Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-09-16
:: Letter
: FR0M Russia.


the Jew, Greek, Turk, Armenian and
French, as we'll as English and Ger
man merchants, drive a brisk and
profitable business here. AS our
steamer stops for three hours here her
passengers wander through the streets,
Dr gardens, along the water front,
scme to battle, others to drink chi in
the airy, opeL-sided Restaurants that
5yerhang the water, while a friend
and myself wandered up street after
street until we were several hundred
feet overlooking the harbor and gar
dens below. On the other side of the
valley we could see above the gardens,
vineyards enc above the other, until
they were lost in the dull, reddish
brown of the hills that shelter them
We were happy to find seat at a lit
tie chi whose oren veranda allowed
us to look right down OF the harbor
with it's busy life so far below that
its noise only reached us as a low,
gentle hum. Here we drank the ma
tlCral beverage, the Away
found, ever-welcome and delightful,
our pretty picture by the warning
whistle of our steamer below, and, bid
ding good bye to the beautiful view
we descend to our ship and in the
evening twilight take last look at the
World-famed Yaltah. We reach Theo-
dOsia at very early hour in the morn
ing and get up to take a view of the
n INV
Yaltah, is surrounded by volcanic hills,
but much lower as they are gradually
fading down towards the straits of
kertcb. Theodosia dates way back to
the Roman empire or beyond and has
seen Persian, Greek, Roman and Turk
in possession. Old ruins of mosques
and fortreSses are crumbling among
new and modern structures. Now it
is thriving town, has a branch from
the Crimean railroad and is one of the
largest grain shipping ports of Russia.
We arrive at Kertch and as the chan
mel of the straits is a crooked and
shallow one our steamer comes to
anchor some two miles out and a
steam tender comes to take us to the
the afternoon nearly all the passengers
&c on shore to do the town. Aertch
is a curious old place that has seen in
ages past Egyptian, Persian, Roman
and Turkish rule, has been the home
OF kings, and contains the tomb Of at
least one emperor, whose empty mum
my case and broken sarcophagus of
beautiful white marble is now to be
seen in the old tomb which was built
of beautifully hewn stone so nicely
Joined that | could not put my pen
knife blade between them. The stone
work was first built, then all buried in
an artificial mound of earth taken
from Fi.e plain around. This mound,
I should judge, is about 100 feet high
and 800 feet in diameter. 1t had al
ways been called the kings mound,
but when Crened by an archaeological
society some 20 years or more past it
was found to have been opened appar-
emily hundreds of years before and it's
treasures defaced ard carried away.
Near the town the range of hills begins
to rise, as they do on the other side of
the straits, and on the side of these
hills are vast deposits of broken de-
bris of cities long since crumbled and
faded away. Here at some time must
have been immense fabrics of pottery,
for there are deposits of broken earth
enWare that are 20 feet deep. These
small hills contain broken pottery,
bones of animals and men. as we'll as
sea shells and rare old coins. I was
today by the side of one of these
mounds where it had been eXcavated
for the foundation of a new building
and at a depth of at least Is feet from
the surface [ took out several fraS
ments of very fine specimens of black
Egyptian pottery, as well as of the
red and yellow variety. Some of these
pieces have very fine tracings in black
and white hieroglyphics. There are
specimens of fine vases not more than
Cne-siXteenth of an inch in thickness
ana then other cOarser broken ware,
and parts Of jars as large as those that
the 40 thieves were hid in. Some men
were digging while | was present and
took took out the side and one handle
of a cruise that was at least three feet
in height. Many small copper coins
are found every year and I was FORUM
ate enough to find some myself, but it
rather dampens ones ardOr for re-
searches when a grinning skull with
detached jaw comes out with the other
fragments, as / saw one today 1t was
imbedded in pottery clay and in an
excellent state of preservation, with
upper teeth that had never felt the
keen anguish of a dentists drill, al
though the skull had evidently been
fractured either in war or peace.
Guide books tell us but
little of Kertch. The pres
ent Inhabitants know still less,
but a visit to the little museum
III the town where many of the articles
can be seen that have been eXcavated
in the past few years tell us of cities
in the dim past whose inhabitants
possessed wealth and refinement with
skill that is not surpassed today in
manufacture of beautiful earthenware
I he Kertch of today is a little town,
dirty and hot, built of white, porous
volcanic stone that can be hewn with
carpenters broad ak. The soft stone
Pavements are ground into powder by
the hundred of loaded teams passing
over them and the strong winds that
! the two seas constantly whirl this dust