Omaha daily bee., 1885-03-06
Railrondinp I'm Russin,


lees than 500 miles of railway. Now IL
has more than l3, 900. If 1t had had 49,
600 miles of railway then, the Crlmean
war would either have been terminated
by the defeat Of the ALLIES, or it would
have continued as many yeas as it did
months before Russia could have been
compelled to surrender. For 1t was then
compelled to convey its troops and every
thing necessary fer their support, as well
as most OF the munitions of war, immense
distances by the slowest and rudest
means of transportation. OF that less
than 500 miles of railway more than 400
constituted the line connecting St. Pc
tersburg, the modern, with Moscow, the
ancient and genuine, Russian capital. At
the present time there are throughconnec.
tions by first class carriages all the way
from st. Petersburg to Berlin and from
Moscow to central Europe, indeed, one
could go thus to Sebastopol, Odessa and
to tie southern extremity of the empire
The carriages on these lines are 40
good as In any part Of Europe, though
the speed is not very great. On of
the roads 10 to 19 miles an hour is the
average, and 80 miles the highest attain
hADhO Vi OAHhChh lulCSs Lho OblllpbllltS
can generally be relied upon to comply
with the schedule. Stations along the
line are numerous and the stopsfrequent,
and a splendid supply of good food and
tea, unsurpassed in the world, can be OBJ
tanned at the Bullets on the principal
linee. A traveller, In defending the slow
ness Of speed, says: "The English and
Americans must remember that Russlans
are rarely in a hurry, and like to have
frequent opportunities of eating and
drinking. In Russia time is not money;
if 1T were, nearly all the subjects of the
car would have q large stock of ready
money oil hand, and would often have
great difficulty in spending it,"
The railway from st. Petersburg to
Moscow is probably the straighest line in
the world it has been built as the crow
flies, pays no attention to towns, and sets
out the passengers who are going to par
tlcular places at railway stations sur.
rounded by finds. on inquiry the un-
fortunate wight fields that the station
may be several. miles from the town,
which he, must reach on foot, in wagons
or stages, according to the accommodations.
The explanation of this popularity is of
considerable historic interest. and reflects
much light on the arbitrary methods pre-
vatling in Russia. The only reason why
this railroad ignores every little town
between st. Petersburg and Moscow, ex-
cept n small place called Tver, which
happened to be lear the straight line, is
that ''the car ordered it," Hero Is the
history:
When the preliminary survey was be-
Ing made, Nicholas, learning that the
officers intrusted with the task-and the
minister of ways and roads In
the number - were being ipfu-
enced by personal rather than
by technical considerations, determined
to cut the Gordian knot In a true imper-
isl style. When the minister laid before
him the map, with the intention of ex-
planning to him the intended route, no
took a ruler and drew a straight lineirom
one terminus to the other, and remarked
in a tore that precluded all discussion,
"You will construct the line co." This
used to be ridiculed, and cited to show
the evils Of a despotic form Of govern
ment, but public opinion has undergone
a change. 1t Is considered that great ad-
vantages occur to Russia, as a whole,
through the shortneHs of this line, and
that though the towns have suffered a
great deal, the construction of branch
| mes to such as need them will, in the
end, remedy the difficulty, while the
great benefits of being able to carry bv
far the greater part of the goods and
passengers that 60 tho whole length of
the line In a shorter time will remain.
| was Informed that some of the con-
tractors on this road, not taking the
pains to thoroughly Investigate the con.
ditions of the soil over which Nicholas's
stright line had to be built, were ruined, |
and others, if not ruined, were seriously |
embarrassed by the vast expenditure re-
quired In msrshy places. 1t would be of
interest to many to learn the radical
difference between. the legislation con-
corning railroads 10 Russia and ia Eng
land and the United States. The differ
ence is stated by an authority as follows
Ct condense his langusge); In other
countries individuals aud.chartered COM
panies act according to their interests.
The state will not interfere unless it can
be proved that very serious consequences
will follow. In Russia the exact oppo-
site is the case. Companies and indl-
vlduals are allowed TO do nothing at sll
until they give satisfactory guarantees
against all possible evils. When any en-
terprise is proposed in Russia, the mill
tary authorities are always consulted, and
the first question Is, How will this new
railroad effect the interest Of the state?
From this it follows that the railroad map
of Russia is to be interpreted fully as
much by military tactics as by oommer-
cial or social interests.
Much vigilance is requisite to get
comfortable accommodations on o Rus
sian railway. In the first place there is
no such thing as purchasing ones ticket
a long while in advance, and getting on
the train as soon as the ticket is bought.
The door is not opened until a certain
time. Thoss who are prepared rueh
through as rapidly as they can, take pcs.
session of all the seats in their vicinity.
and cover them mp with bags, ~valises,
umbrellas, bundles and everything that
they can possibly have, go that those who
come two or three minutes later, looking
In the car will think there is no room.
If, however. the guard Is called he will
soon find seats for a much larger number
than a first glance would suppose 1t pos
sible to accommodate. Travelling as we
did, with couriers who spoke Russian,
English and German, and In come In
stances French, we found that there were
ways of evading the Atrlct regulations, Of
which most travellers who are acquainted