The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-07-14


from here to Eladivostock, on the Pacific, one
might travel in straight line through the
Russian dominions and the distance would be
as great as from Liverpool to San Francisco.
1t took me IS hours of continuous railroad
travel TO get TO St. Petersburg from Berlin, and
the big cities of Russia arc farther apart than
those of the United States
1t takes as long to go from st. Petersburg to
Moscow as it does from Omaha to Denver, and
you can almost cross America il the time it
takes you to 90 from the top of Russia to the
kBack Sea- The immensity of the country ap-
pals me. and my eyes bulge out at its bigness.
Russia has provinces as big as New England
the names of which we hardly know, and
many of the regions of her Asiatic possessions
have never been explored by civilized man.
Her population is SO great that if all the peo-
pie In the world were gathered together, every
tenth man, woman, and child would be Rus
sian, and these people are, / believe. naturally
as strong in intellect and physique as any peo-
pie in the world to-day.
Every one has heard of the Empire of the
Gar, but few appreciate its extent and its
power. Here in its Capital can put my hand
on its mighty biceps aud feel something of the
great muscles which are sooner or later bound
10 affect the destinies Of the rest of the world.
This Capital itself gives you an idea of the
strength of Russian character. Let me tell
and brick built on the gsandest scale in
swamp. Venice had a reason for its existence
in the shipping trade of the Adriatc, which
year by year built it up from the waters. Am
sterdam aud Rotterdam rose out of the sea be-
cause they were the commercial centers Of
people who had grown up in battling with the
waves but ST. Petersburg was formed at the
command of Peter the Great by people who
lived In the interior, and through his orders
like magic this great stone city sprang into be-
ing.
Piles by the tens of thousands were driven
down TO make foundations. The great river
Neva was held back by walls of granite, and
every man in Russia was called upon to do
something to build the new Capital. Every
noble in the land was ordered to build house
at St Petersburg. and every Russian who
owned 500 serfs had to put up two-story
house here, no matter if his home was on the
borders of the Caspian Sea or in the foothills of
the Ural Mountains
Every vessel on the river and in the Baltic
belonging to Russia had to bring from 10 to
30 big stones TO aid in building the city,
and every peasant who owned a cart in this
region had to bring three. Forty Thousand
men were drafted every year from different
parts Of the Empire to aid in the construction,
and mobiles as well as peasants dug out the
foundations and built the houses Thieves and
criminals toiied at it under the guns Of the
guard, and among the worknen were 1900
mobiles who had been sentenced to Siberia.
Peter the Great started the work by build
ing his own cottage, and drove over the river
this afternoon and took look st this house.
IT is low log hut 20 feet wide and about 80
feet long, containing two rooms and kitchen.
1t is not unlike some of our frontier cabins,
and has but one story. 1t lies right on the
river, opposite the busiest part Of the great city
and looks the same to-day as it did when the
Great Peter sat in ii and bossed the laying out
OF his Capital. The Russians reverence it, and
they have built another house over it in order
that it may Withstand the weather, and in its
interior there is shrine, where before pictures
of Christ, Peter, and the Virgin, they worship
his memory.
This hut was built less than 200 years ago,
and the wolves howled about it as its logs were
laid. Now a city of million people sur
rounds it, and more than 100, 000, 900 look upon
1T as the center OF the earth.
Within q stones throw of this cottage is the
great fortress on the river which for years has
been states prison of the Gar, and within q
rlb2's shot almost across the river is the mighty
cathedral of St. Isaacs, whose golden dome
shines out high above the other buildings of
the city.
Jump into the balloon of your imagination,
and stand with me on the top Of that great
hemisphere Of gold. In company with Rus