The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-15

haps twenty men who had recently
been tried and had not yet taken their
departure for their places of punish
ment. / did not count the number of
judges upon the bench, but | should
say there were four or five of them, all
dressed in kind of semi-military uni
form such as had never seen worn by
judges elsewhere. The criminals were
made to stand UP in line on the left
hand of the court. The clerk called
their names, and each individual was
identified. Then the imperial decree
| was read, and the amount of reduction
in punishment was written down for
each, after which they were removed
from the court room under guard. They
were not an attractive set Of charac-
| ters, though they were mostly young
men, and the proceedings did not seem
| to have much interest for them. 1
asked the chief Judge what was the ma
| ture of their offenses, and he said that
| they were brigands or highwaymen.
| The proceeding was grave enough, but
| it lacked the formality and the SOL
| emnity which it might have worn in
| the court rooms of some other Euro
| pean countries.
MUSEUM AND BAZAAR.
The museum is a very attractive es-
| tablishment, with collections of ami
mails, birds plants, minerals, primitive
| human habitations, and everything
| available to illustrate the natural his
| tory of the Caucasus, and the modes
of life prevailing among the earlier in
| habitants of the country, as well as
those of the present day. 1t is under
| the learned direction of Or. De Radde,
| and it's arrangement and classification
are practical and instructive. The es-
tablishment fills the three floors of
| large building, and also extends into
an adjoining garden, where it occupies
a great deal of space. Nobody should
leave the city without seeing it.
In Tihis, as in every other Oriental
| or semi Oriental town, the most inter-
esting lounging place is the bazaar AS
a mart for Oriental carpets, embroid
| cries, silks, gauzes, and so on, Tifis is
| as good as any other place, and per-
| haps better than most-better l might
| almost say, than Constantinople itself.
| All sorts of Eastern rugs, cheap, dear,
| commonplace, and of high art, are to
| be found there Is abundance. But,
| strange to say, it takes perseverance
| and determination to get at them. /
| never saw traders who seemed so in
| different to the chances of selling; and
| l would advise my friends who may
| go there to get some important banker
| or wholesale dealer or other CONNER
| cial magnate, to so with them to the
| bazaar and OVeraWe the dealers SO that
| they will bring out their best wares.
| This is especially the case with car
| pets and embroideries. If you are
| looking for silver goods, or weapons
or Caucasian hats, you may find mer-
| chants who will exhibit their whole
| stock and allow you to choose what
| you want without attempting to make
| you buy the less salable articles: but
among the undisguised old Orientals,
Hindoos, for example, it is not easy to
| get a sight of the best in the shop, and
| not easy to buy it after it has been
| shown. They will ask you twice the
| genuine price and stick to 1t as if their
salvation depended on it; and when
| they come down to bedrock, they show
that they are doing you favor which
| only a life of peace and humility ever
| afterWard on your part can justify.
| However, the dealers in Oriental mer-
| Chandise are numerous and their stores
| very extensive, and you can loiter and
chatter and bargain in them day after
day with perpetual amusement and the
! agreeable conviction that you are not
so much cheated after all. One de-
lightful old Persian hadji, who thought
he spoke French, and from whom after
several visits 1 bought some little
traps, embraced me as we parted, ex-
claiming effusively: "Oh, mon cher
amant!" and l am sorry may never
see him again.
SHY ON ADJUSTMENTS.
What Tifis seems to lack is means OF
amusement If there is a theater there,
l did not find it out, and the only sub
stitute seemed to be the occasional di-
vertissements of two or three concert
gardens, We went to one of these one
evening. The garden was very large
and partially lighted, consisting main
ly of alleyways opened among clumps
of trees and shrubbery; and the public
was not numerous. We heard a concert
of Armenian instrumental music with
attention, but its prevailing sentiment
was rather sad and its technical per-
fections were limited.
The time TO move on having come
we went to the office of the postal es-
tablishment to make arrangements fol
, the journey northward. Not merely the
transportation of the mails, but alsC
J the carrying of passengers over the
Georgian military road, is in the hand.
of the Government. and we went to the
office duly fortified with certification!
} of introduction. 1t was situated beside
an immense yard with an eXtraordin
: airy array of carriages of differen
J kinds. Stating to the official in charg,
J the number of our party and the tim,
} when we desired to start he advised Vi
: to examine the carriages and selec
5 those we might prefer. Accordingly W.
! chose for our principal vehicle wha
2 they call kareta. 1t is a big and heavy
, | conveyance swung upon leather thor
: oughbraces, and requiring six horses t
draw it. In front is the drivers seat
l | wide enough to hold two or three per
: sons Behind and above, under a pro
5 jecting hood, there is a seat with room
! for three passengers Back of this. ant
e still high on the top, is the place 70
t luggage, and the size of this can be es
t timated when I say that the baggag
of our whole party, seven to ten heav.
e trunks, was firmly packed there an,
( fastened so that it could not move I'm
e derneath, in the center of the vehicle
@ Is coupe, with glass windows on eacl
, side, in which three persons can b
1 transported; and behind the body O
= the coach is a seat for a single indi
= vidual, apparently intended for guard
h With the passengers, the luggage, tn
n driver, and the guide, whose duty /
( to supervise the expedition and to Sc
= to getting fresh horses whenever the,
d may be necessary, the whole outfit
!. horses, carriage, and contents, mus
: have weighed about eight tons. and