Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-10-26
aUsslAN PeAsANTs AL home.

RUSSIAN PEASANTS At HOME.
A. Entertaining latter frsa tAs Ne. =
David Hsf.
NEW YoRK, Oct. el--"These are the
men who carry tho whole Russian en-.
pire on their shoulders.n y said Q noesd
Nihilist leader to me one ilne summer
evening In the Russian village of Ostaah.
kovo. - We. stood watching passing
group Of mujiks (peasants), "and the mo-
ment they find that out end feel their
backs beginning to ache with it. weight
down comes the whole concerni"
These prophetic words came hack to
Try memory with ominous force Q year
laper, a. sat In front Of my tiny log hut
in the hamlet Of Bogorodskoe (on one Of
the tributaries Of the Upper volga) 10
watch the red sun sink behind the shad.
owy pines, while the peasants Of the
little village, men, women and children.
came filing past me, some hot and dusty
from their labor In the fields, others
looking pale and tired after sitting q
work all day In their close and unwholo-
some huts.
There they 60, the sallow, bearded,
low browed, heavy looking toilers, with
hard wooden faces and shaggy hair, who
"carry all Russia on their backs" Some
of the younger and more well to do s,en
wear red calico shirts outside their other
clothes; butsthe majority keep to the
traditional shcepskin frock (swarming
with indigenous creepers'D which serves
Ivan Pctrovitch all the year round, the
wool being worn outside in summer and
inside In winter.
The short skirtcd women-many Of
whom, though barefooted, wear snowy
earrings--have their sunburned faces
turbaned with scarlet handkerchiefs, for
tae Russian is as fond of bright colors as
the negro, and his word for every beau
tiful" means literally "bright red" Tho
unmarried women are distinguished
from the rest by tho peculiar plating Of
their back hair, and among them I no
tice one young girl with light wooden
yoke balanced across her left shoulder,
and pail Of water attached to either end
of iD whose bright face and ringing laugh
might well amaze any one who Qike my
self was aware that she had been tried
only few months before for the murder
Of her illegitimate child, and that, al
though saved by an ingenious legal
quibble, she was believed guilty by
every one who knew anything about the
matter.
Many of the faces show considerable
marks of beauty despite their worn ap-
pearance, but all alike, whether men or
women, are spoiled by the characteristic
defect of all Slavonian races, viz, the
heavy mouth and broad bulldog java
drawback which marred lin my eyes at
least one of the handsomest women in
Russia, maid of honor belonging to the
household of the cars sister, the present
Duchess of Edinburgh.
The houses of the "mujiks' are as
queer as themselves. Many of the tiny
huts are built wholly with the hatchet,
without nail or iron fastening of any
kind. the ends of tho logs being iointed
into each other, like the corners of q
schoolboy's slate. The crevices are filled
with mortar made of clay, moss and
dead leaves, and the roof is either shin
gled or matched with reeds and dried
grass. The ordinary izba (cottage) has
two rooms and a loft, but not few Of
them (as was the case with the hut which
/ myself occupieD have only one. The
furniture usually consists Of an enor-
nous bed covered with quilt Of colored
patchwork, which looks like colossal
map Of the United States-a huge tiled
stove, with a 'lejanka" (bed place) on
the top Of it-a rough deal table, stool
or two, portrait of the householder's pa
tron saint in one corner, with a tiny lamp
burning in front of it, and a pious roach
making q laborious pilgrimage around its
gilt frame; and last, but not least, q big tea
urn Of brass or copper, known as q
"samovar" (self boiler). This last item,
indeed, is the most important of all, the
Russian peasant being so fond Of tea that
he even calls a present of money "nat-
chat" (something for tea), and he might
fairly assume a tea urn as his heraldio
crest, with the motto, ''In tea speravi."
/ am just beginning my supper when
my attention is drawn to hustle Of ex-
citement among a group of peasants, who
are having kind of impromptu tea
drinking in front of the next hut, the
stir being evidently caused by tall
young fellow who has just Joined the
party, and seems to have brought some
very startling piece of news.
'Its as true as the holy book, bro
thers," cries the new conner. 81 heard
with my own ears our starosta (village
bailifD tell it to Feodor Nikeetin Just this
minute"
"What has happened, then?" asks the
host, SCARED Crimean veteran.
"These Nihilist dogs are at their tricks
again. One of them threw bomb yes
terday at Father Alexander Alexandra
witch (the czar) in the streets of st. Peters
burg. However, God saved him from
harm; but the man wasn't caught"
"Nor ever will be-" growled another;
"the police are cleverer at arresting the
wrong man than the right one, and you
may trust Nihilist to save his own
skin"
'Say what you will, though, brothers,
our father, the Gosudar (emperor), seems
to be afraid of Them"
"Afraid" echo half dozen voices.
"The emperor afraid"
swell, why does he shut himself up In
Gatchina and never stir out? And why
did he wait two whole years before
going to mother Moscow to he crowned
lest they should kill him? It's no use
talking, brothers-when one is afraid,
one isy'
"True," growled the old soldier; "but
to think of Russian ear fearing any
mortal man! What would Nikolai Paw
lovitch (Nicholas, son of Paul. have said
to that? He feared no danger; he made
danger fear him! lie reigned thirty
years, and no one dared touch him. We
ahall navor ha va s,,ch apnthar czarIp