Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-08
BOATING ON THE ANUR.
Curious Sights From Russian
Steamer i'm Eastern siberia.

| Correspondence st. Louis Globc-Democrat.
Two companies ron steamers i'm the sum-
mer between Nicolaievsk, at the mouth of
| the Amur. and Blagovestchensk 1853
verstS, touching at Khabarovk and other
! points. AT BlagOvestchensk passengers for
more distant places take smaller steamers
| bound for Stretyinsk, practically the head
| of river navigation. The regular and occa-
| sionai steamers tow barges carrying large
| cargoes and the General Mooraviefr of the
old company, on which we were to travel
was no exception to the towing rule We
| expected to leave Khabarovk the ID of
! june. Our steamer was late. and We did
| not get off until the Sth. Failure to con-
| meet is inSeparable from frontier travelling
ana must be accepted as an inevitable fea-
| lure or Siberian touring. Steamers for
| BlagovestchenslS are supposed to leave
hhabaroVk every five days in the season,
| and We were told later this schedule is
maintained In order to get as far as
| Stretyinsk by boat, and so reduce the land
| travelling. We had arranged to start by one
| OF the first boats of the wear The Amur
Is the main artery of eastern Siberia, and
with us tributaries covers most of the trad
ing places in a large portion of that region
me river is clear of ice and nayigabi, from
SIX TO eight months in the year from Nico-
laleVsk TO Blagovestchensk and for three
months from Blagorestchensk The dis
tanceS are: Nicolaievsk to Khabarovk 49,
! versts; kha baroVk to Blagoyestchensk o1S
NefStS; Blagovestchensk to Stretyinsk I119
NefStS. Inc VerSt is five-eighths of a mile
The Mooravieff is a side-wheel steamer of
nNe feet draft. 215 feet long. sharp forward
plugging at the paddle wheels setting low
IN the water, and accommodating eleven
nrst-claSs and twenty-five second-class pas
sengers. Her tow was a barge ae, feet
long and carrying 9I2, 900 pounds of freight
! or which $4,000 pounds was black tea
brought to NicOlaievsk by steamers from
| Krakow, foochow and kukiang to be sold
at Stretyinsk
AT Go the Mooravieff began whistIing
ana AT $50. after series of Russian ia re-
Wells men hugging and kissing each other
ike hySterical school girls women and girls
tearfully embracing, much shouting and
laughing and good natured iostling, the
steamer moved ont into the stream for ms
KEPT us on deck long time. but finally. at
mint from our practical travelling com
panion, We looked up our cabin This AT
me LOOT OF short, steep, winding stairs we
louhd OF good size, cones ha ped with deem
wide. soft, spring-cushion seats along Tho
outer side and broad end. The cone noint
mad table and chair and small porthole.
OUT one Ight looked almost on to the river
surface. SO close We're we to the wafer
Inc single attempt at decora zion Yvas
bright blue silk curtain over the mort
Whlch we promptly tucked under a cushion
SO dS TO eaten every ray of sunshine. The
room was paneled in polished oak and The
ceiling crossed with heavy beams W.
would have gladly given up panel. poIisb
and curtain for dozen strong hoods-there
bAN t"b-dEd Il looking glass.
Inc SiberianS are certainly not vain
Looking glasses are scarce We have dress
ed combed and shaved on the say-so of
each other and small hand glass for a
week running. Fortunately. orr travels
nave taken us where personal appearance
has not counted, and a DAYS beard or an
uneven side comb has not barred us from
the SamoNar group always assembling or
assembled The majority of Russian men
are not as heavily bearded as we imaein-
ed Few are Smooth-faced, but MANY of
them wear only mustaches. Nature has
been KIND as To locks. but the BARRIERS art
Keeps the fairly el1-groomed Russian Close.
cut as 10 head and face The common class
woman on our steamer wore shawl or
kerchief on her head. and the ladies went
bareheaded. Hats are worn only when alb
Solutely necessary. and consequently the
cheNelure is not always tidy A Russian
lady will he trim and modern in dress with
head diSheVeled to the cOmicaI point The
nead ana feet OF the women give them the
least and the most concern The. soft
breezes play havoc with loose strands vet
the women defy dripping decks and muddy
roads in the thnnest of heelless slippers
This is their one touch of vanity Men
wear the heaviest of high boots with the
thermometer at 90. and women nut on ma
per-wetght slippers though the heavens
weep. The latter are not the shalt shoe of
our country. but the old-fashioned strap-
crossing, ribbon-bowed slipper HARMONY
of toilet and symmetry of costume are
unknown to the women at this end of the
czars domain. The shirt waist has wedged
in-not the natty American waist This
one has a broad turnover COLLAR fancy
cuffs, cotton bow, many buttons and uu-
merous frills, making it often. a feminine
terror. There are some well-dreSsed wo-
men IN our party, for instance the Rus
sian ladies are up to date in style and cut
The Mooraveiff ran from 6:3O to 10 p m.
starting day. and then anchored. The night
was dark the river more than ordinarily
tortuous and navigation difficult The next
morning was bright and warm. and we ran
the day long in stream nearly two miles
wide, with bushy banks. with tall grass
back to the mountains. the water a muddy
brown, and grass, bushes and trees vivid
green At 7:3o in the evening we reached
the Cossack village of MithayIoow Semen
ovskia 1t is a memory of soldiers. peas
ants in long red pink and green-hal-a1
blouses, women bareheaded or 'kerch:efed
and barefooted, or in the heavy cowhide
boots OF the men, scattered along a high
Dank. Early IN the evening of the next
day, after passing through miles of forest
the steamer wooded at the village of Akat-
crime Nicols. Though the bell in the onion
topped church rang for prayer as We drop
ped anchor, the peasant women. with but
ter, eggs, bread, potatoes and wild flowers
Hooked to the landing and silently awaited
custom. Sunday the banks of the river ran
low. villages on the Siberian side grew more
numerous and the south Manchurian
side of the river began to show signs of
life. Monday the river narrowed and ran
between high hills. large and brilliant
yellow lilly was a noticeable flower along
the waters edge. AT night the steamer
wooded the Manchurian side-for the
first and only time the trip About @
pm. the next day We came to the Chinese
city of Aigouin, and for over an hour ran
along its front. Our captain said IL was
thought to have 100000 inhabitants Low
mud houses with matched roofs number
less junks. an absurd mud fort, with an
outlying fleet of small boats high and dry
on the beach. equipped with Misunderstanding
cannon, caught our attention, and about
this time We were driven below by thun-
derstorm. Ar hour later We were on deck
again, to find the river CLASSY and the air
freshened by its bath. The steamer ran
within 100 feet of the low northern bank.
and every mile or two the people. peace
fully fishing and blissfully unconscious Of