Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-12-11
LANDOF THE CAR.
AN AMERICANS OBSERVATIONS
IN RUSSIA.
A Country Whose Frontier is Guard
ed at Every Point by Sentinels-
Cronstadt's Browning Guns
Scenes in st. Petersburg.

In the Brooklyn Edgte. She may not IN
aptly be compared to great beehive,
with walls so thick that to outsiders a
sound is seldom heard, while within is
an intensely active population, whose oc-
cupation is not merely to gather pollen
from Cossack roses on their own vast
plains, but whose pinions are capable
of flying from the Black Sea on the
south to the Arctic Ocean on the north,
and from the German Empire in the
West of Europe to Behring Straits of
Eastern Asia. Neither is the imperial
stomach gorged by swallowing small
! provinces on her own borders, but she
gulps down, apparently without discom-
fort, whole nations, like Poland, Turke-
stan, and Finland, and now, judging
from appearances, she is about to establish
herself on the Persian Gulf. A Gordon
OF sentinels guard her frontier at
every point, and censors control the
press, inspect kilograms, and overhaul
the mails. The gauge of railroad tracks
is broken at the frontier towns, so that
no car nor its commodities can enter or
leave the territory without scrutiny.
Even her language is bar to inter-
course. The Russian alphabet contains
thirty-six characters, partly Roman and
partly compost. Seeing my own name
written in Russian could not read it.
The multiplied vowels and peculiar con-
sonant sounds efectually Ir-vent for.
eigner f. ON understanding word when
pronounced. and it is impossible for O
foreigner to inquire for person, town,
street or number-a bad place to be lost
In. The Russian dictionary contains
over 10000 words. Poetry in such q
diluted language would seem to lack that
epigrammatic tersencss which is essential
to convey force and emphasis. To de-
scribe such people under such condi-
tions and at single sitting is impossi-
bic. 1t would require local residence
for years and the entire space of twenty
newspapers to convey anything like an
adequate idea of the Russian Empire
the country and its people, to say moth
ing Of its history.
l entered Russia from the north. It
would have made no difference had it
been from the east, the south or the
west Russia is fortified on all sides.
not alone by fortresses and big guns, but
by secret espionage which, without
being able to locate or describe, is felt,
and one insensibly proceeds with eau.
ton. One is not permitted to leave a
car or boat or to enter hotel, or again
to leave city, without showing a pass
port and having it duly Endorsed.
Cronstadt is the seward sentinel Of
st. Petersburg. Seven islands in the
middle of a wide, shallow bay, the
islands covered by immense forts, and
the channel to be traversed by vessels
winding between them, create an i'm.
preston that this is not one Of Russia's
weak points. Indeed, one look into the
Threats of those frowning guns conveys
an idea of impregnabiity. The next
impression of strength made upon nv
mind was by the extent of Russia's wheat
fields. 1t has so happened that l fol-
lowed the harvesting of cereals through
Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and parts
of Russia. From the English Channel
to the Iral Mountains, and, l under
stand, far beyond them, it seemed to be
a nearly unbroken field of yellow grain.
America has no longer corner on wheat.
The average crop Of the United States
is about twelve bushels per acre. II
Russia, by reason Of poor farming,
averages eight bushels per acre, she con,
1 think, owing to the cheapness of her
land and labor, undersell us. Appar-
emily, she has enough wheat harvested
this year to feed thu entire world.
st. Petersburg may well be styled the
Magnificent City Of the Neva It's streets
are broad, buildings massive, parks nu-
merous, museums interesting, and its
monuments grand. have endeavored
to refrain from giving space for reference
to pictures, statuary, churches, archi-
lecture and art, which most travellers
describe with minuteness. But part Of
the charm and bloom of Eastern coun-
tries would be wanting were the aesthetic
wholly eliminated from what say.
! In front of the Hermitage Museum at
st. Petersburg are ten monolith Siberian
marble statues supporting the portico,
each one of which is fifteen feet high,
fully developing in the most ideal man.
ner Hcrculean strength. In this great
depository of national wealth, among
othr things, is a solid jasper vase ten
feet broad, sixteen feet long, and about
nine feet high. St. Isaacs Cathedral has
b 60 -. al