Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-11-14
A RUSSIAN HONE.


pearance o. q Russian snte-room. PeIi.ses
hanging from the rack. with their limp sleeves
and straight, heavy folds, vaguely suggestS the
human bgure, the over shoes, placed beneath,
simulate feet; the general effect of all these fur
~ objects, seen by the uncertain light of sm all
lamp suspended from the ceiling, is fantastic in
the extreme. Acbin Won Arnim would discern
With bis i'm aginstiEe eye the outside garments
or NJ. Peau dOurs, paying visit within; II Off-
man would enscOnc grotesqae phantoms Of
sfchivicts or of aulic councillors behind tne'r
mysterious folds. /, who nm but 4 Frenehm an
snd reduced 20 PerrsulPs tales, only see there
IN the seven wives OF Biuebe srd in the black
closet. Hanging In this way near the stoye
these fur garments become fmpregnsted with
heat, which they retain for sn hour or two i'm
the outside air. The servants have marvellous
instinct for identifying them; even when the
number OF guests is so great that the ante room
looks like htcheis or ZImmerman's shop, tney
never mistake, and lay upon the shoulders OF
each man the garment which belongs To him.
A comfortable suite of rooms 1T st. Peters
burg gathers all the Injuries of English and OF
French civilization; at the drst glance wa
Yonld think yourself in the West end, or the
Fsubourg st. HOnOre; soon, however, the local
character beuays itself by a multitude of
curious details. First of all, the Byzantine Ma
Gonna ard Child-the brown face and hands
Sowng through apertures cut in the veneeyIng
OF silver or silvergilt, which represents drapery,
glitteTs in the light Of an ever burning lamp
md notifies you that You are neither in Paris
nor in Tendon, but in Orthodox Russia in Holy
Russia! OCCASIONALLY, an image of Christ takes
the place OF the Virgin, aud FREQ uently a saint
is 10 be seen ,-the patron saint OF the master or
mistress Of the house,-covered with plates OF
gold or silver, like a tortoise in its shell, and
having golden halo about the head.
The rooms are larger and higher than in Paris
Our srcbitects-sO tDge NOUS IN modelling cells
for the human bee-wOuld cut q whole sujte
and frequently second story, out OF one ST.
Petersburg drawing room. As All Jne rooms are
heTmetlcaly sealed AZ sinst the outdoor air
and even the common halls and stairwsys are
heated, the temperature never falls below Go or
ESQ, so that ladies can be clad in musIins and
have their arms ana shoulders bare. The great
copper mouths OF the calorlfsreS emit he at with
out Cessation, by night AS well by day. and
their hot air Pipes, and also huge porcelain
stoves, white or painted in cOlOrs, aud reaching
to the ceiling, dt1fuse a steady, even warmth in
places where openings cannot Conveniently bs
places are rare; when they do exist they are used
only in spring and autumn. In winter thew
would carry of the hest and sctuslly reduce the
temperature OF the room. They are closed and
filled with tOweTs-hOwers, which are a truly
Russian luxury! The houses over flow with
themi flowers receive you at the door aud go
With you up the stairway; I,iSh ivies festOon the
h2lHsteTs, jdTdtnterfs stOrn the landings on
every floor. In the embTasure OF the ylndoys
bananas spread out their broad, siikeB leaves;
"a pot palms, agnOli mellia gro wing like
trees, mingie their blossoms with the gilded
vo'utes or The cOrnices; orchids hover like but
ter dies around LAM shades OF crystal porcelain
and curiOusly wrought terra-cOtta. From horn
shspeC vases u Japanese porcelain or OF Bohe-
1nian glass, placed in the center OF table or st
the corner Of a side board, spring shaayes of
superb exotics; and all this floral splend0r
thTiyes 81 in a hOt-house. Ia truth, every Rus-
sian apartment Is a hot house; in the street Won
4 re at the pole; within doors ysu might believe
Yourself in the tropics
In regard to furniture, 1t is much like orr own.
only larger more ample, rs beseems the size of
the room; but one thing completely Russian is
this little boudOir OF delicate and costly wood
carved in open work like the sticks OF fan,
which occupies a corner of the drawtu2-roOra
fSfCOnS0 the IA NIL
kind OF confessional for confidential t.lk,-fHr-
nished with diyans, where the mistress of the
house, isOlstinP herself from the crowd Of visit
tors bile yet remaining among them, NAV rs-
serve three or four guests OF special distinction
Sometimes il is Of tinted glass covered with en-
cravings etched by fluOric acid, and mounted h.
panels OF gi1ded copper. Nor il it rare To soc
standing among the sofas, the Bsrg.r.s, the Ios.
ADDS, huge white bear, suitably stuffed and
arranged, Offering to visitors a com mOdiu seat.
snd sometimes little black cnbs serving ~ foot
stools or ottomans. Ana 50 we are recalled
amid all the elegance of modern life, TO the ice,
bergs Of the Northern ocean, to the vast At eppes
covered with snow, and to the deep pine forests
60 tempted TO forget.
The sleeping rooms do not present in general
the luxury and elegance which characterize
the m in France. Behind a folding SCREEN or in
one of those carved bOudO II of which / spoke
Jut now, little. low he'd IL hidden cams hal
or VIVIAN it might he called; the Russians are
or oriental origin. and even in the higher classes
they sleep wherever they happen to be- = little
everywhere, like the Turk, often wrapped in a
pellsse on one OF their large green leather sofas
] be idea OF making q sort of sanctuary OF ones
bedroom never occurs to them; their ancient
customs of the tent seem to have followed them
into the very heart of civilized iife.-4ll whose
corrnptions and all whose eiegancies, however.
they perfectly understand.
Rich hangings adorn the walls; and if the
mater of the house prides himself on being an
1H1teuT, without fail, from the the red India
damaSB, from the BrOcateile with its dull gold
en- bToideTT, stands cut cons picuOus, lighted by
powerful retectOrs and set in the most e rpeusiye
~ frames, HoTsCe VeTnet, Guidau a
Calsme, Koekok ,-sOmetimes Laws. .
US. on, lenkats; or II be will prove bis pa
'riotism, BTniOV OF an AiYaSoysky; these ara
me painters most in fashion; our modern scbOoI
does lot seem to have reached them As vet
! have, however. met two or three MeisSonier.
and Is many TTOyons. The style OF our paint.r.
does not appear sufficiently finished to tue Rus.
.isGs.
The interior which have bsen describing ia
rot that Of palace. but that Of q bous..,not
'ourgsotss,-that word hiss hardly zny msaning
n RUssis,-but OF q bouse CONNIE Il fa,a. ST
petersburg ia crowded with the ele CAN'T rest
iences Of men of rank and with PALACES of
which EoP5 later to give the reader some de-
tytion.-GUfeOPE Religious Faith