Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-12-19
11EE " ST. PErEHsBUEG.
Russian Comm Onplaces which Surprise
the strangers Houses with
Thousand Rooms.


the strancers-TodstnC Houses with a
Thousand Rooms.
Frou ne AUqHHe Monthly.
The really mysterious elementof life in
St. PETERSBURG is one that transcends
Western experiences. Below the out
ward forms Of things you enter an atmos-
phere in which thought seems limited by
new laws. out Of novel habits, strange
customs, hereditary leeacies 81 the intel
lect IN which YOU have had ne share, the
fancy makes g stair for fs ascent INTO an
other planet. Yue differences you ell
counter evervw here are uu.hcaes-e7 NOT
between ArFau and Arvau. 1ut between
Europe and ASIA on the one nand, be-
tween a new and old civilization 90 the
other Readily would the native oeil you
in YOUR bewildermerts. where II WITHIN
mis- power, but the abnormal 20 EoG is Toe
normal 10 him. You call upon him TO
look. and he sees nothing. Your specters
sre his thin air,tne novelties You italcise
his daily commonplace. 80 that IN time
your surprise becomes less demOnstra-
tive. if not less acute. I'm time your diary
is content to hold the mirror up 10 nature.
Tine municipal council for example,
'has just fixed the price Of bread for the
next twelve months THE fot0S pun
ished for improper tendencies by an or
]
right 10 publish advertisements.' The
authorities about 10 raise money by i'm
posing tax on all foreigners resident IN
st. Petersburg" Newspapers contain
appeals on behalf Of poor families IN the
capital" "a well-known police official
purchases the wife OF a subordinate for
10000 rOubles.p Newspaper proprietor
exiled 10 a northern province for having
published a cartoon representing, in
of min
dog attacked by wasp, ana hndIlE
forced to retire into kennel; the whole
without head line, but believed IN ornclal
circles to be an alluslOn to the Isars en-
forced retirement TO Gatchlna." House
holders warned that the morrow is the
sname day Of the Empress, and that they
must celebrate on the occasiOn-that is TO
say, hang out banners and burn lamps
or pay heavy penalty" And thus it
runs on, this record Of events, mere sto-
~ Of familiar experience 10 the native
Russian, but TO the foreigner tale OF do
ings in a world all other than his own.
1t may be well here to remind the read
ers that the habit of living in lodgings is
general in St. Petersburg. SO far as Rus
sian life is a bIVouac, the term "lodg-
lngsn Is aptly used; etym0lOglcaly, II
corresponds with the English house." or
'home," and is therefore without the
sense usually associated with it in the
west. In the capital man who lives IN
his own house occupies little more than
corner Of 1t, or sleeps in palace. Some
Of the richest families are content with
lodgings, and but few Of them need all the
apartments which constitute a st. Pc
tersburg fat. This is in itself suggestive
of the scale upon which houses are built
in the great Russian cities. But it is all
too inadequate as preparation for the
statement that st. Petersburg lodging
house frequently contains as many as a
thousand rooms, with a population Of
from two TO three thousand persons. The
finest apartments are on the ground floor;
the poorest are reached by ascent Of from
ten to twelve stories. A suit Of SIX rooms
sutices for the wealthest dodgers who
have no palace of their own. Two or
three supply all the needs of the Well-to-
do tradesman and his family: the ma iOri-
" Of professional men who are bachel-
ors, nearly all teachers and students, and
a large class Of officials fad themselves
amply Accommodated by single apart
ment. The cost OF lodgings depends, of
course, upon such elements as situation.
number and furnishing OF rooms, height
Of fiat and service. AS a rule, it may be
said that, taking into consideration the
general purchasing power Of the money
expended-a precautiOn consistently neg
lected in International comparisons OF
Jllb klDQ-lOuse rent Is somewhat nignef
in ST. Petersburg than it is in Paris or
London. ! offer these details simply in
order that the reader may be the better
prepared for a singular custom to which l
here invite his attention. Rent charges
IN Russia are invariably eXRcted sin ad-
vance" even when a lOdger surrounds
himself with luggage valuable enough to
yield the amount OF a whole years ar
rears. Upon personal property Of this
kind there can be legally no lieu. The
same Russian law which hampers for
eigner and native alike with the police
surveillance of passport regulations,
Selling every opportunity to threw OBJ
stacles in the way Of free movement,
gives TO ledger the fullest right to
carry OF his luggage in the teeth Of an
irate landlord clamoring for the settle
ment OF his unpaid bill. Any forcible de-
tentiOn Of property in such cases is treat
ed BY the courts as quasi criminal Of
tense. How easy Is it, under these cir
cumstances, 70 attach to a whole class an
undeserved stigma Of sordid caution, or Of
suspicious distrust Of their fellow beings,
will be at once seen. The law itself is an
interesting survival; its origin, as a de-
Tense Of personal rights in the country
where the modern ukas so frequently ig-
nOres them, must lie as deeply in his
torical causes as the democratic period
ITSELF