Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-11-20

alley OF trees, the AtkOS, or terrace, from
which may be obtained magnificent view
Of the mighty Volga and the plains through
which it flows. This is the Mother Volga,
the 'Matuschka Woiga," Of which you hear
so much in Russia; and indeed when we
follow its course on the map, and when we
examine the products that it concentrates
at tNijnii-Novgorod, we can understand why
the Russians speak of it so affectionately,
and why the annual fair at this point has
become so important IN Russian commerce
From its source to Its mouth in the Caspian
sea the Volga runs course of z, 800 miles !;
the extent OF its watershed is three times
that Of France; by various systems of
canals it is connected with Moscow, St.
Petersburg and the Balkans; by a canal
also 1t is connected with the Dwina, and
therefore with the White sea; by its afdu-
ents, the Okla and the Kama, it acquires q
total navigable system 1880 miles in
length, and commands vast districts west
ward toward Toula and eastward as far as
the foot Of the Ural Mountains. The con-
sequence is that the Volga is the greatest
waterway in Russia. Above Nijnii-Nov-
gorod the river is navigated by some Il, 900
boats, employing 800, 900 men; below Mimi
1t is navigated by 5000 ships, manned by
225, 900 hands; while on the lower Volga i'm
menss fishing and fish-cnring enterprises
are carried on
Although it numbers only 60 600 inhabit-
ants, Nijnii-Nov9orod boasts more than
fifty churches and chapels.
From time immemorial Russian merchants
were wont to meet in the summer with the
merchants Of the East at various points on
the Volga between the con1uences of the
Okla and the Kama In 1924 the greatest
fair was located on the ground of the mon
- Tale ILL., r..
1t remained until 1917, when it was trans
ferred fifty-6ve miles higher up the stream
to Nijnii-Novgorod. In order that we may
relieve our minds Of too serious thoughts
before venturing to explore this famous
fair, let US plunge once for all into the most
recent statistics and sum up briefly its COM
mercial Importance. First of all, the reader
must bear In mind that the Jahrmarka, as
1t is called, which takes place annually from
August 5 to September Is, is a wholesale
fair. The goods chiefly dealt in are cotton,
woolen, linen and silk stuffs, which consti-
tute about forty per cent. of the whole /;
next in importance come iron, corn, tea,
furs, salt, wine, fish, pottery and manufact-
ured goods. About four-ffths of the whole
goods brought to the fair are of Russian
origin. The basin Of the Okla river sends
agricultural and manufactured products !;
the basin Of the Kama sends metal wares !;
corn and salt are produced in the southeast
provinces; fish comes up from the lower
Volga and the Caspian; Siberia, the eau
casus, Central Asia and Persia send vari-
ETY. Of wares; and about ten per cent. Of
the total amount of goods are i'm
ported from Asia. namely, tea via
Kiachta, Canton and Suez, raw cotton
and silk, leather wares, madder
and other manufactured goods. The chief
article of trade is cotton, of which the price
is fixed at this fair; the prices of raw wool
and silk are also fixed here. Economists
will also readily demonstrate that the
whole iron production of the Ural depends
on the fair of Mimi Novgorod. The cara
vans Of boats laden with iron start from the
Ural works in the spring, stay at the fair
of Laishev, which supplies the lower Volga,
and then proceed up to Novgorod in Au-
gust. The purchases Of iron made at this
fair for consumption in Asia and middle
Russia determine the amount of credit that
will be granted for the next years busi-
ness to the owners of the iron-workS, who
are largely dependent on this credit. The
corn and salt trade, and stffl more the whole
trade of Siberia and Turkistan, are in
fuenced by this fair, their success depend
ing entirely on the conditions of credit
which the merchants are able to obtain at
Nijnii-Novgorod. It thus appears that the
fair exercises direct influence on all the
leading branches Of Russian manufacture.
During the six weeks that it lasts it at
tracts daily some 100000 people from Rus
sia and Asia; the river is literally laden
with thousands of boats; the quays, ex-
tending over length of ten miles, are COW
cred with merchandise; on the fair ground
proper and around 1t 5000 shops are occu-
pied; and although no exact and absolutely
trustworthy statistics can be obtained, it is
safe to reckon the total business transacted
at the fair at the sum offour hundred mill
ions Of rubles, or forty million pounds
sterling.