Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-12-09

aOle. ne scenery suggests SCot- +
land only as opposites suggest one !
another. But the eye soon grows
accustomed 10 the vast IT onotonies OF
this neutral-tinted Europe oil
plains. and the slowness Of motion /
itself tends to concentrate the atten- /
ton OF the passenger upon the int
rior phases Of his progress. Wen as /
| know the route between New YORK I
and Omaha, prefer the comfort OF q
Russian first-class carriage on any OF
the large lines. The second-class ac-
comtnodations are superior to that oil
English railways: third-class CARR
ages are generally withou. upholstery.
The open, end-to-end system Is. how
ever. applied to all the classes, an adj
vantage which, where the distances
Travelled are great and the s.oppayes
few. as is often the case in Russia,
becomes positive luxury. From I
west European point Of view, more
over, fares are decidedly low For
rubles, or II shilIings, a ticket Is
supplied for a journey Of about one
hundred miles: the same distance III
the second-class involves an CXpenGi-
ture Of 4 rubles. while the cost OF
travling in the third is abOu! a half
penny per mile. Formerly nobody
travelled third class in Russia save
peasants, workmen and poor stu
dents. During the last dozen years
change has taken place in the habits
of railway passengers. Whether
class distinctions are breaking down
through the failure of the chin 10
keep them in robust vitality. or whe-
Their the fact | am about 10 state Is
referablc to scarcity Of money" so
much proclaimed in Russia at the
present time l cannot undertake to
decide. What is certain is that the
moneYed" classes-the landed pro
prietors, capitalists, and people
who have means without occupa-
tien--are beginning to content them
selves with railway travel in its
cheapest form, and that on some OF
he lines, as if responding to the
change, a third-class carriage has
made its appearance, more spacious,
and more comfortable, and lighted,
not like it with a tallow candle, but
with gas. But the new elements OF
the third-class passenger traffic."
use for moment the language Of the
an annual report-do not drive out
the old. Fully half the occupants Of
a third class carriage remain peasants
children OF the steppe and plain
giants in bark sandals and sheep
skin overcoats-wh0m, thanks to
Tourgunof. one feels one has me,
somewhere before. That priest IN
the corner, in long cloak and soft
felt hat, is quite at home in his mill
en-, not because he is conscious oil
any special apostolic mission to third
class passengers, but because hi:
family is large and his income tluctu
ating. Besides. he is only following
the custom of his class. Put him il
a touloup and fur cap, rob him of hi:
sma,tery of ecclesiastical SalvoniC
and give him ideas one or two de
grees simpler on geographical. astro
nomicaI, and political subjects, ant
he would make as good Il peasant u:
any of them. A much wcightier SO
cal figure, rs opinion goes in Rus
STA. il that OF the stout land owne
who las been spending the summer
in st. Peterhurg and is returning tt
) his domain ia Ta,nboy with a selec
ton of funny stories and a large tlasl
of brandy. This passenger in uni
form is quite innocent as yet OF mill
tary service. He is simply studen
, of the College for Oriental Ian
guages, at Moscow, travelling to hi
native village with the news OF sue
} cessful examination. Opposite hin
t sits an officers wife who has studiet
medicine at the capital. and is re
turning home AS "duly-qualitied
practitioner, with a clientele assured
) beforehand. The only pretty won
. an in the carriage is "A girl of 10, a
I ready laboring under the respons
bili,ics of proprletoship. Owingto TIL
e loss of her husband. but that widow
: Of 30 or thereabouts seems To hav
saved nothing from the wreck of he
: fortune save a capacity for talking
! great deal OF bad French and dispo,
r ing of a quantity of doubtful cigal
D cites At night pillows are arrange
I and seats turned as well rs may b
G into beds, aud after due lapse OF tim
I form Of sleep comes TO most of tn
n figures sitting and rccumbent, loudes
n in enjoying or feigning it being pc,
i san: or priest. Interesting. however
G ~ is generally visit to the thir,
s class" it forms n kind Of sight-se,
r ing on Russian railways whic'. shout
n be INDUCED in with caution. Tn
r night trains from st. Petersburg /
Il Warsaw often afford spectacle II,
e to be witnessed on any other line i
i Europe Here are 10 be seen tn
e til,hiest passengers in all RusSie, an
IS withal the motliest assemblage {
e human beings ever gathered togeth'
IL in railway carriage, for To the II
q tive peasant element is added that {
: the lowest class Of German speakin
IS Russian or Polish Jews With Il
% aid of smoke, whisky, and music, Il
4. two sections turn the carriage into
e drinking hall. on the door Of whicl
t. when the ors:c is at last over, me-
IA women, and children. often babe
u lie almost indiScriminateiy. overru
!, with yermin. and well-nigh suifoca
n ed by a stencil the natursl outcon
H. of smoke, overcrowding, aud filth.
y Scenes like those are wholly esca
lie ed by the student Of railway accol
p mediation between. say. ST. Peter
$ burg and Moscow. If the motion
he slow. the road is as straight rs an a
n row, and the refreshment arranc
Q. ments good. You may orderdi nm,
|" at one station and have it put throug
l. your carriage window in fnIsh'
u restaurant style at the next. The,
he is no hurry. for the collection
" "parapheInalia" may take place.at ;
If most any point along the route,
e you may avail yourelf of a long
Il. pause than usual to dine on the pla
he form. The line has way stations, &
he of them alike in form and style, ar
in all thanked by well-kept and real
Ia | n;c,uraS,ua Gardens laid ont rs r