Telegram-herald., 1889-10-30

DsFt8 Asx.
5sDscl@l Corg1sDo11zlcs
NEw Y0Ez, Oct. p -sThess are the
ulen who carry the ~aoie Russian sIl-
plrs o. thsir shoulders. said a noted
Slhilist leader u me one hHe summer
evening u TIE Russian village II Ostasil-
koEo, - We stood watching q passing
group of mullks (psasslntsl, and the mo-
msnt they fad that cut aDd teel theE
backs beginning u ache with Ia weight
down comes the - hole eoEceEnt'
These prophstic words came back %
nly memory with CminOgs force q year
I4IeE, az / sat ia front Of nay tiny log huE
Ia the hamlet Of Bogorodskoe (on one OF
the tributaries of the Upper Vega 70
watch the red sun siak behind the sAsd-
OWy pines. while the peasants ot the
little village, men. women aud children,
came fling past me. some hot ana dusty
from their labor in the fields. others
looking pale and tired after sitting az
work al day In their close and unwhOle-
some huts.
There they 20, the sallow, bearded.
low bF0wed, heavy looking toilers, with
hard wooden faces and shaggy hair, who
carry al Russia on their backs some
OF the younger and more well 10 do men
wear red calico shirts outside their other
clothes; but the majority keep 10 the
traditional sheepskin frock (swarming
with indigenous creepers') which serves
Ivan PetrOvitch all the year round, the
wool being worn outside IL summer and
inside IN winter.
The short skirted wOmen-many OF
whom. though barefooted. wear snowy
earrings-have their sunburned faces
turbaned with scarlet handkerchiefs, for
the Russian is rs fond of bright colors as
the negro, and his word for Every beau
.iful" means literally bright red" The
unmarried women are distinguished
from the rest by the peculiar plating of
their back hair and among them / no
ice one young girl with light wooden
yoke balanced across her left shoulder,
and pail Of water attached 10 either end
ofit) 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
bubble, 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 APP
pearance, but all alike, whether men or
,.-c,.,o,, er, -r,CflaI h,v tho cboroofar;,.;,.
defect OF all Slavonian races, viz, the
heavy mouth and broad bulldog java
drawback which marred Gn 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 a nail or iron fastening Of any
kind. the ends of the logs being jointed
into each other, like the corners of a
schoolboy's sla,e. The crevices are filed
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 loft, but not few of
them (as was the case with the hut which
1 myself occupied have only one. The
furniture usually consists of an enor-
nous bed covered with q quilt of colored
patchwork, which looks like a colossal
map Of the United States-a huge tiled
stove, with "leianl1a" (bed place. on
the top of ia rough deal table. a stool
or two, portrait of the householder's pa
trOn saint in one corner, with a tiny lamp
burning in front of it, and piOus roach
making laborious pilgrimage around its
gilt frame; and last, but not least, a big tea
urn Of brass or copper, known as a
"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 mat
char something for teal, and he might
fairly assume a tea urn as his heraldic
crest. with the motto, In tea spe-avi"
i am Just beginning my supper when
my attention is drawn to hustle of ex-
element 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 a tall
young fellow who has Just joined the
party, and seems TO have brought some
very startling piece Of news.
'It's as true as the holy book, bro
thers," cries the new conner. 81 heard
with my own ears our starosta (village
bailif) tell it to Feodor Nikeetin just this
minute"
what has happened. them asks the
host. a SCARED Crimean veteran.
These Nihilist dogs are at their tricks
again. One OF them threw bomb yes
terday at Father Alexander Alexandra
vitch the car in the streets of s.. Peters
burg. However. God saved him from
harm; but the man wasn't caught"
"Nor ever viii he" growled another;
"the police are cleverer at arresting the
wrong man than the right one, and YOU
may trust Nihiiist 10 save his own
skim
Say what you viii, though, brothers.
our father. the Cfosudar lem perOr). seems