Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-05-24
The Great Siberian Road.

From George Remnants illustrated arti-
Gle IN the May Century, we quote the fol-
lowing: "These transport wagons, or
'obozes,' form characteristic feature of
almost every landscape on the great
Siberian road from the Ural Mountains
to Tiumen. They are small four-wheeled,
one-horse vehicles, rude and heavy in
construction, piled high with Siberian
products, and covered with coarse mat
ting securely held in place by large
wooden pins. Every horse is fastened
by long halter to the preceding wagon,
so that a train of fifty or a hundred
obozes forms one unbroken caravan from
quarter of mile to half mile IN length.
We passed 538 of these loaded wagons
in less than two hours, and ] counted
1445 in the course of our first days
journey. No further evidence was need
ed of the fact that Siberia is not land
of desolation. Commercial products at
the rate of 1900 tons a day do not come
from a barren arctic waste.
''As it gradually grew dark towards
midnight, these caravans began to stop
for rest and refreshment by the roadside,
and every mile or two we came upon a
picturesque bivouac on the eage of the
forest, where a dozen or more oboze
drivers were gathered around a cheerful
cam fire in the midst of their wagons,
while their liberated but hobbled horses
grazed and jumped awkwardly here and
there along the road or among the trees.
The gloomy evergreen forest, lighted I'D
from beneath by the Pickering blaze
and family tinged above by the glow of
the northern twilight, tho red and black
Rembrandt outlines of the wagons, and
the group of men in long kaftans and
scarlet or blue shirts gathered about the
campfire drinking tea, formed a strange,
striking, and peculiarly Russian picture.
'We travelled without stop throughout
the night, changing horses at every post
station, and making about eight miles
an hour over fairly good road. The
sun did not set until half-past and rose
again about half-past 2, SO that 1t was
not at any time very dark. The villages
through which we passed were sometimes
of great extent, but consisted almost in
variably of only two lines of log houses
standing with their gables to the road,
separated one from another by inclosed
yards without sign anywhere of vege-
tation of trees. One of these villages
formed double row five miles in length
of separate houses, all fronting or the
Tsar's highway. Around every village
there was an inclosed area of pasture
land, varying in extent from 200 to 500
acres, within which were kept the inhab-
itants cattle; and at the point whore
the inclOsing fence crossed the road, on
each side of the village, there were a
gate and gate keepers hut. These
village gate-keepers are almost always
old and broken-down men, and in Siberia
they are generally criminal exiles. 1t is
their duty to see that none of the village
cattle stray out of the Enclosure, and to
open the gates for passing vehicles at all
hours of the day and night. From the
the village commune they receive for
their services mere pittanee of three
or four rubles a month, and live In a
wretched hovel made of boughs and earth
which throughout the year is warmed,
and filled with smoke by an
o pen fire ON the ground"