New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1883-10-31
The Fair at Mimi Novogorod.

A writer in the Universe publishes an
account of the Russian fair held every
year at Mimi Novogorod, from which
is extracted this description:
Mimi Novogorod is the name of q
city in European Russia, built upon a
beautiful promontory where the Okla
River unites with the Volga, so that on
the north of this city flows the Volga
and on the east the Okla, and both riv-
ers are navigable for vessels; and SO
excellent is its situation for business that
Peter the Great at one time, so it is
said, intended to make this place the
Capital of Russia.
From the high elevation upon which
the city is built, you behold vast ex-
tent of fine farming country, mostly
level, very fertile, and as far as the eve
can reach the prospect is delightful.
But casting your eyes in an easterly di-
rection across the Okla, you see large
city built upon the fat between the Okla
and the Volga-a city with substantial
and durable buildings, many of them
elegant and costly, with hospitals, bar
racks, churches, mosques; stores 'front.'
ed with light arcades, supported by
thousands of iron columns, where Gus
toners can walk about out of doors in
rainy weather; here are regular and
handsome streets, yet all still as the
forests of Siberia. What can it mean?
Mimi Novogorod is city of about
twenty-five thousand inhabitants, where
all is life and activity; but what is this
city far to the east, across tic Okla, up
on the fat between the Okla and the
Volga-a city large as seven or eight of
Mimi?
"Oh," says the stout Cossack at your
side, ''that is our fair ground, where we
collect from all parts of the world, and
do up our trading for the year.
There, from July LIST to the last of
August, period Of eight weeks, all is
hustle and life and activity.
streets are frequented by Tartars and
Chinese. There are Persians with per-
fumery; there are droves of Tartar
ponies, which have been for months on
the way; bankers from England; dealers
in jewelry, wines and fancy goods from
every part of Europe. There are near
~ two miles Of streets devoted to the
| sale of Siberian iron in all its forms,
| such as would be found in any European
city.
These long, wide streets, with hand
some shops fronted with arcades, are
many of them devoted wholly to the
sale of tea leach article has sale of its
own). In the tea quarter of the city
you may see the broad shouldered Chi
nese selling their teas, brought from
China by land and river conveyance.
There is part of the city where
furs are sold of every kind, from the
seal-skin cap, worth few shillings, up
to the costly fur pelisse, worth five hun
dred pounds; furs from Siberia and
Lapland and from North America.
! Those streets, so quiet now, are, dur
ing the fair, crowded by business men
from almost every town and province
in Europe and Asia, buying manufac-
lures of every kind of wool, cotton and
silk; manufactures of wood, iron, steel,
copper, brass, silver and gold, and food
of all kinds of grain. A bridge
of boats connects Mimi with the fair,
on which countless number of vehicles
are passing and repassing to and fro,
like an endless stream of busy life.
Both rivers seem covered with boats,
vessels and barges, and more than thir-
ty thousand men from all parts of the
world are busy upon them in unloading
and loading at the quays on both sides
of the fair.