The National tribune., 1892-09-08

"Suppose one wanted to 20 a way across Siberia.
how would he go and what would it COST"
said /.
"Ican't tell exactly, but / can give you
some idea of it." was the reply. Starting
from here, at St. Petersburg you can take the
train, as you know, TO Moscow. At Moscow you
get railroad which will take you in night
to Mini -Noyogorod, on the Volga, where you
get boat for Perm. 1t takes you about four
days to 20 from Mimi Novogorod to Perm, and
there are steamers several times each week.
You sail down the Volga for about day, and
near Kazan you enter the river Kama and
sail up it through fiat country for several
hundred miles, until you come TO Perm.
Perm is town of 10000 people: it is not at
all attractive in appearance, and you will find
it made up of lot Of wooden one-story houses
situated on hill and surrounded by an i'm
mense plain. Here you viii get the railroad
on the Ural Mountains, and you can travel
from four TO five hundred miles on to Tiumen.
1t will take you just about day and half, and
your fare will be SI4. In travelling over this
road you will pass some very large copper
mines and some of the oldest iron mines in
Russia. You will find ragged Russians at the
train trying TO sell you precious stones, and
il you keep your eyes open you can buy some
very fair garnets, opals. and topazes. At Thu
men. which has one of tho poorest hotels in
Russia, and which is town of something like
/ Tonsk, on the Irish River. and sail down this
river for 1 500 miles. At Tomsk you Will find
a town of 10000 people. and here your rough
| travelling will begin. You will have 10 buy or
rent tarantas, and get three horses to pull it.
| IL you buy il it will cost you from 500 TO $50,
and you will probably sell it at a considerable
| reduction when you get through with it.
1.-The journey to Irkutsk will take you about
| IL days. and though the scenery is beautiful,
| you will find il tiresome and fatiguing. There
are Stations about IL miles apart, and you can
get enough 10 eat, such as it is. From Irkutsk
| you go on by stage 10 the Desert OF Cobb, and
/ you reach this in about four days at Kiakha.
| Here you are on the frontier between Russia
| and China, and the rest OF your trip is through
| the Chinese Empire. You will have to get
cames to cross the desert and you ought to
Join a caravan.
THE trip will not be an easy one for camel
! riding is very hard work. and these caravans
travel 16 hours day. Your camel will cost
you about So, and you sell him for half
| that amount when you get to Picking. You
will need to buy sugar and all sorts of vegata-
bles at Kiakha for the journey, but you will
| find good meats along the way. and the
mutton of Mongolia is better than any You can
buy in America. Your camel Journey will be
| about 900 miles in length. You will sleep in
! tents during great part of It, and you will be
! for two weeks on the Cobb Desert. At kagan
,
| Chinese wall aud two days later you may stop
at one of the best little hotels in the world in
the great City of Picking. From here in day
! you go 10 Tientsin, and thence by boat to
| Shanghai, Japan, and San Francisco. The trip
looks like big one, but it is full Of interest. and
! it is worth ali the money and the time that it
costs"
Speaking of the Siberian prisons, the general
! idea prevails that they scattered all over
country is largely made up of cxiles. The
truth is that Siberia has a population Of $780,
| 600 people, and of these the actual number Of
prisoners at hard labor is just about 10000. We
| have 5000 conVicts ia our penitentiarics,
Russia, with its 10000, 900 people, has a prison
| population in Europe and Asia of about Io0-
number OF the prisoners sent to Siberia come
| those of the Car.
| and murderers are sentenced TO hard labor in
| the mines. No doubt great many of the Rus
sian prisons are very BAD, but one of tho best
penitcntiarics is at s.. Petersburg. and the
| Prison Congress, members of which inspected
this lately, pronounced itas such. 1t is known
here as the New Model Prison, and it contains
more than ,0G0 prisoners. II cost more than
$500 900 10 build. aud each cell has cost on an
average Of $500. Every cell has apparatus
for Industrial work, and each is furnished with
Bible ana educational works. The prison is
lit BY electric lights, and il las all of the mod
ern sanitary improvements.
Others OF the Russian prisons are, however,