The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-14

mess or occupation have 1 ever yet en-
| countered in Russia that was carried on
| without the assistance Of eamovar.
| At acknowledgement one evening during
| the fair l was walking among the booths
| of the wholesale fur merchants The
| front part of all the shops seemed deserted
| and as / walked along / peered into the
| dingy back rooms to see where the people
| had disappeared, and in every one of these
| dingy, dirty little rooms, among the heaps
! of skins and furs, there was a table, on
| which stood a steaming samovar, and
| around ii sat a group Of men, laughing,
/ chatting and drinking tea. 1t was tea
| time" and when "tea-time' comes-at
noon and at o'clock-all Russia drinks
| tea.
once 1 noticed at a railway crossing a
| tiny little watchman's house, hardly six
| feet square and on the tiny little porch
| before it, not nearly so large, a man and
| a woman were sitting on a small bench
! watching a samovar-waiting for 1t to
| boil. The samovar occupied about two
| thirds of the porch, and was about the
size of a large beer keg. This was fair
picture of the relative Importance of the
samovar to the rest of the establishment
| in Russia.
Another evening at "tea-time' 1 was in
one of the bazaars of the poorer class in a
small city. The booths had rough board
floors and counters rooted with canvas.
The goods for sale were of the common
| est, cheapest character. But in every
| booth a brass samovar was boiling mer-
| rily away, and the owner and his family
were drinking tea.
When 1 was at Orensburg I crossed the
| Ural river into Asia and drove out INTO
| the country several miles to a camp of
! KirSbiz. The Kirghiz are nomads who
| inhabit the southern steppes. The Russian
| government is making every effort to IN
duce them to settle down and stay in one
| place, but so far these efforts have heen
| without much success. The Kirghiz SEEM
| ed to me about the pooreSt-looking Peo-
| pie 1 had ever seen, and in spite of their
| bright, happy faces, l could not help being
struck with their scanty, ragged clothes,
| and the generally fororn aspect of their
camp. Each tent was simply few poles
supporting a roof of tattered CLOTH and
the whole not occupying much more space
than would be covered by an ordinary
double bed. and under this shelter lived
a whole family And yet in front of
every one of these miserable, comfortless
| tents there sat big, bright, prosperous
looking samovar.
All the Russians travel with teapots to
use along the way. At any station in Rus
STA you can for few kopecks have your
teapot filled from the samovar owned by
the keeper of the eating room. In ST.
IBERIA it is even more convenient. The
railroad company which is the govern
ments, provides boiling water free of
charge to all who desire to brew the ma
tional beverage. When the train stops
at a station you can always see sitting
out on the platform a gigantic samoyar
in a cloud of steam. From this you may
draw as much boiling water as you please,
and often. though it may hold a barrel
of water il is completely emptied in
few moments. The Russian travelling
public demands boiling water. When
they stay at home the Russians make
their tea in samovars, but when they
travel they carry teapots and expect to
find boiling water always convenient.
If you see company of soldiers on the
march loaded down with arms, knapsacks
and blankets, you may look for canteens.
You will see none. But every other man
will carry a tin teapot!
saw a crowd of about 400 workmen get
ting on Volga steamer to so from Sa-
mara to Astrakhan. Nearly every man car
ried a teapot. The steamboats, have on
their decks great copper boilers, always
full of boiling water, where you may go
any time of the day and draw the water
for your tea.
The Russians have actually a word for
boiling water" entirely different and
separate from the word for water. You
often see 1t advertised like any other
ticle in common demand. Russian tea is
always drunk out of a glass, instead of
a teacup, and with a slice of lemon, in
stead of cream and to be truly Russian
you must take it raging hot.
In every sort of occupation or amuse-
ment tea-drinking forms a frequent and
important interlude. At the theater. be-
tween the acts, everybody goes out and
| gets a glass of tea. If you have to get off
the train at a railway junction in the
middle of the night and wait for another
train you will find that all your travelling
companions will spend the entire interim
| in drinking tea.
l was Ia a bank one day at noon. A
| dozen clerks were leaning busily over
| their books. Presently a man came in,
carrying a walterful of glasses of tea
| Every man present took a glass; and it
| was such a matter of course that they
hardly looked up from their books as they
slipped the fragrant, steaming stuff
Another afternoon l was in a steamboat
| office near the wharf There were clerks
| at their desks on every side, all busy, and
| people coming and going from the wharf
| in perfect throng. But, weaving in and
out among the crowd. there was a boy
carrying to every desk steaming glass
| of tea
| In Petersburg, where / was STAYING
| there was a young Russian baron i'm the
house who had a position in the depart
ment of one of the ministers of state-I
| forget which one. l heard some of the
girls teasing him one day about how little
| he had to do.
You go to the office at and come away
at 5, don't your" asked one.
Yes" he confessed, reluctantly, trying
| however to look as If the affairs of state
| pressed very heavily upon him during
those three hours.
And during that time you make tea, 1
suppose?" asked another
why, yes; we make tea of course" he
replied with an air of conscious rectitude.
IF you will believe me-" said another
young American present. II went 70 the
department for something one afternoon,
and there was a minister of - and
his entire corps of assistants sitting up
around a samovar, making tea together
''Of course, we make tea" repeated the
baron severely; 'you don't expect us to
go the whole afternoon without tea, do
your"