The morning call., 1892-10-09
PILGRrms IN THE STREETS OF MOSCOW.

Russia is land OF bells. Every village
church has its sacred bell, and there are
more than 1000 bells In the city OF Moscow.
The biggest bell in the world lies at the foot
of this tower, and, though it Is against the
laws, took photograph OF 1t this morning
while the guards were not looking. / posed
young Russian upon 1t while snapped my
camera, and had another photograph taken
with myself standing beside 1t. This bell was
cast in the fourteenth century, but the tower
In which it was hung was burned again and
again, and when 1t fell about 200 years ago
il was broken into pieces. Ii was cast in
larger size ard il is said that the ladies OF
Moscow In frenzy OF religious enthusiasm
threw their jewels into the metal. and THIS
rendered it so imperfect that when 1t was
rnng great piece broke out Of ITS side. IL
fell to the ground during ire which oc-
cured about 100 years ago and 1t has never
been restored.
1t now stands on a granite pedestal, and
1t is as big as good-sZed two-story house.
1t is hity-fve feet in circumference is two
feet thick, and the piece which has been
broken out OF Its side is taller than man,
and you can walk into the hole where this
piece was and find yourself in sort of
bronze tent. The piece lies on the ground
beside the pedestal, and though the bell
itself Is of dark green, this piece has been
SO polished by the people leaning against it
that its edges are as bright rs brass breast
pin. This bell weighs more than 200 tons.
and it would take 400 good horses to pull 1t
II it could be loaded on wagon. The big
gest bell that strikes Is In this tower OF ST.
Ivan. 1t is only half rs large In SIZE as the
bell at the foot of the tower, and 1t is, l
Judge, about twenty feet high and fifteen
feet in diameter. You could hardly put 1t
In the average cottage parlor. and 1t has
tongue which weighs hundreds upon hun
dreds of pounds. II takes about six men TO
make this tongue strike the bell. and tried
TO push it from one side of the bell TO the
other. but / found that L WAS not strong
enough to move it.
The city of Moscow has about 800, coo
people. 1t Is growing city and it will be
the biggest city in Russia in the future. st.
Petersburg relies entirely on its official
classes to keep 1t alive, and il the capital
should ever De changed 1t will go back to
the marshy waste that IL was before Peter
the Great founded it. The Muscovites are
among the most enterprising people of Rus
STA and they have many institutions here
which are worth notice. They have Sun
dayschools for the teaching of the working
classes and there are nlght-scho0ls for the
same purpose. The Moscow University is
one OF the largest in Russia and 1t has from
from time to time been the hotbed of Mill
ism. 1t was founded by Peter the GIeat
and IL has about 200 students which is
more. l think, than any college in the
United States Many OF the merchants of
Russia are very wealthy and some of them
merchant princes here has a palace painted
dead black and it is the most funereal-look-
ing house | have ever seen. It lies within
stones throw Of the Kremlin, in the heart
OF the city.
i went out one night to the Peoples Park
10 see how the Russians amused themselves
In the evening. | found, perhaps, 10000
people moving about under the trees in
couples or IN groups. and quieter crowd
have never seen. There were all sorts of
amusements going on from the american
Hill" as the roller coaster is called here. to
the dance under the trees and the shooting
gallery, but there was no noise and no loud
talking. Young girls, as we'll dressed as
our girls of America moved about without
their hats on, in light summer costumes.
chatting together. and there were family
parties and parties OF friends enjoying the
evening. There were thousands OF chill
dren, and curious feature Of the life was
the ea-parties, which were given in little
bowers Of green. These bowers were cut
out of bushy thicket. and in each bower
there was a table and seats. Each party
paid few coppers for the use of this-a
teapot and samoyar of hot water MANY
families brought their tea with them and
made 1t themselves, and, by buying roll or
piece Of cake Of the numerous vendors OF