The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-01-02
Russias Capital.

As we entered the harbor Of st. Peters
burg, the countless masts and gildeC
domes of its many Greek churches CAV,
1t an imposing appearance. A dozeI
coachmen for each passenger were at tn,
wharf, dressed in black gowns ike I
woman's. Their drojkies are like small
basket phaetons, and the collars IN theil
black horses rise two feet or more above
their necks. Though these men vii
take you driving for an hour for thirty
seven cents, they 60 SO Jehu-like oveI
the cobble-stones with which the street!
are paved, that you consider ride deal
at any price. A miserable system oil
bargaining prevails as in Turkey. II 6
/ driver offers to take man for forty CO
pecks (twenty cents) he gives him
twenty, and a similar custom exists in
most of the shops.
The Hotel d'Angleterre proved good
and reasonable one, though living is high
in Russia. The first dinner consisted OF
soup of cabbage and boiled meat, with
cheese patties, sturgeon with sauce oil
red peppers and lemon, roast beef, chick
en- with salid or small cucumbers served
whole, Strawberries, and coffee with
| cigarettes, which the ladies smoked with
apparently as much enjoyment as the
men.
st. Petersburg fascinates while it pains
one. The houses are mostly of stucco,
painted yellow; even the magnificent
Winter Palace, the home of the C2ar,
four stories high and four hundred and
fifty-fye feet long, is of the same mate
nj anA nalar NJ aThor he
such wonderful crown jewels as the
great Orlotf diamond, weighing one hun
dred and eighty-fiye carats and worth
over a million dollars, the imperial
crown of diamonds, rubies and sapphires
worth half million, and the diamond
crown of the Empress. Yet while the
wealth is amazing, the poverty and ig
norance are appalling. 1t is estimated
that not one in ten of the poor can read.
Their dress is usually a red shirt worn
outside the pantaloons, and sandals made
of basket splints, tied to the feet with
ropes which are crisscrossed to the knees.
Their food is largely coarse black bread,
which they often share with their horses.
Their wagons are rude vehicles, much
like canoe on wheels, with the traces
fastened to the outside of the hubs.
Drunkenness is very common, especially
on the Sabbath, which after the morn
ing service, is gala day.
| went one Sunday to the Nevski
Monastery, an immense white building
with many green domes, and was sur
prised to find close by a horse market
in full operation; some animals sold at
auction, while others were being tested
as to speed. For many rods before we
reached the church the road was lined |
with beggars; men with both legs cut of
and their knees tied to boards; Others |
with hands gone, their clothes dropping |
off in rags, or loathsome with disease. |
The faithful all give trihe to these, as
thereby their entrance into heaven is re-
garded more certain. The building was |
crowded, all standing or kneeling on the
stone floor during service of several
hours.
Much of the interest Of st. Petersburg
centres about Peter the Great, who |
founded it that.he might have window |
looking into Europe" For years he
drafted forty thousand men annually to |
do the work, while he lived in little
cottage to oversee it. In this small |
house, still standing, l saw the boat,
about twenty feet long, made by his own
hands, and sacredly preserved. The
bedroom and diAing-room are used for
a chapel, in which is the miraculous
image of the Savior, which helped Peter
win his battles. The faithful constant
" bow before it with their candles, fire
being the emblem of eternal life.
There are few railroads in the country.
That to Moscow was built largely by Mr..
of Baltimore. When Nicholas
was consulted as to how it should be
built, the Autocrat took a rule and made
a straight line between the two cities.
The road does not pass within several
miles of any town, and the branch lines
to it have cost twice az much as the
main line Such is the brain of despot-
ism! American capital is now building
a line to the Siberian mines.-Sarah X.
Bolton, in CongregationaliSt.