The sun., 1893-07-16

house with the help OF hermetically sealed
stoves an artificial climate almost as hot as
summer is in the south OF Europe. The lower
the temperature out OF doors. the higher II
must be made indoors. Behind their double
windows calked with oakum and putty for the
entire season. city folks convert their apart
ments into hothouses. where they breathe
tho same afr as the tropical plants with
which they love to decorate their dwellings.
In his istd or log cabin. frequently surround
ed with rampant OF manure the peasant and
his whole family crowd around the hugo oven,
on top OF which they all sleep at night. Out OF
this enorvating atm sphere people must every
day emerge into the icy outdoor air. and so
they 60 continually during several months
back and forth from house to street, although
there Is n difference OF between 4O' and BOZ
between the two tom peratures. Again. the
climate is hardly more favorable to clennli-
moss than 1t is to health. The houses. every
chink Of which is studiousy closed. are not
easily kept clean. The stoves cannot purify
the air OF the room because they do not open
into them. Wellto-do families remedy this
Inconvenience by tho size OF the apartme ents
which open Into one another. and by the fire.
Quent burning Of perfumes. The peasant is
condemned to live In o sitting atmosphere. re-
rlete with miasmatic influences. The warm
and infected air o; hla cabin engenders
myrnds OF insects: the result is that his hab-
itation teems with all kinds OF vermin. Out OF
doors the nth thrown out around tho house
vanishes under the snow. only to reappear
with unimpaired fetidity In the spring. Even
in the cities the refuse is not always carried
away by the sewers. for these are often shut
off by ice: on the first warm days 1t fllls the
streets with pernicious exhalations. Nothing
can equal tho stencil Of thaw in Russian
city. The snow. which, under the sleigh's rum
ners. seemed Ike sand or pounded glass. Is
into q thick. nauseous slush.
Under such sanitary conditions 1t is not to be
wondered at that the people should fall IN easy
prey to every epidemic. For the common people
the necessity Of keeping the body well covered
Is an obstacle to cleanliness. as well as to
hygiene. The peasant sleeps in his clothes:
lives night and day in tho same sheepskin. 1t
is true that he takes u vapor bath every Satur-
day as nm act OF rtualistic publication. After
the bath. however. he is compelled to get into
the snme clothes. teeming as they are with
vermin. 1t is further obvious that the Tussian
climate does not favor refinement even IL 1t
cannot positively be said to promote immor-
aity. There Is no doubt that the great num-
Der and precoclty Of marriages diminish the
proportion of illegitimate children: our author
declines. nevertheless. to accept this as
a trustworthy gauge OF popular purity.
1t must. at all events. be conceded that
the crowding OF family within one
room and the practice of sleeping in common
On top OF the broad stoves are not conditions
conducive to the sanctity OF domestic life. So.
TOO. the custom OF bathing in common. even
though the sexes are now kept strictly sepa-
rate. may have tended to generate In the
peasant certain coarseness. In both sexes.
iecency seems less strictly observed than In
at,, to Ia, sl,,o olarp both
non and women appearing to take less
hought OF nudity. In summer. along the |
.ivers 1t is not unusual. especially on Saturday.
o see girls and women with no garment Of ,
my kind disporting themselves in troops In |
carcey sheltered spots. sometimes even under |
he most freauented bridges
On somo OF the points here mentioned 1t is
veil to hear what tho translator has to say
~ way OF qualification in appendices. for
he is naturally Jealous to defend her
against the criticism even OF
friendly observer where 1t seems to her
90 severe. She admits that during the
lenten seasons-which In Russia include not
nly tho forty days known as Lent to Cath
lies. but three analogous periods. amounting
o ten weeks In all-the Russian people rigor-
usly abstain from all animal food. under
7hich head are included milk. butter. and
ges. as we'll MS every kind OF meat. Never
helesR. she contends that the palate is rs fire.
uently the gamer as the loser by confinement
q Lenten fare. 1t is. we are assured asst n
shing how far mushrooms will go as substi-
ute for meat. There are in Russia n dozen ed-
le varieties. all of them wholesome and nour-
,hing and some ranking with the choicest
alicacieS. To dry. preserve. and pickle these
a matter OF vital moment to the poor: their
respects for tho winter would be dark indeed
ut for the chaplets Of little. shrivellot leather
ke blackish morsels strung up along the raft
rs OF the izbn, eked out with few strings Of
Mons and. down in the cellar. with q heap Of
10 huge. back-skinned. terribly strong radish-
5. which are half way between the pink and
hits table radish and the pungent horse
adish. Green hemp-seed oil is n staple arti-
10 of consumption among the poor. and. oaten
!, conjunction with tho black radish Just
lste by many a Jldsj palate. Other oils.
3 rape seed and especially sunhower
,ed oil. are pronounced very accepta-
e substitutes for olive oil or butter In
)oking and even pastry. The fish soubs |
Russia are renowned and We are told that
10 best Of them. the sterlet soup. may be [
'mpared for richness Of favor and costfiness [
material with the clear turtle SOUP for
hich the civic banquets OF London arc re- I
owned. In desserts the place of milk and {
eain is taken by orgeat, substitute which
'ery Russian woman knows how to prepare ]
1t OF almonds pounded in u mortar with l
ater. The translator AYERS that tea and cof- ,
o whitened and favored with almond milk ,
almond cream aro superlativey delicious {
After all. however. she admits q
at for the poor. the Lenten periods are q
mes OF increased hardship and most debili. t
ting want OF nourshment q
The translator does not dispute the correct c
'ss OF the authors statement concerning the 9
mosphere Of the izbd. or PEASANTS cabin. {
Is structures. however. upon the city dwell r
gs are declared to be unfounded. 1t is even =
that the Russian method OF heat Il
z houses is the only perfect one. combining. O
1t 10 said to do. the power Of regulating the 9
at within half a degree maintaining oven v
ss softemperature throughout dwelling. and 9
suring great economy OF fuel Even active U
initiation is said to be secured by the valves
tho lues. six or eight inches in diane eter. by a
ich airi a nd m fad har ra tyyo -