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

ready sale. Piles of junk, scraps O
iron, old spikes and nails, scraps o
| leather, raWh1de, bark and roots, al
alike, seem to find some one that viii
| purchase them.
We leave Kertch just before sunset
and wind our way through the mar
row street that lets our steamer into
! the AZov sea. The passage is made in
| less than an hour and we round a
headland crowned by a lighthouse and
are in the wire open sea just in time
to see a glorious sunset 1t reminds
one of another just such night a few
years ago at this same spot I was
watching another just such sunset
when by chance | was given one of the
prettieSt pictures that [ have ever
seen in my life. Just as the sun had
sunk perhaps a third of its diameter
below the water line a sailing ship,
three or four miles away, with sails
all set, passed between us and the
sun. The distance was just right to
bring the whole of the ship in full
outline against the bright gold
en- orb which outlined it like a
picture-a moving picture. 1t only
lasted for a few moments, flashing like
silver and gold, and the vision had
passed. | can never forget it, | have
never seen the sun set on water since
but what l think of it and always
look for the ship. 1t is never there
and I will probably never see such a
beautiful sight again. We are now
lying opposite Marrupol, town on
the west side of the Azov, with water
50 shallow that our steamer has to
miles or more from shore and unload
onto lighters that are brought out by
tender which returns with our pas
sengers.
And speaking of passengers, I wish
you could see the curious mixture that
we carry from port to port-JeWs,
Greeks, Tartars, Germans, English
and Gentiles and the ''unspeakabIe
Turk" all in one jingle of confusion
on the forward decks, each rambling
for the choice spots and shelters in
which to set or spread out their beds
fo1 here as in old Bible times they lit
orally take up their beds and walk -
There is every tongue spoken and
every variety of religion represented.
Che cannot but admire the constancy
and faithfulness Of the Turk to his
religion, for here on the steamer deck,
crowded and jostled with every con-
fusion around him, at the appointed
hour of prayer his little rug is spread,
shoes removed and, with head bowed
to the deck, he repeats his passages
from the Koran and addresses his
Allah. He may be walked over,
laughed or jeered at but he does not
heed it. He worships his God through
storm or calm, sunshine or rain. In
the tumult of jostling crowds or alone
i'll the silence of the desert he is true
to his faith. | wish | could say as
much for myself and other Americans.
All loading Of ships here is done by
hand-not only by hand but in the
hardest possible way by sheer brute
folce. Men carry loads on their backs
that a horse could not carry and stand
up under. They have a sort of stuffed
saddle that is hung by straps from
their shoulders and which rests on
their hips. Just now they are unload
ing from the barge to the steamer
deck some harvester boxes which
weigh over 600 pounds. It takes
- i
place it on the mans back, then, with
hands braced On his knees and walk
ing stiff-legged, he alone carries this
box to the deck of the steamer where
another gang lifts it off and slows
away. Wheat, coal, iron and parts
of machinery are all handled in the
same way and when a package or
piece is so large and heavy that one
man cannot carry it two, four or six
will get under it and bear it away.
Sometimes a man stumbles and falls
He may be crippled for life or killed.
1t is fate. They make the sign of
the Greek cross and another takes his
place. o! such faith that, drunk or
sober, makes them ready to go to the
Great Unknown when called for.
Faith, ''the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things un-
SEEN" Perhaps l might be a better
man if had more of it and less of
the desire to know why things are so.
Where the river Don empties into
the Azov at Taganrog so much silt is
brought down and the water is so
shallow on the bar and the channel
so crooked that all the ocean steamers
and sailing vessels that bring freight
have to lay out in Taganrog roads some
20 miles from town and in the open
sea. Here they discharge their freight
of merchandise, machinery, iron and
tea and take on loads of grain from
barges and lighters towed out by
steam tenders. All this goes well
when the weather is good but when
there are storms, then for days and
sometimes weeks at a time, no work
can be done and the vessels reel and
tumble about much to the discomfort
of their crew and often to the damage
of the cargoes.
We reach Taganrog just before dark
T. u very prettily situated on high
! land overlooking the sea, but it's COM