The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1890-01-11
nllNIl.noveoRoo FAB.
where the Merchants of Europe Meet tho
Traders from the East.

rail east of Moscow, Is composed OF three
parts, the upper city, or kremlln, bullt on
three hills, rising to height of some 4oO
feet; the lower town, along the right DahK
of the Okla and Volga; and the FAIR and
Kunavino suburb, on fiat, sandy tongue oil
land between the Okla and Volga, connected
with the town by a bridge of boats 800 me-
tiers long and % broad. The position OF the
town, writes Theodore Child, in Harper's
Magazine, is most picturesque. AS we
stand on the bridge the foreground IS
formed by the bistre waters of the Volga
crowded with boats and barges; in the mid
die distance are the quays and sloping
banks, surmounted by the large red build
ings of the lower town, with their white
window frames; to the right, midway up
the hill, is the vast monastery of the An
nunciation, dating from the thirteenth cent
ury, with white domes and white inclosing
walls; browning the hill to the left is the
Kremlin, with its caprlciously irregular
walls and battlements, from amidst which
rise dubious cupolas with gilded domes,
and towers with conical roofs to the left,
also in the lower town, may be seen the
green domes of the Church of the Nativity,
built in bastard style of Italian Gothic, of
red brick picked out with white stucco Or
naments, the whole very eccentric in form
and color; still further to the left, beyond the
Kremlin, on the summit of the hill, is an
alley of trees, the Atkos, or terrace, from
which may be obtained a magnificent view
of the mighty Volga and the plains through
which it flows. This is the Mother Volga,
the ''Matuschka Wolga," 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 Mjnii-Novgorod, we can understand why
the Russians speak of it so affectlonately,
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 1890 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 canal
also it is connected with the Dwina, and
therefore with the White sea; by its afflu-
ents, the Okla and the Kama, it acquires
total navigable system $500 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 1900
Doats, employing ooo,UV men, below MINI
it is navigated by 5000 ships, manned by
22o,ooO hands; whlle on the lower Volga I'M
mense nsnlng anu nsn-curlng enterprises
are carried on.
Altnough IL NUMBERS only oO,OU0 lnnaplt-
anus, NlJnll-NoVgorod Doasts more IMAM
MY cnurches ana chapels.
From time immemorial Russian merchants
were won't to meet in the summer with the
merchants OF the East at various points on
the Volga between the confiuences of the
Okla and the Kama. In 1924 the greatest
fair was located on the ground of the mon
astery OF Jeltovodski, near Makarieff, where
1t remained until 1877, when it was trans
ferred 1fty-tive 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
it is called, which takes place annually from
August to September Is, is a wholesale
falr. The goods chiefly dealt in are cotton,
wooden, 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-tifths 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, madden
and other manufactured goods. The chief
article OF trade is cotton of which the nrice