The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-03-03

10, who spoke Russian and EnGilsn, ana
who acted as my interpreter. l was liv-
ing on board the steamer In the har-
Dor. about three miles from the railroad.
The train started at IL p. m, and a
great storm came up about s. The har-
Dor was full of white caps and the waves
ran high. The wind was blowing, and a
cold, misty sleet ran down into our bones
like so MANY corkscrews as we left the
vessel and started for the shore. / can't
describe the severity of the wind. 1t al
most split the scalp when 1T touched the
back of my head. and covered down
in the sampan which I had engaged.
while the Chinaman in a waterproof
coat sculled US through the darkness.
The night was Egyptian in its black
ness A wall of light rose out of the sea
in the distance, where the great bar
racks, with their thousands of Russian
troops, covered the sides of the hills.
Here and there out of the mist sparkled
the lights of a great, black, monster
shadow of black hulks which were car
rying Russian prisoners to the island of
Saghalin. We narrowly missed getting
the train. We left the steamer at $50.
jumping into the boat, which rose and
fell like a bolt of paper upon the waves.
and we had worked our way almost to
the shore when I found / had forgotten
my passport. The possibilities of Rus
sian prison came over me, and insisted
that we must go back to the ship after
Chinaman objected, but we finally
turned back, and in the end reached the
land, with only twenty minutes to make
the train.
Hiring a droschky. with two horses,
we drove on the gallop through the mud
to the station. This was filled with sol
diers and police. There were common
soldiers in uniform, army officers in
heavy overcoats and guards by scores
who marched up and down with bay
a mr.
everywhere, and the station looked more
like a barracks than a railroad depot.
AT one end of it was a restaurant, and
at the other end was the ticket window.
After showing my passport and my po-
lice permit / was able to buy a ticket to
Nikolsk. The distance was. as have
said, seventy miles, and it cost me $295
in silver. The ticket was of about the
size of small business envelope. 1t
was white, and no thicker than note
paper Upon it were printed the date
and distance and the names Of the sta
tons. Showing 1t, / passed out of the
door to the train, going by more guards
and police as I did so. The train COM
prdsed about twenty-five cars, of which
half a dozen were passenger coaches and
the others were freight and baggage
cars. made rush for one of the cars,
and my heart sank as / looked at the
accommodation, and at the place where,
I had to sleep during the night. 1t Was
merely freight car filled with wooden
benches running clear across the car,
and facing each other. Above the seats
there were shelves. and l found that
these were the upper berths. The lower
seats were all filled when we entered, and
I had to climb up on one of these upper
shelves to sleep. There were no cushions
and no bedding. / rolled my coat up for
a pillow and wrapped myself in my
blanket and lay down. The space be-
tween myself and the roof was not wide
enough to allow me to sit UP. and
rolled over on my side and looked with
interest on the queer crowd surrounding
me. The most of the passengers were
soldiers, but there were emigrants and
farmers, a half dozen Chinese, one or
two Tartars and several Japanese girls,
who seemed to be of a very questionable
character. They laughed and chatted
with the soldiers, and were loud in their
way.
I found that the soldiers were very in
qCisitive- i was approached half
dozen times by officers and Questioned.
The guard of the train looked me over
very carefully, and when the men found
I could speak German I had to answer
all kinds of questions. The cars which
are now used on the road are more like
those of Europe than of the United
States. They are only third and fourth
class, and they look more like box-carS
than palace coaches. The first and Sec
ond-class cars will undoubtedly be good,
and there will probably be Pullman
car running over the line when it is COM
pleted. At present the accommodations
are anything but luxurious, and as lay
on that board shelf and was carried
along at the rate of perhaps fifteen miles
per hour thought of the Pennsylvania
limited between New York and Pitts
burg, with its library and sitting rooms,
and as 1 looked at the candle which
shone out of the lantern above me- and
which formed the only light of the car,
compared it with the wonderful electric
light system of the Chicago, Milwaukee
G. st. Paul railroad, where the light is
set into the back of your berth, and
where, by moving a slide, you can make
your berth as light as day at any hour
of the night. AS my bones ground holes
into the wood thought of the good beds
of the Canadian Pacific. over which I
had ridden in going to Asia, and longed
for the railroads of our own civilized
land. Thea was sitting and ill-smell-
ing, and the fifty odd people whom we
be rancid. and l was glad when the
guard gave me rude jerk and told me
to get up for Nikolsk.
A QUEER SIBERIAN CITY.
Niko1sk is one of the biggest towns of
interior Siberia. 1t is a great military
center, and it has vast areas of rich land
surrounding it. The soil is as black as
your boots, and it makes me think of
what Senator ingalls, said about the fer
tility of Kansas, which is, according to
him, so rich that you can poke your arm
down into the ground up to the shoulder
and pull out earth in your fist as rich as
guano. A great deal of wheat is raised
about this point, and the Russians have
established great steam mills for the
grinding of food for the soldiers. Wis
tied these mills during my stay. Their
machinery had been imported from Rus
STA, and it was Of the latest modern
make. We passed many barracks, and
we saw soldiers on guard everywhere.
There were, judge, about ten of fifteen
acres of buildings connected with the
mills, and the workmen seemed to be
Cinnamon. The land about Nikolsk is
being settled like Russia. There are
villages which own a great deal of land
in common. and they sell their grain to
the government. The town itself has a
number of stores and business blocks.
The houses are of wood, and they made
me think of our Western frontier towns
We stopped at the hotel, which was run
by a Chinaman. 1t was just daybreak
when we arrived. and we asked for a
room. He said he had aone vacant, and,
pointing into the billiard room, / saw
four Russians with their boots on Sleep
ing on the tables. / asked for break
fast, and after time was given some