Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1891-05-30
A FAIR.
Il CSSIA'S COSMOPOLITAN MART
AT MINI NOVGOROD.
A Place Where Merchants From
Every Cline Meet for CONNER
cial Exchanoe-The Town and
Its Bazaar-Tea Tipping.

Mini Nnvgorod a place of importance
runs eight hundred miles before it pours
into the Volga, anu the united streams
flow two thousand miles together before
they enter the Caspian Sea. By these
waterways the extreme north, the shores
linked to the great southern countries Of
Russia which lie upon the Black Sea,
Azof and the Caspian. It is not wonderful
That mercantile interest, ever keen to rec
ognize the value of position, should have
seized upon The junction Of these two
great rivers for the establishment of an
international commercial exchange. AS
carly as the middle Of the fourteenth cen
fury. Mini had its fair, but the present
bazaar, which is very extensive and elab-
crate, was built in 1924 to replace the
buildings destroyed by fire eight years
before. The bazaar is built on the plain
Of the northern bank Of thef Volga, a
huge sandy expanse, and consists of a
long mass Of houses, twelve long rows
arranged in regular lines, and divided
into four equal parts by transverse
streets. This is the centre or kernel Of
the fair, which was erected and is still
owned by the Government. II contains
between five hundred and six hundred
shops. Beyond and around this bazaar
are thousands of buildings of brick, wood
and mats, red and yellow and green in
color, and stretching out in every direc-
ton.
The bazaar is surrounded on three!sides
by a canal crossed by a number of bridges,
and on the fourth side there is an open
square, in which are the residences of the
Governor and the other officials. The
whole enclosure is thoroughly drained,
and these stone drains are flushed twice
a day during the continuance of'the fair.
Admirable arrangements are also made
for preventing and putting outtfires, tand
no one is allowed to smoke within the
limits of the fair.
Here are shops with the choicest furs
from Siberia, silks from Persia and pre-
cious stones from the Oral Mountains, to-
gether with fancy goods FROM England,
Germany and France, gems froAaIndia,
and ornaments aud perfumes FROM Con
stantirople. The Chinese quarter has q
queer look, its houses'being all,built with
projecting roofs, with bells at the cor
ners, and covered with yellow.paint and
gilded characters. He:e,are to be found
the offices of the great tea merchants
with their samples, the warehouses filled
with vast stores being on the Siberian
quay. Tea is the greatstaple of the fair.
Iron and silks and cotton and Caucasian
goods have a large place&in the market,
but in spite of the supply by water of
Canton tea, the Kiakhta which comes six
thousands versts overland ,.and takes. eigh.
teen months in transit, stilNrules at Mini.
We visited a tea merchant and sampled his
tea. 1t is packed in a case+of lead, which is
protected 10y a papered wooden chest,
which is again packed in a strong COW
hide covering with the hair on. Our
shopkeeper had the cowhide covering
unfastened, and then with a long stee
anger in whicl there were an oblone
groove and n very sharp point, he bored
into the centre Of the chest. When
pulled out the groove of the auger was
full Of tea. 4 professional buyer tests
the ten by rolling The leaves in his fingers
and then smelling of them; sometimes
also he chews a few leaves. We pre-
ferred to take our little package to
the hotel, and we found it a dcliciouslv
favored black tea. The cost was less
than half a dollar a pound.
Tea drinking is the universal habit in
Russia. My guide in the Adirondacks
could never build his fire in the morning
till he had taken a ''chaw Of terbacker";
and Sulieman upon the desert was good
for nothing before his coffee and pipe
SO my Russian servant, like all of his
countrymen. swallowed hot tea as soor
as he awoke, and repeated the act
dozen times Il day. Tea houses are a
common in St. Petersburg and Moscow
as saloons are in New York or Chicago
The ''samovar' is the household god
and no peasant Is SO poor as to be with.
out one, though he may be destitute o.
shoes and have no clothes besides those
which are upon his body. There are fort,
makers Of samovars IN Toula alone, and
5000 dozens are sold in Mini every year.