The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-06-28
The Cost Of Living in Russia.

A man had better not fall i'll while in |
Russia, for all the doctors outside the
large cities are believers in phlebotomy
and violent purgatiyes. They prescribe
tea, but drug it without telling you,
and the effects are felt few days after
ward. The prices of goods in Russian
stores are assessed according to the
apparent wealth of the customer. A
stranger must first choose the article he
wants, then offer what he thinks reason
able, and turn ON his heel If the offer
he declined. Should the tradesman
hurry after him into the street he may
be sure that he has offered too much.
Should he be allowed to 60 his bid has
really been too low, and of course this
is liable to happen with persons accus-
/ toned to Western prices, for the cost OF
everything in Russia is exorbitant. A
suit of fairly good clothes costs seventy
| dollars, a pair of knee boots thirty dol
lars, an average cigar twenty-five cents.
The only cheap things are tea, vedki,
and articles made of leather, but even
these cannot be had at reasonable
| price unless bought through a native.
In the large hotels, where Partisan
furniture and beds are to be had, the
days board for a bachelor, without a
servant. cannot be put down at less than
ten dollars. The price of single room
ranges from three dollars to five dollars;
| table dhote dinner costs two dollars
and fifty cents without wine; q bottle Of
pale ale seventy-five cents; one of cham
| 1oll
ments, such as theaters and concerts,
cost about three times as much as in
Paris. The theaters and restaurants
are luxurious, and SO are the frst-claSs
railway carriages on the line from
/ Odessa to Moscow and St Petersburg.
If a stranger confined his travels to a
journey on this line he would go away
with fine idea of Russian comfort, for
! all the latest American improvements
in the way Of sleeping and dining cars,
dressing rooms and attendance are
available
There IS one good side of travelling in
Russia, and it is this: If stranger be
not fairing for commercial purposes, he
: will be made welcome guest at the
0 houses OF the authorities in any town
/; where he may wish to spend more than
a day. The Civil Governor will dispatch
a Secretary to his hotel and be glad te
have him to dinner for the sole sake Of
: hearing what news he has to bring. This
is pleasant enough, and the hospitality
is the more gracious as the passing
. stranger cannot make any return for il
beyond thanks. On the other hand, {
: stranger who settles for any term ex
eeeding week in country town vii
have to be careful of the company int
which he falls, for Russian friendship
soon turns to familiarity, and one of tn,
first manifestations of familiarity is t.
ask the stranger to take a hand a
ecarte. Then it becomes a question o
refusing and being deemed boor, o.
accepting and being promptly cleaned
out. The Russians are fearful gamblers
and stranger with circular notes in hi
l. pocket is a godsend to them. They d.
not cheat, but play and play until thu
result is utter impecuniousness to ont
of the two parties to the oame TIL!
women are as bad as the men, and thinl
: nothing of winning few thousand dol
0 lars from stranger whom they haV'
d not known for more than week.
: Odessa Cor Brooklyn Eagle.