Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-01-22

| menC Is building through south clocTid
| from the Ural to the Pacific ocean Will
| open an immense country hitherto almost
| unknown to the world for foreign culture.
| and it m ~ be of interest TO see what the
condition of the land is Generally, it may
be said s beria by the hand of nature, has
been endowed not less than other coun-
tries.
1t produces almost every kind of Euro
pean gra and fruits, even grapes, and has
| an abundance of all metals, iron, gold, sill
yer, copper, lead, zinc etc, coal, graphite,
| porphyry and precious stones, and u Is, or
has been, the home of all kinds Of mann
malian animals The rivers and lakes are
! crowded with all kinds of fish and the
arctic sea abounds with whale and seal.
The area of Siberia is about 100000
| kilometeIs, but the northern and greater
part of it is almost waste, inhabited only
by few thousands of Samojedes and Is
| kimos. Snow and ice cover the earth
! b the north almost all the year round,
! only melting in two or three months in
the summer, when the sun neveC sets.
| This country is then visited by large herds
! of wild reindeer, coming from the south
and returning there as soon as winter sets
in. The polar bear and the black fox live
| here constantly, and hunting these and
| the seals and fishing are the only Occupa-
| ton of the northern people.
! The Samojedes and Eskimos seem TO
| be related to each other. Their languages
! are not so different that they cannot under
stand eacl other. Their manner of living
! and culture, If it can he named 50. is almost
| the same They are all nomads. going
north in tie summer and south in The win
| ter Their clothing Is made of sealskin,
| and both sexes wear the same style Of
| dress
| Ia the Summer they live in tents made
of skin and their only furniture Is Of skin
| They cover themselves with skins and sleep
on skins. The tents are heated with open
! fires in the middle of the tent, and as the
! pine never here becomes tree, only a
shrub, the natives use the blubber Of the
whale and the oil of the seal for fuel
PEOPLE OF SIBERIA
The people are chiefly small. filthy and
iDdolent. They do not provide for the
morrow, and it seems incredible that a sin
gle man is able to eat from sixteen to TWEEN
" pounds IF raw salmon day. The Sa-
mojed can count only to seven. A larger
number is "A many"
In winter they live in huts, made of turf
and moss and covered with snow. The
! entrances O these nuts are long and low,
and one has to crawl through them Three
and four families live in one hut, where the
/ heat Is intense. Their food is FISH and seal
meat, which they wash down with train
/ oil, and they DO not leave the huts in cold
weather, except when they have not hing
| to eat They have neither preachers nor
authorities
! The strongest man Is the most respected
and he decides all quarrels. The men have
only one " fe, but wedding ceremonies are
| unknown. Wives are commonly gained
| by bargain and often exchanges are made
| in good ltured way. Dogs are the only
| domesticated animals. Each party has at
least six or eight or them and treats them
| well, keeping them in the general living
room.
| In the long winter season the weather
| besieged people make or repair their imple-
ments and weapons. They sleep a great
deal and tell legends these varying only
slightly. The Samojed, however has good
common sense and almost mother wit, and
often entertains his company extremely
| with his tales
! Money Is unknown among the people.
all trade being carried on by barter. Ac-
cordingly there are no poor people, as they
say, and the Samojedes consider them
selves a happy folk. They love their cold
I homes and n other countries always are
| homesick and take the first opportunity
| to return to their native land.
GOOD LAND FOR SETTLERS.
| Central 5 IBERIA has a sterile land aud
cold winters, which make it unfit for agri-
culture. In this part of the country are
| found mines of coal and metals, and there
/ are small settlements where merchants
drive bargains with the natives. Taxes to
! the government are paid in skin, fur or
other natural products.
I Here Are immense forests Of pine, larch;
! fir and birch of large growth, among
! which live several kinds of animals with
costly fur. Hunting these and herding
reindeer give subsistence to the inhab-
itants, who for the greater part, like the
/ Samojedes, are nomads. They are mostly OF
! Russian origin and have the Russian orthe-
! dox religion. They live in tents and have
in every cent an altar. In winter they 20
| south.
! South Siberia, from 50 degs. to ~ degs.
latitude, however, produces European
crops Of all kinds. 1t has greater area
than European Russia, but is not settled
for great distances. The railway, how
| ever, Is expected to open the country to
| settlers as III America, and city by city, it
Is oeileved, Will grow up along the tracks.
| There will be "A great number of stations,
and it is the governments purpose to make
the rates for traffic low and to give the
immigrants favorable terms and condi-
tions
| All buildin materials are found in more
than sufficient quantity and of excellent
quality. Horses and cattle are cheap and
Of fairly good breeds The country needs
only an intelligent, industrious population
| to become prosperous.
The cities On the caravan way from hi
| oaI.f 81 1.
siderable trade and are comfortable places
in which to live. Houses, ordinary food,
/ ETC., are chea1 }, but all imported luxuries,
such as coffee, Tobacco etc, are extremely
dear. But it is not impossible that the day
will come when South Siberia can export
products which il now must import.-New
| York Tribune.
| Quick Mail Transit.
| Mr.. Gotham hear Mr.. De Pave has
been arrested What is the charge against