Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-07-02

tense OF popular education. 1t IS true, Out
to the peasant farmers it is only pre-
tense, for not one in ten can read line.
The clergy of the Greek Church, always
passively and frequently actively, oppose
efforts at advancement, and the result is
that schools, when they exist at all, are
devoted rather to the devotional than to
the intellectual training Of the young ana
thus the ignorance is perpetuated.
The home life of the Russian peasant is
exceedingly rude and primitive. In the
country districts log houses, greatly re-
sembling those once in use in the early
days Of this country, are very common,
while in regions where stone is more
easily obtained than lumber, the houses
are Of that material. The lower class
Russian is not noted for his cleanliness,
and, though he may take vapor bath
every Saturday night, his company is not
always rendered the more agreeable, in
virtue of that fact, the rest Of the week,
for his ideas Of cleanliness do not always
extend as far as clean clothing, and his
sheepskin jacket and cloak frequently
swarm with vermin. Long boards and
hair are the rule rather than the excep-
ton, despite the efforts Of Peter the Great
to abolish both, and these capillary at
fractions are usually SO unkempt and I'M
cared for as to detract greatly from the
personal appearance of the wearer. The
home is no more attractive than it's owner.
Two or three miserably dark rooms, often
shared with domestic animals, big brick
stove on one side, which, in very cold
weather, serves as the bed of all the in
mates of the house, bench, table, a
few crude cooking utensils and a sacred
picture in the corner, constitute the fur
nishings and furniture, while pork, milk,
cheese and black bread, SO coarse and ill
smelling as often to be repulsive, form
the leading articles of diet. Poor and in
sufficient as his food may be, however,
every Russian peasant considers himself
fully compensated If, on the frequent holt
days, he has the means of getting an ade-
quate supply of vodki, and Of all the mean
drinks that ever went down the human
throat, this is probably the vilest. Imag-
inc the worst possible brand Of whisky,
mingled with the stalest beer ever drawn
by bum from three-day-old beer key,
tinctured with asafoetida, tobacco juice,
a little essence Of Crimson weed" flavor
ing of wormwood and gall and a taste of
Russian throat can stand it, and even a
Russian throat can endure it only on holi-
day occasions. The Russians do not drink
as Incidental to occasions Of socia bility.
The Englishman, Frenchman, German
and American may get drunk, but it is
generally because they are with friends,
and, flushed with social emotion and con-
versation, transcend the limits of pru-
dent drinking. The Russian gets drunk
with generalization and malice afore-
thought; deliberately goes to shop where
his favorite tipple is sold, pays his money,
and in moment swallows enough to
make a beast of him for twenty-four
hours, and even longer, for it is pecu-
liarity of vodki that it can make man
drunken for a longer time and for less
money than any other drink known to the
tippler. 1t is even said in Russia that
after vodki drunk has apparently run it's
course and gone the way of all DRINKS, the
subject may revive it by going and lying
in the sun, and in a quarter of an hour
will be as drunk as ever. So the student
of Russian political economics must take
into account, not only the number of holi-
days, but also the number Of days after
the holidays, for working the day after
vodki drunk is an impossibility, and
thus is the effectiveness of the Russian
laborer still further reduced. If he can
make enough to support his family and
get drunk, too, so much the better, if not,
the family goes hungry, for to the Rus
sian peasant a holiday without vodki is
but barren ideality.
Such are the ignorant, shiftless, improv-
ident people who crowded the neighbor-
hood of the ancient capital in anticipatios
of free feast from the hand of the Gear.
That they trampled each other to death at
the tables, that they were drowned in the
beer provided for their use, is not to be
wondered at, for herd Of cattle would
act quite as intelligently as the degraded
creatures who starved themselves for a
whole day that they might be better pre-
pared to profit by the Cars generosity.
The future of this vast mass Of ignorance
may well be viewed with apprehension.
The Russian peasants do not now know
their strength, just as the equally ignor-
ant and down-trodden French peasantry
century ago were ignorant Of their
power, but when they discover it, as some
day they surely will, the aristocracy OF
Russia may fare as badly as did the no
bility that crowded the gay court Of Louis
XVI. The day of reckoning may be dis
tant, for national movements are gen
orally slow, but, on the other hand, the
world moves faster and goes further now
in decade than it formerly did in a cen
fury, so there may be men living who will
see the social earthquake that will occur
when the Russian peasants discover their
wrongs and rise to take vengeance on
their oppressors.
Failure of Frances Hay Crop.
Frances hay crop being failure, M.