Morning journal and courier., 1882-10-06
ASTRONOMER.
The Traffic i'm Swiss GirIs-A Nefnrious Business Conducted i'm Russia and Po-


 Business Conducted i'm Russia and Po-
 land.
 From London Truth.l
 The way in which the traffic in young girls for that is really what it amounts to-is conducted is wildly described in brochure written by NJ. Louis Hoffman, master in a public school at Corgemont, who, having been private tutor both in Russia and Rus sian Poland, speaks with authority. There are twenty two agents, he says, at St. Pe- tersburg, twenty ore at Moscow, and thirty at Warsaw for providing Russian families with foreign governesses tutors and bon nies Most of these agents make their re- quirements known through advertisements in Swiss papers, and many of these have correspondents at Geneva or Lausanne to whom applicants are instructed to apply.
 The representations made to young women applying for places are always highly col ored- Places at fair salaries, they told
 can be assured to them beforehand in highly respectable famiies-master and mistress generous and amia ble-life easy and advance, ment certain. Inquiries as to character and qualifications are not very searching, and the testimonials required are generally easily furnished. The agents remuneration con- ssts of commission of 10 per cent on the amount of the first years salary like com mission being paid by the employer, which is also deducted from the aspirant's salary Gal though she did not know it at the time of her engagement When @ dozen or more young women have put down their names as accepting situations, real or imaginary a lady comes from Warsaw or St. Petersburg to conduct them to their destination. The journey is performed as rapidly as possible, all expenses being paid by the duenna-of course, on account of her charges. Arrived at Warsaw or elsewhere, the tyros are placed in lodgings kept by the agent. Some are in- formed that Mime. X--, - or c. is not ready to receive them others learn to their horror that Mime, A or B. has changed her mind, that, tired of waiting, she has found a governess for herself On these and other pretexts the girls retained in the agents house at least a fortnight often for several weeks They are lodged in crowded and unwho) esome rooms. For sup. l per they have two cups of tea and a morsel of villainous bread for breakfast the same. For dinner soup, one neat bad vegetables and detestable water. For all this they are ! charged from 80 to 100 kopeks day. Wha, with the expense of the journey, the com 1 mission and the charge for lodging, the I agent contrives to get the girls into debt fol | the whole of their first years salary, and the \ law allows her to retain all her debtors eff f fects as security for her claim. In Poland ! the salary of governess varies from 12 tC 1 25 roubles a month (from thirty to sixty \ shillings), of bonne from 25s. to 35s. II ,|ussia, however, salaries are 100 per cent hio her than in Poland. But owing to tht fnctn Nions in the value of the route, these fonres ~s little more than approximate Monsieur SG2ffman says that, although thu rouble is wo, <l nominally 3. .23f to 3 60f., it.
 purohasino nov ~eir for most of the articles royerness would ss likely to buy cannot bt reckoned at more L. Nsla franc, as compared
 with it's value in Swift. .*erland.
 When the would be .oSsrness as iehgsi reaches the goal of her a'poltlon ana re ceives an appointment her tl "A4yies' "itn ieV N exceptions. only begin. The fa ea'y oy "noh ';il she is engaged live probably in s<'Aue w,l' place in the country twenty or tn fsy nilie 1e from the nearest railway station. $. @no herself among people with whom she h Ss so single idea in common, of whose lang, Ws she does not know 8 word and whose habl. 's as likely as not shock her sense of decency. If she be good looking, she will probably at tract the compromising attention of her mas ter or her masters sons, and whether she does or does not, she is almost sure to incur
 the bitter jealousy of her mistress Her du- ties are hard and monotonous. Society and amusement are equally lacking, and if she should fall ill-a contingency in the nircum stances by no means improbable-she Is left entirely to such care the native servants may choose to give her. If she dies, there will be no loving hand to close her eyes, and she will be buried in an unvisited grave. Should our governess become a prey to home sickness and resolve to return to Switzerland, the carrying cut of her intentions will depend altogether on the good pleasure of her mas ter. If he does not want her to go (unless she is person of exceptional strength ot character) go she does not She cannot travel without money, so he postpones the payment of her salary. If she writes home for money he intercepts her letters, and ii she wants to reach the railway he refuses hel the means of conveyance. She has become slave, in fact, and there hundreds of Swiss girls in the interior of Russia and Pc land who have passed years without being able to communicate with their home, ano whose friends know not whether they are alive or dead. More than such case if within the writer's own knowledge. A gir has been engaged as governess or bonne or l terms that seemed to be highly favorable Her kinsfolk accompany her to the station and see her off, and they never see or hea, of her again. Inquiries made withou effect, letters come back through the dea6 letter office Even if the parents know ol suspect where their daughter is, what car they do? How can a struggling Swiss far l mer make a journey to the banks of the Don the Dnieper or the Volga in search of a los child !?
 Two Old Now York DueIs
 From the United States Magazine.1
 l A singular and fatal duel was fought some years ago in New York by the late Stepher Price, we'll known in England as a former II I~-- r