Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-09-01
Staging i'm Russia,

iidpS the most extensive ana perfectly or.
gnnizcd horse express service in the
world. From the southern end Of the
peninsula of Kamtchalka to The most re-
mote village in Finland, from the frozen
wind swept shores OF the Arctic ocean TO
the hot, sandy deserts Of central Asia,
the whole empire is Il vast network of
post routes. 1ou may pack your port
maEteau in Mimi Novgorod, yet "A pad.
orozhnaya from the postal department,
and start Tor Pctropavlovsk, kamtchatka.
seven thousand miles away. with the full
assurance that throughout the whole Of
that enormous distance there viii he
horses, reindeer or dogs ready and wait
ing TO carry you N. night and day, 10
yoHr destination. Il Must. however. be
borne in mind that the Russian post route
Is a very different thing from the old
English post route, AND that the Russian
horse eNpressd widely not only from
o. own western pony express hut
from the horse expresses Of most other
countries. The characteristic feature of
the west European and American systems
is the stage coach or diligence. which
leaves certain places At certain stated
hours, or. in other words, runs upon Il
l'lNtlI til&Ah tllhA CNIfNANltG IL Is ~ AltN'
" this feature which the Russian system
does not have. There are, generally
speaking. no stage coach lines in Russia:
the vehicles which carry the mails DO not
carry passengers, and, away from the
the railroads, there is no such thing as
travelling upon "a fixed time schedule.
You are never obliged. therefore, to wait
for a public conveyance that leaves at a
fart - D o., t,.l lnttr md 4IA,, ,rA lr.,,rL
10 your destination in that conveyance.
stopping when ii stops aud
starting when it starts, without
regard 10 your own health, comfort, or
convenience. On the contrary, o may
ride in your w sleigh or carriage, and
have it drawn by post horses. lou may
travel at the rate Of - miles in twcnt,
four hours. or twenty four miles in 10
hours, Just as YOU feel inclined. You
may stop when YOU ike, whore lou like
and for rs long a time as you like, and
when you are ready to- movcon, YOU have
ON Y TO order out your horses and gct into
your vehicle. II makes no difference in
what part Of the empire You may happen
TO be, O % what part you may wish TO
20. Send your padorozhnaya 10 the
nearest post staten, and in twenty min
u,es YOU Will be riding away at the rate
Of ten miles an hour, with your postal
order in your pocket and a hundred re-
lays OF fresh horses distributed at inter
walls along the route.
The established rate of payment for
transportation over the post routes of
western Siberia seems to an American alb
surdly low. 1t amounts. including the
compensation Of the driver, to II cents
per mile for every horse, or 3E cents per
mile for the usual "troika." or team of
three. In other words, two persons can
travel in their own carriage with a team
of three horses a distance of twenty miles
for GS cents, or "a cents each. | used TO
feel almost ashamed sometimes To- wake
mp Il driver at a post station, IN the mid.
die OF a stormy night, compel him to har-
ness three horses and drive us twenty
miles over "A dark miry, and perhaps dan
gcrous road, and then offer him for this
service the pitiful sum OF GS
cents. Triiling and inadequate,
however. rs such compensation may
seem, 1t is large enough To tempt
INTO the field of enterprise hundreds of
peasant farmers who compete with the
government post by furnishing what are
known AS "VOIni' or free horses, for
the transportation of travellers from one
village 10 another. As these free horses
are generally better fed and in better con
dition than the over driven animals at the
post stations, it is often advantageous to
employ them; and your driver, as you APP
proach a village. will almost always turn
around and inquire whether he shall take
You TO the government post station or to
the house of a friend. Travelling with
'drushki, or friends" costs no more
than travelling by post, and it enables one
to see much more of the domestic life of
the Siberian peasants than one could see
by stopping and changing horses only at
regular post stations, Century.