The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-01-02
DE9aATs Of RUSSIAN TRAVEL


Much has been written about the Ger
man bed. But how much might not he
written about the Russian bede Nay,
how much has not been written al
ready2 Even in decent country houses
in Russia the sleeping place is often
merely a couch or the top Of a chest Of
drawers covered with a rug. But in the
towns, and especially in the hotels In.
the towns, there are beds, and such
bedsl The German bed, as most people
r aware, if not from personal ex-
perience, from JEROME 4. Jerome's de-
scription Of it. is placed on a deep box.
into which you climb and then pull the
bed on top of you. The whole contrib
vance Is SO designed as to keep one-half
Of the body perspiringly hot and the
other half shiyeringly cold, and to suf-
focatc you if you r not constantly ON
the alert. Its grand redeeming feature
is that you cannot tumble out oft, how
ever much you toss about. The Ilrs-
sian bed, on the contrary. is an aEaSR
out Of which, or rather or Of which,
you cannot possibly help t1mbIing,
however still you lie. It is an i=on or
wooden frame, perfectly destitute a.
rails and about the width Of an ordinary
coffin. Upon this is laid a mattress ara
the entire arrangement is deposited In
the middle Of the room. To get on to IL
iseasyerough for it is quite low. Butte
fall Asieep on it is inevitably to fall on
Sne floor. It is too narrow to turn in.
and there is nobody who does not turn
in his sleep, unless he is Russian, who,
one may assume, has been weaned from
the habit by countless hops in the days
of his youth, when he didn't mind that
sort of thing. He has brought himself
into harmony with his environment
as the evolutionists say, and is comfort
able. The stranger has not and suf-
fers accordingly.
Most people before they enter the
land Of Nod are apt to dream that Their
have fallen over a precipice and are GO.
ing down, down, down, and just as they
are about to touch bottom they wake
up with a start and heave a sigh of re-
lief as they realize that they are on
nothing harder than feathers. In Rug
STA that dream has a terribly actual
termination. The visionary wakes with
. start to find that he has gone over
In a very literal sense and is walIowirg
among his trunks. A cunning man viii
shift his bed from the center Of the
room to the wall. That saves him on
one side. But he is still open to disaster
on the other, and a bedroom companion
of mine used to fall out of bed three
times regularly every night and after
the third time lie talking in his sleep
until daylight dreaming, l fancy,
that he was about to break the record
by falling out again. The narrow bed
is general where beds are employed at
all. Even the imperial residences are
furnished with them, and the couch
upon which the murdered Alexander
breathed his last, still shown to visitors
IN the winter palace, is of the same
type. The Russians, like their Teutonio
Deighbors, have a good deal to learn
shout Bedfordshire. Tr
But what about the bedclothes :"
1t will be asked. Well they are much
more easily described than tile bed, the
fact being that they are invariably con-
spicuous by their absence. 1t is not
the fashion in Russia to supply bed
clothing, even in the best hotels. The
traveller is expected to bring his sheets
and blankets with him if he requires
them; and the same is the case
in private houses. A Russian would no
more think Of offering him secondhand
bedclothes than you would of offering
him a secondhand toothbrush. The
railway officials now supply one pillow,
one sheet and onee blanket to each first
passenger. Elsewhere, however.
as stated, the stranger. let him he
guest or paying lodger, is un-3
derstood to provide his own bedclcth-
ing. There are considerations which
render this system highly desirable.
But it is not without it's drawbacks:
and when we remember that the mean
annual temperature of northern lSus-
STA is below freezing point, it win be adj
nitted that no one should be left in
ignorance Of the custom. It's discovery
no small CONSERVATION among
English tourists, who were quite
l~nprepared for it, and who arrived al
Moscow at midnight, tired to death.
md found themselves with nothing to
in and with next to nothing to
upon. How did they manage2
0ne slept for eight days in his topcoat;
mother wrapped himself up in his dig
lity and his dressing gown, while .
bird reposed in a borrowed railway
rug.
Guests in a Russian hotel, or in a pri-
7ate house, for that matter, ought. if
hey are particular, to fasten their bod
'oom doors before engaging in serious
lblutions. Russian servants and waitA
RS, male and female, give no warning
their approach. It is no moro the
custom to knock at the door than ii Is
o furnish bedclothes, and q boots or q
shambermaid win invariably enter a
without any intimntion, "as IT,"
Is . writer has expressed it, "iuten-
ignoring such obstacles to
movement as doors.D TIE fact. that
he room is a bedroom makes no differ
nee whatever. This 3ree-and-caEy
may not annoy q Slav, but it is apt
o provoke embarrassing situations
imoug ~Englishmen, whose morning
oilet il q very extensive affair, embrac-
ng every part Of the man from the
frown Of his head to the soles Of his