occasion, during the siege Of that
city, to send an important message to
the Gar at St. Petersburg; and Or
dered a faithful officer to be his mes
senger, giving him directions not to
halt or delay until he stood before the
Gar, and above all, not to loose sight
Of the precious message which he bore.
Away went the officer in a sleigh be-
longing to the Cars couriers. At
the end of each twenty miles, he
found fresh horses awaiting him :;
these were quickly harnessed to his
sleigh, in place Of the weary animals,
and the servants and stable-men
would cry out:
"Your Excellency, the horses are
ready"
"Away them" the officer would say
to the driver and off he would 90
again at the most rapid pace ofwhich
the horses were capable. Riding in
this way for several days and nights,
suffering with cold, and pursued by
wolves in the forests, the officer,
weary with watching his dispatches
day and night, at length reached the
palace Of the Gar, and was immedi-
ately ushered into his presence. He
had no sooner handed the Emperor
the letter Of the General than the
messenger sank into chair and fell
fast asleep in the royal presence,-an
oHense which, in some ages, would
have been punishable with instant
death. When he had finished read
ing the despatch, the Gar wished to
ask the officer a question, but found
he could not awaken him. The at
PENDANTS called to him, all in vain !;
and at last one declared the poor fell
low was dead. The Gar was much
grieved thereat, and went to the Off
Ger and examined his pulse, put his
ear down to his side and declared he
could hear his heart humping. He
was only asleep. But he soon found
that the exhausted officer could not
be reused by the usual means. AT
length the Gar, STOPPING down, cried
in his ears:
"Your Excellency, the horses are
ready"
At the sound Of these words, which
he had heard every twenty miles Of
his journey, and the only ones which
he had listened to for days, the faith
full officer sprang to his feet and
cried:
"Away them"
Instead of driver and horses, he
found the Gar before him, laughing
heartily at his confusion and dismay
You may be sure his offense was for
gotten instead Of being punished fo1
sleeping when his work was done, the
officer was rewarded for his faithful
ness.-FTom "The Pony Express," IN
st. Nicholas for September.