The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-08-04

bright green, the favorite color of Mahomet
and everything about the interior was green
There were only about half dozen wor
shippers in the mosque. These were on their
| knees making their prayers with their heads
turned toward Mecca. They raised their hands
to their heads, bowed their heads to the ground
and went through just the same form of wor-
ship have seen in Constantinople and the Far
| East. paying no attention to anything else but
their praying as they did so.
i am told that the Tartars are very good
Mahometans, and the people here prefer them
| as workmen because they do not, as the Rus
| slams, require one-third of their time to devote
to holidays and feast days and because. though
| they are dirty, still they are not drunken, as
their religion forbids the use o. all Intoxicating
liquors.
The Mahometan women everywhere hide
| their faces, but / was shown girls whom / was
told were Tartars here who did not. They
| were from the villages of this province OF
| Kazan, and were in tho market in their holi-
! day costume. They looked more like our In
dian sGuaws than Russians and their faces
were of about the same hue. They had high
| cheek bones, big mouths and long, black hair,
which they covered with gorgeous head
| dress of gaily-embroidered cloth decorated with
coins Their bright-colored dresses reaching
within foot of their feet, were of the gayest CT
red and blue colors, and the front OF their
breasts were decorated with coins.
These probably formed the dowry which they
! will bring TO their husbands when married; for
! l saw the same thing in Greece where every
| peasant girl carries her dot on her bosom.
On the streets of the kaZan Tartar quarter
saw many women who wore saeques over their
| heads for all the world Just like those worn by
/ the women OF Korea These sacgues, or cloaks
were of a green silk or cotton, and they were
put on over the head and held tight shut by
the woman's hand, giving her a hole as big
rs a trade dollar out of which she peeped at us
as we went by. The arms of the cloak were
! pressed fat aud they showed no sign of ever
! having been used. 1t is not pretty costume
| and the Mahometan vailed beauties of Turkey
and Egypt are fenuses beside these Tartar
| girls.
One of the chief businesses in Russia seems
TO be baby farming. Tie country has more
wet-nurses to the acre than any other land on
the globe. The wet-nurses have costume of
their own, and in st. Petersburg the gayest
girls / saw wore this peculiar dress. Their
heads were covered with beads, sewed on cap
of pasteboard, covered with light blue silk, and
| they wore brighter colors than even the babies
they carried.
find different style Of head dress on them
along the Volga, and saw one to-day who wore
sort of fan-shaped hat of bright colors, ex-
into the air. She had gorgeous earrings,
big string of coral beads about her neck, and
her dress was a white night gown-like affair,
cut low, and with short full sleeves. Over this
she wore an apron of turkey red, beautifully
embroidered, and she appeared more like
Gypsy Queen than baby-farmer.
/ saw at Moscow a foundlng asylum where
there were more than 1000 wet-nurses. all with
babies under three weeks old at their breasts.
And in st. Petersburg went through another
great founding asylum where there were 700
babies sucking away for dear life and getting
il.
There are 100 100000 people in the Russian
Empire. but as statistics show there are 1,000,-
900 more babies born every year than the
year before. the Russians can lose 100000
every year by famine or war and not decrease
in population. These peasants seem to breed
babies like the Australian rabbit. Every other
weInaa-aimost every woman-among them has
a ia by in her arms, and little tow headed Tar
tars and Russians swarm about the doors Of the
village huts. Large families are the rule, and
nature smiles on Russia in this way if not in
others. Tie Russians very fond of children,
and the peasants consider large families
blessing.
/ visited short time at the house of Count
Tolstoi. the great Russian novelist, last week,
and with Madame Toistoi took walk through
one of her villages. The peasants brought out
their babies to the Countess, and they were very
proud of them.
One of tho girls kissed the Countess and she
told NE it was because she was SO glad over the
birth of son, and a third brought out little
raw, red piece of humanity and displayed it
before US. Every hut seemed TO have half a
dozen babies, and the trees of the village were
filled with cradles made of boxes, to the four
corners of which strings were tied, aud these
"a 10
so that the babies rocked easily to and fro. 1t
was the old Mother Goose rhyme of
"Rock-a-bye, baby. on the tree-top"
/ took hold of one of the cradles, and the
young one within it set up yell. The mother
evidently thought the bough might break, for
she came at once to the relief of her baby, and
| was told to let go.
When orr beat stopped at Kazan the wharf
was crowded with peddiers, and the Tartsrs
had all sorts OF eatables for sale. Boys in scull
caps and long coats offered us long cakes of
yellow soap, which looked for all the world
like beeswax, which was a soap noted as being
made al Kazan. As no boat or hotel furnishes
any soap free. this found a ready sale among
tie passengers There were milk and vodka
peddlers by the Dozen and there were six short
haired men who were selling boots and slippers
made Of red. blue and green leather patches
sewed together IL all the variety OF crazy
Quilt with thread Of all colors, forming COM
bination more wonderful than Joseph's coat.
To give you some idea of Russian business
/ will describe how | bought a pair of these
slippers and boots. The boots, by tho way, are
of soft leather, and the slippers are made 10 go
on over them. Tho dark faced Tartar with
whom traded had a big stock Of wares lying
on the wharf. He could not speak word of
any language knew. and could not speak a
word Of Russian or Tartar.
went up 10 him. He jabbered at me- and
pointed to his wares. j talked TO him in Ger
man and French and English, and then tried
signs. / picked out the boots / wanted and
held up my fingers 10 ask him how many. He
were worth 10 rubles, or So. / laughed at him
and said Met. Met! Niet!!. or No! mol!
Noi!,
He then made signs for me to put up my fin
gers and show how much l would give. /
would not do SO, but said again " Met" He
then put up eight fingers. / said Met" and
so it went on until he finally got down to six.
/ then put up three fingers indicating that /
would give Sl.50, or three rubles.
This made him angry and he said " Met" and
threw the boots down. There must have been
three weeks work on them. and did not won
der i then went over to another merchant
and tried him, but he had not what wanted,
and after a moment my first Tartar came over.
lie now put up five fingers.
stuck TO three, but finally put up four. He
made signs pointing to his mouth and stom-
ach. as much as TO say he could not do 1t, he
| ypould efarve IL he did. but after n half hour