Evening star., 1898-10-15
SUMMER IN RUSSIA
All Who Can Seek the Joys of Coun-
try Life,
THE HEAT is OFTEN INTOLBRABLE
Hunting Mushrooms is One of the
Favorlte Amusements.
AT y TYPICAL RESORT
From the London STANDARD.

| meat me oiu lnnabltant OF Moscow. tor
! instance. a city chiefly connected in the
| European mind with the determination of
the Napoleonic army In retreat by frost
and snow, reads with an involuntary smile
OF the heat casualties in London under a
maximum temperature Of somewhere about
| 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That tempcrafura
is reached every year in Moscow and there
are none of the antitherm contriyanccs Of
| india In use in this country. Town is. OF
| course as nearly unboarable as anything
| can be to the all-enduring human frame,
| and 1t is the custom To spend the summer
| in the country The rich Of course have
their estates, or they go abroad. but every
| one down to the poor clerk must get away
| for few hours in the twenty-four from
| the sunerheated cobble-tones and aSphalt
| footwalks OF the capital. For the benefit
| OF the middle classes. then. there are to be
! found, at varying distances all round the
| city, collections Of structures which vary
| from the villa with some pretensions 10
| taste, and standing in it's own not very
| extensive grounds" to the hovel. built OF
| thn shingles, and roughly Knocked to-
/ Eether. This latter differs from the izl,7 of
| the moujik cniefy in being more airy. and.
| above ali. comparatively free from the in
| Vulnerable swarms Of insect guests which,
| though the Russian peasant may tas he
| does regard them favorahy rs a cheap
| Kind of blood purifier" could not be toll
| Grated by anybody else-unless il were an
| enthusiastic German entomoiocist-ror of
! species there is no lack, and bluod-thIrsti
| ness is the common denomination of Them
| all.
But Few Attractions.
THE country" however. in Russia has
| rarely any of those attractions for the eye
which are associated with the word in Eng
| lish; about Moscow it has none. Even wild
| flowers are scarce in numbers and still
more limited in variety, and as for scenery
| there are a few more or less trinity kept
| public parks. and miles upon miles of
| forest: But after the long. weary winter
| the glorious scent of the fragrant mines
| makes amends for much-especially after
| one has just left the anything but odorous
| streets of ancient Moscow. These country
| places are called dachas the word dacha
| properly meaning a grant of land from
| the sovereign. but now applied generally
| TO every country house or hoyel which the
owner cannot call estate" They are
| rented for the season, and the prices suit
! every pocket from f3 or even less for a
| converted izba, to f1o0 or more. So great
| is the demand, that in many of the VIII
| lagos about Moscow the peasants turn out
| of their foul little dens, which they let to
| some poor town mouse. and live themselves
| either In the open OF. at need In their
| stables and byres. The amusements Of
country life are few indeed in Russia.
Hunting Mushrooms.
Until the bicycle craze came they con-
4
or three times day and in the exhilarat-
ing pursuits of 'berrying" or mushrooms
| ing" The latter is a perfect cult in this
country, and old and young. high and low.
| alike are to be seen wandering about I'm
back-aching attitude in search of the
| scores Of kinds of mushrooms which are
| safely edible Something in the nature of
| perpetual picnic are these excursions
| after mushrooms-one of the few occasions
1 when ha.-a
| portunity to enjoy each others society with
| the minimum Of restraint fact which
sufhciently explains perhaps the universal
| popularity of the sport and the raptrr-
| Gus eSclamations with which the discoy-
| cry of the first mushroom OF the season is
| hailed. At almost all the dacha places
| there is a family garden" which is sim
| ply a railed-in space with a band stand
| and a refreshment bar, both more or less
| ornate, according to the ruling prices of
| the surrounding dachss. Here open-air n
| certs, theatrical entertainments. and above
| all, dancing evenings take place several
| times a week, and the business of marry
| ing and giving in marrIage-particuiariy
| the latter-goes forward in a way not un-
| known to places of summer resort in other
| parts of the world, and despite the simpic-
| ity, not to say poverty. of the general sur
roundings, doubtless with equal success.
| Real Russian Life.
| 1t is at one Of these places that I spent
| a few weeks this summer. Not one of the
better known districts where the foreigner
! ahounds, nor one of the wealthy places Of
resort, but a quiet spot where one hardly
knows a soul. and the public attractions
| are not such as 10 tempt anybody far from
| his books and blotting pad. On the other
| hand, one is in the midst of real Russian
| life. with all its amusing and, IT must be
| confessed, not always pleasin characteris-
| tics: and in the capitals where every one
| with any prelense to education whatever
| thinks il necessary TO ape the civilization
of the west as he imagines IL to be- this is
| no easy thing to find. The place itself
shares with most others the undesirable
| qualities OF Unpaved streets with merely
| nominal footwalks. and dust clouds alter
nate with ankle-deep mud the summer
| through. Sitting the Inevitable bal
| cony," one hears the livelong day a series
OF cries, which, I am bound to admit are
| by no means unpleasant to the ear as the
| hawkers of every imaginable household
commodity go their Ceaseless rounds
| Whether it is that the Russians are a nat
| uraiy musical people, or that the glamour
| OF the orient is upon me i VIII not pre-
| tend to say, but certainly these cries would
| not arouse the ire OF the most exacting
| town council, and, they in no way disturb
| ones work
From Dawn TIL Dusk.
Early morning begins with the fresh
| young voices Of the village girls offering. in
notes which are half a Russian folk song
| (and he who has not heard a Russian folk
/ song has yet to learn the charm of minor
melody, The products OF their primitive
| dairies. Then, come in long succession the
| sellers of glassware, hardware OF all kinds
but only one quality, the worst-kitchen
utensils and the food TO cook in them,
flowers, sweetmeTatsy and chocolates. Rus
slams very fond of these, for they help
out wonderfully on fast days, when the
flesh is weak and the appetite bankers
after the forbidden fleshpot. Toys. cakes,
flowers, fruits in their season and so on
till nightfal when gradually all grows still
and the night watehmen begin their drowsy
rounds. These watchmen carry a clapper
like a small wooden box with the two
longer sides removed To one end is at
tached by short leathern thong a wooden
ball little larger than a golf ball, and
there is handle at the other. BY shaking
this primitive instrument, which is cut out
of single block of wood. the ball is made
to strike the sides alternately with a loud
reverberation which is supposed to give
the timid dachnik a sense of security.
Soon the watchman even ceases to be au-