Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-16

Every man In Russia, whether born there
or 9 stranger, must have . passport, and if he
goes from one part Of Russia to the other he
cannot stay in town over night without show
ing his passport. He cannot leave the country
without his passport has been vised by the
authorities, and their permission must be got
Tor his departure. All this looks very hard.
It Is in reality very easy and find it SO far but
little trouble. The hotel authorities attend to
everything and Q few cents Of fee is the only
charge. i entered Russia from Germany. The
ride from Berlin to st. Petersburg takes thirty
nix hours and the frst-class fare is S35. / took
sleeper and found the roads good and the &C
oommodations fair. There was nothing Of the
Ane woods, the silver-plated vestibules and the
gorgeous fittings Of our limited express trains,
but the cars were box-hke affairs divided up
Into pigeon-hole compartments, entered from a
narrow passageway that ran along the whole
Gde of the car. Each compartment had two
upper and two lower berths, and the
lower opposite mine was occupied
IN four languages all night long. The
i had was a little rubber bag hlled with air from
the gariic-tAinted lungs of the conductor. 1t
had a white pillow case on it, but it's size made
me TIL nk Of the cowboy who upon going TO bed
Tor tia frst night In q western hotel took out
his revolver and began to fire at the electric
DustOA. WAtn luc apptdIcQ ne pointed
TO the pillow and told him to take that darned
little thing away, for he was afraid it would get
Into his ears The single towel furnished me
In the box-shaped wash room next morning was
NO bigger than the pillow, and the looking glass
was Of about the size of Scribner's Magazine. /
luckily had some soap in my bag, or / would
have had to wash without it, and the sleepers
here provide no brushes or combs Of any kind.
The conductor acts as the porter and your
boots are not BACKED, though the man expects
. fee, as our porters do. The conductor spoke
English, French. Russian and German and he
was dressed in more style than one of our army
generals Still, he accepted the quarter gave
him with more bows and thanks than / have
ever got from a negro on a Pullman. and he
carried my baggage into the custom house at
Nirballin. on the Russian frontier.
RUSSIAN CUSTOM HOUSE
III you are not q suspicious character and if
your passport is all right YOU will have no
trouble in getting into Russs. Thanks to
note from the Russian minister at Berlin nv
trunks were not opened at all, and nv passport
was taken. carried away. registered and brought
back IN less than fifteen minutes / had to
show IL again before / could get out of the Gus
tom house. and hen / arrived here the first
thing was asked for at the Hotel de Europe was
my passport II l change nv hotel in ST. Pc
tersourg II VIII have TO be registered again. and
III leave st. Petersburg the hotel keeper will
ask me where 1 am going and the fact will be
announced TO the authorities. BIZ this means
the government knows inst where every citizen
and every traveller Is al any time and if Won
wish to get the address of any one in ~. Peters
burg You can 60 1t for a postage stamp All
thai Is necessary l. 10 write out your inquiry on
blank which the police have for the purpose
and drop 1t IN the post. A few hours will bring
an answer giving full information concerning
the whereabouts Of the man. In this recIect
the passport system has its advantages Such
mysterious disappearances as occur here
are not untraceable BY the police, and the gov
eminent Is a great intelligence bureau, which
the people patroniZe quite extensively The
rule Of demanding passport from all who come
Into the country is imperative. and it often
works great hardships. A poor old German
woman came up to me in the custom house at
the frontier and asked me in German il could
not help her. She had come to Russia all the
way from Hamburg-a full two days ride by
last express-and had bought her ticket To
Moscow, where her children lived She had
failed to get passport and was here without
money or friends She said she was seventy
two years old, and she looked it. The tears ran
down her withered cheeks a. she told her story:
but / could do nothing for her bu. to advise
her to telegraph her children to come on and
help her. am told here that but few Amer
leans have trouble at the custom houses in
kuss,a, and some are said TO have even got