Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-06-26
The Manners of Russian Police.
[St. Petersburg Letter to the London Tel
graph.

The Manners of Russian Police
[St. Petersburg Letter to the London Tele-
graph
These wild cavaliers of the Don ard
Ukraine are doing excellent good service
in preserving the peace of the city, the
streets of which, in couples, they contin-
ually patrol Mounted on his little weedy
screw of a pony, with the oldest military
seat in the saddle that it is possible to
conceive, with his oil-skin covered shake,
like saucepan without handle, swathed
in his gray gaberdine, with his bashlik,
or kerchiefed hood, and his long lance
with red staff, the Cossacks, all booted,
bearded, spurred and armed to the teeth
as he is, cannot help fancying to be in
the main far less ferocious than he looks.
AS soldier he is heroically brave; but as
military policeman he is not so very ILL
natured. His terrible whip with the short
stock makes fearful noise when 1t is
clacked; but imagine that it frightens
people more than it hurts them.
For example, on the day of the funeral
procession the people were strictly for
| hidden to cross the ice-bound river, Or
even to venture on the bosom of the Neva
at all, and large detachment of soldiers
was told off to enforce the order. Of
course the people did try to cross the
river hundreds of times, and it was rare
sight to see them chased over the ice and
snow by the Cossacks, uttering wild hur-
rahs Of menace; but when the delin-
quents, after much lodging and doub-
ling, were finally run down by the Cos
sacks, they were usually dismissed with
little harmless bullying and flick OF
the whip, to all appearances more cere-
monious than affective
| 'La Russie," SAID the Marquis de Gus
tine, 'est I'm pays on tout lie monde
dome DIES coups;', and, although corpora
punishment of all kinds has long since
been abolished by law throughout the
Empire, it is certain that vast numbers O!
people were smitten by the hands of au
thority on the day Of translation of thu
Imperial remains. But these acts O.
physical coercion did not, as a rule, ex
tend beyond harmless punching O.
heads. One pasty-faced young gentle
man in sheep-skin, with a muffin cap
who, in the midst of dense struggling
mob beneath the window whence viewed
the cortege, had been dragged from of
one of the cannon which formed a soli(
barrier of bronze between the mob ant
the roadway of the Nicholas Bridge, wa!
incautious enough to strike full in thu
breast the gendarme who had collaret
him. 1t was all over, l thought, witt
that pasty- faced young gentleman. TIL
mines of Siberia, or enchainment to
wheel barrow in the Caucasus, must b.
the most lenient doom that he could ex
pect he got off, however, with havin!
his head thoroughly well-puhched by a
least fifteen successive gendarmes. and a
list an agent of authority leaned dow
from his saddle as the culprit was born
past him, and administered to the pasty
faced young man, with his large, buck
skin covered hand, several singing boxe
on the ear; which, for moment at least
, must have stimulated the circulation il
the pallid cheek of the wearer of til
muffin cap. But chastisement went n
further thought that at least, the
would 'run him in;" but no, the fiftee
gendarmes dismissed him with a fearful
shower of clouts and cuffs, and sent hi1
, flying into the midst of mass of moujiks
caught sight of him, half an hour at
forwards, carefully climbing up one Q
the street telegraph poles, from whic.
exalted altitude, at the risk of disturbin
the insulation of the wires, he watches
the passage of the pageant with coun
tenance bearing more of a cheerful thai
chastened expression.