The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-01-06


garden vegetables that they have are
raised around ST. Petersburg. Farmers
have their truck patches, and the market
in the city. is beautifully supplied. Fruits.
of course, have to be imported from Italy,
Turkey and Southern countries. At this
season of the year, in st. Petersburg the
grapes are most lucious. They are
brought by fast freight trains from the
South. and to me always had delightful
flavor. The favorlte dish of peasant and
noble is cabbage soup. The Russians take
pride in their cabbage soup. and make the
finest in the world. In the house of a noble
where L dined occasionally, the special
dish was cabbage soup. They have way
of making it that gives it an excellent ia
N0r, and, altogether, it Is very palatable.
The black bread So famed Ina that country
is the chief article of food with the people.
Lit Is healthy and nutritious. The tallow-
candle-eating Russians / did not see- l.
presume the story is largely one of pure
fiction. Strange to say. some of the finest
cabbage soups and other special Muscoylte
dishes are not cooked by Russians. but
Frenchmen. The mobiles employ French
cooks, and it is not very long before they
know how to prepare Russian dishes better
than the natives.
Good eating and excellent dishes are
not confined to France alone. because true
artistic chef will go to the North pole or
the equator TO give the natives tho benefit
of his skill. i cannot tell so much about
the cooking of the peasantry. They arc
fond of black bread and cabbage soup, and
j suppose know how to make the latter TO
perfection. Servants are chiefly Firms or
Polish in St. Petersburg. They all have 10
obtain passports and renew them regularly
when necessary. Even the servants l EN-
ployed had to have their passports Every
person in the empire is Kept under police
surveillance, and you cannot so from one
city to another without passport. 1t is.
no trouble, although it seems. so TO
going whenever they choose. These
passports do not give minute description
of person, but merely general one. so the
police will have some clue. But the annoy
ance and embarrassment that might be ex-
pected to result from such a system are so
inconsequential that no objection is made
to it. Many people living In a republic are
apt to suppose that life in an absolute mon-
archy is hardly worth enduring; that the
pursuit of happiness is mockery, and that
the people are ground down so that they
have a detected, sad air about them. This
is mistake. There is the same incentive
to prosper and succeed in life there as here.
The laws of the empire protect the citizens
the emperor is ut the head of the law courts.
and his will is law. He is the final judge.
In st. Petersburg, the people enjoy
life In a gay and eleyatlng manner,
Workers. Their social pleasures keep them
busy, and the opera, the play and other
places of amusement are we'll patronized.
During the winter st. PETERSBURG. is not n
frozen city as many suppose. 1t has never
seemed very cold TO me. / cannotsay when
the thermometer registered ten below zero.
presume it has often, but the cold was SO
dry never felt il. There are no Fahren-
heit thermometers in the Russian capital.
the other kind being used. OF course, the
inhabitants wear heavy furs in winter"
Are the Russians very orthodox
''They all belong to the Greek Church, or
the Russian Greek Church properly. No
other churches are permitted to flourish:
whatever. If any of our Christian churches
should send missionary to Russia to evan
geliZe among the people he would be es-
corted out or the country 1T he did not
Gar is at the head of the Greek church in
Russia. He is the patriarch of patriarchs.
and settles all disputes or questions of
orthodoxy. The Greek Church in Greece and
other Southern Europe countries is gov
erned entirely by .patriarchs, twelve In.
edgethe Gar as the head patriarch. Theway
the Car came to be head patriarch of the
Church in Russia was owing to Peter the
Greats far-sightedness. When he was En-
peror the head patriarch of the church
died, and he simply never appointed sue
cessOr but proceeded to proclaim then him.
self head patriarch. The people had moth
ing to do but accept him, and since his day
every Emperor mas udQ 10 ACT as ntdu pa
triarch of the church Itpractically made
him Car the Church, and as he is the state,
there never is a conflict between the two.
Some of the rules of the church are strict.
If priest of the church should visit Eng
land and conclude to quit the church he
would never be permitted to put foot on
Russian soil again. They do not permit
their priests to apostatize and then enjoy
the climate of Russia. There is a great deal
of ceremony to the church,
us Russia advancing in hteraturef"
Eyes, and she has some very original
fiction writer's. Russia is very proud of the
literary fame of some of her writers and
poets. They are very proud of their poets,
and try to encourage them. Tolstoi, the
novelist, is read more in America than he is
in Russia. Some of his books, L think,
have been condemned by the censor, and are
not permitted to be sold. When Russian
writer does become famous, he is just as
widely known in America as In his native
country, and more so. Tourgenieff was one
of their greatest novelists and l suppose
fiction readers here are more thoroughly
cOnversant with his books than the Rus
slams. In the polite centers of Russia, like
st. Petersburg and Moscow, of course the
works of Russian authors of any celebrity
are read and talked about. The Russians
are great people, even if they have not
much push and energy.
DAVID WECHsLER.