Morning journal and courier., 1886-03-06
MECHANICS, LECTURE COURSE.

 Am Admirable Lecture Last Evening
 By HOn.COlin M. .IngersOIl.-ssLeaves
 From she Diary of Q Young Man in
 Moscow I'm 1S40.o
 The fourth in the present course of lectures to mechanics was delivered last evening at North Sheffield Hall by Hon. Colin M. Inger soil before large audience in which were many prominent society ladies and gentle men of this city. It was entitled Leaves from the Diary of Young Man in Moscow in 1849." Though the subject was the same as that of the papers read by Gen. Ingersol before the Historical society the matter was mostly different, covering other features of interest The speaker said: "After spending dSy with Stroove, the astronomer, at Pulko- va viewing from the world renowned telescope there, the speaker was seated in an elegant English coach, connected with the Imper- ial port department. bound for Moscow, about five hundred miles away, which dis tance was completed in forty-eight hours running time. The road was almost dead level, straight as an arrow, macadamized, and 20, 900 soldiers were on duty constantly to keep it in repair. The country passed through was uDinteresting. There were some fine cities en route, the villages were of great sameness, the houses built of logs and lining the high roads, A cross road was rarely seen. It was as if these arrow-like roads were built by imperial ukase. All along the road were peas ant women with the distaff, from which all the Russian sheeting comes. We passed bands of gypsies and prisoners on the way to Siberia and serfs in their sheepskins lying beside the road ,-the ground their only sum- mer resting place.
 We arrived in Moscow on time. The gen eral appearance of the city is Asiatic, while St. Petersburg is European. There were all sorts of grotesque looking buildings and hundreds of cross -surmounted domes in gilt and azure with gilt stars. A visit was paid to the famous cathedral of St. Basil, curi- ous collection of towers and domes, built by ssIyan the Terrible" who was so pleased with it that he ordered the architects eyes to be put out lest he might build hand somer one. A description was given of the ''beautiful place. outside the frontier walls, the "Gate of Our Saviour" by which one en- ters the kremlin. Arrived inside the first objects visited were the "big ball'' weighing some five hundred thousand pounds then the mammoth gun, the arsenal, the treasury and the palaces. Drove later to the famous monastery of Swonionoffsky, where was heard the remarkable music of the monks there; and from the mol- astery was had splendid view of Moscow which the speaker described. Went in the evening to a magnificent entertainment by a Circassian prince, in his palace, where everything was Oriental. On Sunday visited the Siberian prisons and saw the exiles depart. Tradition has it that Washington started 8 library in Moscow which now gives book to each exile. Drove to Sparrow Hills' from which Napoleon caught his first sight of the Tartar city, magnificent panorama of Moscow before him.
 Visited the bargaining shops''-some 10,- GOO of them grouped together-eyerything sold in them from 8 toy to pound of tea costing $15, or fur lining for ladys cloak for which over $3, 900 was asked. Purchased here the Sewing bird" a Russian invention out of which many fortunes in Connecticut were made.
 Visited a tea house restaurant where were gathered the Muscovite merchants-their way of drinking tea. Dined with the mer- chants of Moscow-a curious menu. A Rus sian wedding with it's curious customs was also described. MT. Ingersoll closed his hour with description of review of the Russian army stationed in Moscow by the governor 1eneral