Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-10-17
THE CARRIERS OF EUROPE.
Funny Ways of Moving Things in the
World.
Expressmen in Russia Carry All Their
Parcels On Their Heads.

c6SS1On OF men gong through I06 SlTeGUS
with the household effects of a well-known
family Four of them had the piano rest
ing on their shoulders, while range was
in single file with tables. mirrors, trunks
wash-boilers, tubs, bed-clothing and other
goods on their heads Wagons are seldom
employed in hauling good from one part of
| the city to another.
| A Russian trenfer or freight man car
ries around under his arm head pad about
the size of the crown of large cap. 1t is
usually made of leather and stuffed with
hair or hay. 1t is soft, and generally four
inches thick. On plate attached to his
coat lapel is word of Russian announcing
| that he is the expressman. He has no cart,
horse or help. This man, slngle-handed
and alone, contracts to remove every char
acter of goods as readily and safely as if
| they were in charge of the great express
companies of New York, Baltimore, Chi
cago or any of the large American cities.
| He associates with him, if there is heavy
furniture or haste in the work a number
| of his confreres and the men sometimes to
the aggregate of a score, simply walk into
the house. pick up the goods and carry
| them out and to their destination in a
| twinkle. There is no groaning, packing,
raising and adjusting about drays or
wagons When the men get their loads
on their heads they start out in Indian file
and make a little procession through the
city. sThey never go down any unfrequented
street, as they would lose an opportunity
to advertise their trade A Russian thinks
no more of picking up a warm cooking
stove. placing it on his head and walking
a couple of miles with it without rest than
an American would of carrying an extra
overcoat.
At Genoa, the principal part of Italy, |
saw moving scene a few weeks ago which
almost rivaled those | have viewed IN Rus
STA. A diminutive donkey was the vehicle
of transfer. The dear little thing was
scarcely larger than a6-weeks old calf, and
its ears were of greater length and breadth
than those of any ass | have ever seen IN
the United States. Across its back was a
frame of wood and straps quite as capa-
ciOus as a hay-rack for two-horse wagon.
! The goods were packed on In something
like this order: Center, dining room and
writing tables; a book case, two stoves,
| three mattresses, two trunks and four or
five satchels, refrigerator, a cabinet, half
dozen pictures in frames, mandolin,
| two accordions and a violin, two ward
robes. bed-clothing and bedsteads for a
! large family, and the personal clothing and
| bric-a-brac of the entire household. On
| the head of the donkey were tied bundle
| of newspapers and books and roll of
music, so that had to stop and take long.
careful survey of the moving load before |
could discover what furnished the motive
power Immediately IN the rear OF the
! household moving scene, which Is the usual
| thing came another donkey, which was
used as a retail vehicle for milk and fruits.
| On its back was also large frame. On
the frame were adjusted several heavy
cans of milk, a dozen baskets of fruits and
! the various measures and pair Of scales
used in the trade. Two minutes later
saw a train of dozen donkeys loaded with
iron for the improvements OF the street
railway. The iron was tied across the
donkeys' backs the long way, and the
weight would have been considered a good
load for two horses in America. 1t Is not
uncommon to see a donkey carrying a load
of railroad bars weighing 200O pounds;
and a ton is not small wagon load IN most
countries. Speaking of railroad iron for
the street tramways at Genoa, must tell
YOU what kind of street railways they really
have there and in Russia also. | was on
a street car one morning In Genoa gong
out toward the barracks. 1t was single
track and no switches were IN sight, yet
| saw pretty soon another car coming on
the same track and directly toward us.
On it came at a rapid run till the two cars
were within 100 feet of each other. The
movement was not slackened and | began
to feel that there would be collision.
when the car sat in suddenly turned off the
track and went around the other After
humping along a short distance on the
powders it ran on the track again, never
lessening its speed | thought this a strange
and unusual movement and began to con-
clude that it was to avoid delay and to
meet any emergency, when the car came
to an abrupt corner of the street. Instead
of keeping on the track it ran off on the
street and cut across, taking the track
again when it was reached the lnnat ural
course of events. There are no fanges on
| the wheels of the car and therefore the
streets and wheels are not injured IN the
least by the practice, yet the mules have
a hardpull at it. But no one IN Italy cares
for mules or donkeys. On the contrary
they rather enjoy seeing them have hard
time. Here and at st. Pettsburg the cars
are similarly constructed to those IN Paris,
/ but are a little longer. They are almost as
/ d
| have double decks or two stories and ac-
commodate over 90 passengers without
crowding. A stairway winds up at the
rear of the car leading to the long seats
above which is a wooden roof or canopy,
! and the passengers have the privilege of a
seat in the breeze above or III the enclosure
! below. the latter being like the interior of
! American street cars. Eight horses are
used when there is snow on the ground
| four of them being hitched abreast. In the
summer four horses, two abreast, do the
pulling. Three men run the cara con-
| ductor, driver and man who rides the
off horse hitched in the rear. The driver
rings a bell continuously, and when any one
attempts to cross the tracks In close proxlm-
| ity he rings more vigorously and rails IN
several languages. The fare is usually 90
| kopecks, which is about 10 cents. The
street cars in Russia are not old institutions
and are not very literally patronized.
| At Naples saw a merchant moving his
store The goods appeared to be of gen
eral character A regular transfer wagon
was employed This consisted of a vehicle
with four wheels, Is inches IN diameter,
and of uniform size To the wagon were
| hitched large Roman COW and a Naples
| donkey The former was taller and more
| lank than any of the bovine family to be
| found in all Texas. while the latter was as
small as one of Barnum's Shetland ponies
| The tongue of the vehicle was at the side
| of the COW, and the donkey was hitched up
on the other side from it. The idea | had
at first glance was that the donkey was
! thrown In as kind of a helper, and that
but little was expected of it. / soon saw
my error. The donkey was tied to or