San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1890-02-27
THE czAR's FOUR HUNDRED.
Dolnrs or GIided Youth In 81. Petersburg.
RniIroud Dendhends.

Dolncs of Gllded Youth IN 81. Ecterourg'
Iiaiiroad Deadhcads.
Herr Won Proskowctz. an Austrian no
bleman and traveller, has just published
bookful OF stories concerning the bad
side Of Russian life as he saw It In two
years trip through the country. The
most striking popularity of Russian rail
way travel. he thinks, is the large num-
bcr OF deadheads In the high priced COM
partmcnts of the coupes. Between Mos
COW and st. Petersburg ho shared first
class compartment with dragoon OIL
Ger. The guard took Herr Won Prosko-
wetz's ticket, but said nothing to the OIL
Ger. For some time after they were
left alone together the military man eyed
the Austrian nobleman curiously. and
finally asked:
Ibid you really buy n first class ticketY'
Won Proskowets confessed that he did.
"And your good money IL squandered
beyond recall. You ought to have done
as / did. gave the guard roublo and
q cigar. He Ia good fellow and doesn't
bother about tickets"
Proskowetz suggested that dragoon
officer might do things that foreigner
mightnt.
"Yes, that may be So" answered his
companion, "but just think of the fun
you might have had with the fifteen
roubles you squandered on ticket"
Herr Won Proskowetz gathered some
interesting statistics and made notes on
some queer things whilo in Russia.
Since 1855 the population of st. Pc
tersburg has fallen from 8G1, 900 to S42,-
900. This falling off has taken place
among the working people, and may be
ascribed to tho wrctchedness of the quar-
ters in which the workingmen at the cap
ital are obliged to live. One-tenth of the
workingmen's lodgings are in cellars.
When higher up, however, the accom-
modations are little better. A working
mans sleeping room has usually only
one window, and is occupied at night by
between ten and fifty other laborers.
Herr Won Proskowetz's opinion of Rus
sian society is pretty poor. The young
men in Moscow's 400, ho thinks, are
about the most reckless and extravagant
in the world, and are always full of a de-
sire to smash things. A man, therefore,
WHO gives n stag dinner at a Moscow res
taurant or hotel Invariably contracts to
pay for the meal ''inclusiveof crockery.
AS soon as the last dish has been served
his guests begin to slam things about the
room, and before the last bottle OF wine
has been served the floor is scarpeted with
small bits of the service, the mirrors and
the pictures from the wall. In the Win
ter garden tho young bloods drive their
sticks through the fish globes and hew
down all the flowers and shrubs they
can get at. They are not altogether bad
however, for they pay the proprietor
lavishly for everything they destroy.
Another freak of tho lively young men
in Moscow is to hire an elephant for an
evening and get it drunk on champagne.
About six months ago n young blood
beat the record for originality by giving
his friends n dinner, at which the only
meat was the pork from trained pig.
bought of its trainer by the host for a.
600 roubles. At least that was the story
the host told In good faith to his friends
at the beginning of the feast. He learned
the next day that the owner of the pig,
Clown Tanto, had swindled him by sub
stituting u common pig for the educated
animal. A lawsuit followed, but before
it could be decided Tanto and his pig
and tie $4,000 roubles in question got
out of the country.
The Moscow dudes and officers have
also an overweening passion for the stars
of the cafe chantants and for gypsy
street singers, whom they marry with
astonishing frequency. Herr Won Pros
kOwetz tells all these stories of the czar's
400 with perfect seriousness, and pre-
sents abundant proof of their truth. His
opinion is that the half has not been told
of the unique madness of Russian fash
ionable life.-New York Sun.