, 1888-11-20
THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL.
A SAD CITT WITH A STRANGE
LACK OF LIFE.

Unhealthy Position-Coarseness of the
Lower Classes-The Droska and Its Rev.
erent Driver-At Church.
The first impression of the traveller on
approaching St. Petersburg is of wonder
at it's size and it's position. On every side
stretches of what is apparently q low, fiat
marsh, covered with innumerable build.
ings; the strangest place for a city ever
chosen by the obstinate VIII of man, seek
ing to dispense with all natural advan
tages. Peter the Great chose it, it is said,
as being "a window looking out upon
Europe but surely q site might have
been found with an equal outlook and q less
desolate and fatal position. Unlike Stock.
holm, which is likewise surrounded by
water, but which sits on her rocky thrones
like a queen above the dangerous element,
st. Petersburg lies helplessly at it's
mercy. In autumn, when the Neva is
rough and stormy, and in spring, when
the ice is breaking up, the danger is
greatest. The waves rise to the level of
the streets, the numerous canals overflow;
guns from the fortress are constantly
fired to warn the people of their peril,
while the inhabitants seek the upper
stories of their houses and the police pre-
pare boats for rescue. Another conse.
quence Of this marshy situation is it's un.
healthiness, The sewage is not properly
carried off, the water is undrinkable, and
dysentery and similar diseases prevail
whenever the friendly frost is not present
to turn everything to ice. Peter the
Great did not build his capital in ignor.
ance of what he was doing. He laid it's
foundation upon human lives. For many
years 10000 men were annually drafted
from all portions of his empire to work in
this poisonous marsh. Every cart and
vessel entering the port was obliged to
bring a certain number of stones to pave
its streets. and hundreds of thousands of
wooden piles were buried in it's depths.
Soil was also brought in in great quaint
ties to raise the level of the place, and
massive granite quays built along the
rapid river; but nothing has awaited to
prevent disastrous inundations, seven or
eight of which are particularly mentioned
since the foundations were laid in 1908
at one time the river rose thirteen feet.
But it is not only the want of elevation
and Of p~icturesqueness that is depressing
to the visitor; it is no less the wide desc
lation of the vast open spaces of the city.
From the busy moving multitudes and
crowded quays of Stockholm we have
come TO quiet and deserted squares, end
less rows of immense buildings. mo
n%otonous grandeur and regularity. 1t is
evident that there are not enough people
10 I'll its streets, AID it is a positive re.
lief to enter the few tho"oughfares where
business and life is Ceutered, such as tie
NcvsSy Prospect. OF course, in winter,
when the court is here and the richest
citizens come in FROM their summer homes
IL Finland aud the Islands. when the
s.! .is,hing is lively and all the gayeties of
- season il vogue, st. Petersburg would
slow to much greater advantage.
We had been told that th contrasts Of
iCTu1y and poverty on the streets world
bc most painful. and we expected to meet
bcggary OF every hand. but such has not
proved to be the case. There are alwa-s
bcggars at the church doors, but seldom
elsewhere, and poverty is by no means so
obvious and distressing as in many cities
1t is not the poverty, but the c~oarseness,
almost brutality, in the lower classes that
impresses you most wildly. The men
that you meet in their sordid rags or
their undressed s~heepskins seem not to
need nor desire any better raiment. 1t i.
suitable to them. Wild of face, with
long, tangled hair, and inexpressiblv
dirty, often half drunk, but never scring-
ing, you shrink from rather than pity
them. The pictures drawn by Tolstoi are
seen to be fearfully realistic. The women
are less f~orbidding. but with little intelli-
SNAASS vi SCON Ii EAOludllH L udNS
never seen q smile nor heard q laugh in
the streets since we nave been
here. Nobody understands or wishes
to understand YOU; the. poor are
sullen, the well-to-do careless or in
solent. And then there is so much that
is strange and utterly foreign, For some,
to us, unexplained reason the days of the
month are changed. You thought it was
the Goth of August-you find it is the
9Th Tho Rr,cei1n olDhoh hot ;g ,rop, 1;F
ferent from ours, ard the names of the
streets and the signs over the shops
might as well be written in Runic. As
very few of the natives, however, are
better off than yourself in this respect,
the shopkeepers do not trust to the al.
phabet for setting forth their wares.
a complained of the want Of life in
the streets. l must make an exception
in favor of the droskas. These little car
riages fly about in every direction, for
everybody rides. You look down one of
the long quays perhaps and see no walk
crs, no l%oungers, but you are sure to see
droskas. They are small, low vehicles.
each holding two passengers, with a
driver on a high seat in front clad in a
long blue blouse, with a leather girdle
and a peculiar cap on his head. The
horses, with their huge arched col.
lars, are active and gentle and
apparently well treated, and II you
know enough Russian to make a bar.
gain, you will find this method of tran.
sit Il cheap and convenient one. 1t is Ger.
tainly convenient; you nave only to
raise your hand and droskas sweep down
upon you like vultures on their prey,
sometimes jostling each other il their en-
dcavor to reach you the first; but as none
of the drivers know a word of anything
but Russian, you may not find it very
easy to make them comprehend where
you want to so. This difficulty overcome,
however, you will soon be spinning at a
rapid rate over the badly paved streets.
You will probably soon notice the driver
snatch off his cap, wave it in the air, and,
replacing it, make a hasty sign of the
cross by touching the forehead, breast and
each shoulder in succession. This is when
g church is passed, and such recognition
OF tho sGcred ediGces ard shrines is con-