The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1890-03-15
THE CARS FOUR HUNDRED.
Doings Of Gilded Youth in St. Petersburg.
Railroad

Railroad
Herr Won Proskowetz, ar Austrian no
bleman and traveller, has just publisheda
bookfu1 of stories concerning the bad
side of Russian life as he saw it in a two
years trip through the country. The
most striking popularity of Russian rail
way travel, he thinks, is the large num-
Der of deadheads in the high priced COM
partments Of the coupes. Between Mos
COW and st. Petersburg he shared a first
class compartment with u dragon Off
Ger. The guard took Herr o Prosko-
wetz's ticket, but said nothing to the Off
Ger. For some time after they were
left alone together the military man eyed
the Austrian nobleman curiously, and
finally asked:
Did you really buy a first class ticket
Won Proskowetz confessed that he did.
And your good money is squandered
beyond recall. You ought to nave done
as did. gave the guard a rouble and
a cigar. He is a good fellow and doesn't
bother about tickets
Proskowetz suggested that a dragooE
officer might do things that a foreigner
mightn't.
Eyes. that may be So" answered his
companion, but just think of the fun
you might have had with the fifteen
roubles you squandered on a ticket"
Herr von Proskowetz gathered some
interesting statistics and made notes on
some queer things while in Russia.
Since 1855 the population of st. Pc
tersburg has fallen from SOL 600 to S42,-
DOC. This falling off has taken place
among the working people, and may be
ascribed to the wretchedness of the quar-
tiers in which the workingmen at the cap
ital are obliged to live. One-tenth of the
workingmen's lodgings are in cellars.
modations are little better. A working
mans sleeping room has usually only
n window, and is occupied at night by
between ten md fifty other laborers.
Herr Won Proskowetz's opinion of Rus
sian society is pretty poor. The young
men iii Moscow's 400. he thinks, are
about the most reckless and e~xtravagant
in the world. and are always full of a de-
sire to smash things. A man, therefore.
who gives a stag dinner at a Moscow res
taurant OF hotel invariably contracts to
pay for the meal ''inclusive of crockery."
! AS soon as the last dish has beer served
his guests begin to slam things about the
room, and before the last bottle of wine
has been served the floor is carpeted with
small bits of the service, the mirrors and
the pictures from the wall. In the Win
ter garden the 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 the lively young men
in Moscow is to hire an elephant for an
evening and get it drunk on champagne.
About six months g q young blood
beat the record for originality by giving
his friends q dinner, at which the only
meat was the pork from q 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
ut the beginning of the feast. He learned
the next day that the owner of the pig,
Clown Tanto. had swindled him by sub
shutting Il common pig for the educated
animal. A lawsuit followed, but before
it could be decided Tanto and his pig
and the 1000 roubles in question got
out of the country.
The Moscow dudes and officers have
also al ovcrwecning passion for the stars
Of the cafe c~hantants and for yps
street singers, whom they marry with
astonishing frequency. Herr von Pros
kowetz tells all these stories of the cars
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.
The Tea Trade.