Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-11-19
A RrlioIoJs spRre

a RELIGIOUS SPREE.
Prom George kennan's Adventures In
Eastern Sibcris"in the November Ceniu
~ We quote the following "We had no
difficulty Ia getting post horses until
lu.t before dark MONDAY evening, when
We rrachc,i the station ~ rurinopoyo-
rotnsya Croo-rln-o-po-Vo-rO,e-nah-yah)
about fifty miles frum thlta, aud found
the whole village IN state of hilarious
inioNlcation. Sleighs flllci With young
mru and boys were carc~ring hithcr an'i
ihlther with Wild whoops ani halloo-
long lines ~ peasant girls IN bright-col-
or,si calico dresses Nerr unsieadily pro-
menaiing hack and forth IN the street .
With their arms around Que another sing.
Ing lAorurni .ongs; the .iationhouss
VA fllcl with iushe'i aud excited people
from neighhofing settlements, Who had
evidently heen participating in crlehr,-
ilou of some kini ani were about start
log for their homrs. the stntion-mastsr,
" ho pcfhsp. had not fnishe'i hl. c"lchra-
iion. Va nowhere e. be- found. their
was not 4 driver about the stables: and
the 'staro.ta' (siah-ro-siahl, a short, fnt
old mau. Who looked like a burghcr from
Amsterdam. was 80 drunk that even With
the all ~ cane De- could htrlly stand
on hi. fss.t. ln vain - trie,l o. ascrritin
the reasons for the surprislng cpllemlr
~ finehrttion. Noboly was sol"r cnpugli
a. explain to us what had happened.
Trnm The excited aud mor- 90 les In
coherent conversation ~ the intnNicaisrl
traveller. Va the station-house, l lcarnc,i
that even The village prlcst va so drunk
that be- had to D. taken home In q sleigh
hy the sol~rr.t ~ hi. pirl.hioncrs. "
the .istion.mtsier. the starosta, the vi
hcr pris.t. the driver. and all ~ the
inhabitants werr drunk. there Wa eNi.
IDENTIFY no prospect ~ oar being able to
grt horses. In fact We could not hni
anylroiv Who serm~l soh"r enough in
know the diferrnc. hetVeru horse and
harness. We therefore hroughi our bag
gage Into the crowded .taiion-housr ani
at down in an unoccupi~i corner tn
study Intoxicated Immunity and await
further Developments. Every pcrson in
the housc was drunk, except oursclNr'
ani one small baby.
"Ahout nine o'clock the nolss, iumult,
and shouting in the village sir~~ts beg in
a. suhside the ststlnu-mtstrf, whose In
toNi,atlon htd taken the form ~ severe
official dignity. suddenly appeared, and
ln tone of stern menace wanted a. know
wherr the post dri,rrs were ani what
~ ihis disorder meant.
Finally. Whrn wr htd almost abandoned
the hope ~ ever getting away, = really
sol.-r man in q ragged shccpskin coat
emerged from the darkness aud rcpori~l
In hu.incs. like manner Ia the Stallion
m1.irr that the hnrses were ready Tor
us. The drunken aud irate official, Who
.semed dc.iruus - ,indicatlng hls dig
nlty ani authority In some way, over
Wh~lmed the unfortunate driver With
ahus. and sndei hy hning him iifiy
kopeck. whether tur hcing sol'"f or inf
having the horses ready, ! do not know
We pil-si our haggagr into the slcigh'
climbed Va upon u, aud rule out ot ihc
intoxicated settlement With thankful
hcau.. " the lat f,int sounds of rrNrl-
IN dlc,i away in the distance behind us,
I sah o. the driver 'Whtt's the matter
with everybody in this VILLAGE Ih"
hole popuhtlon sc-ms io b. drunk.
They've t-cn consecraiing a new
church AID the driver, sOhsrly.
"'Con.crnting q church" lcNchlm~l
in amaEemcut l. that the way yuu
consecratc chur,hc.f 4 don't know b.
replied. sometime. they drink. Aiier
the services they had galiiHir "a sort
~ holiday promenade With music ani
.plriiuous rrfrrshmcnis I, and some oi
them crooked their elhows too often.
" 'N1n,s ~ them repeated. 'iH ~
them. you mean. You 'rr the only sober
man 'yr seen In this place. How does
Il happsu that YOU ~ not drunk
"'l 'm not ,hristihn,' he replied
with quiet simplicity. I'm liuriat.'
"Asa Chrisiau-lf not member oi
th@ Holy Orthodox Church. Nas ~
encsl by the unconscious irony of th"
reply.
The only .ober man In the village oi
three or four hundred lnhahlia Mt pruVei
a. ~ a pagan. aud b. had lust lrcn fne'l
fftv kopcck. by Christian ofhchl Tor
not getting drunk With other go0i citl-
scns aud showing hl. respect for The
newly consccraiei ciihc- and hl. apprrci'
alton 10 the benign influence of the Holy
Orthodox faith!"