The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-23


sugar. Bears are gluttonously fond of
raspberries. Many recontre occurs be-
tween peasant and bruin in the thickets
while raspberries are ripe; Michael is a
fruitfeeder then, though children and wo-
men are, | expect, always in danger.
Although bears and wolves are plentiful
in most districts, and splendid bear skins
are to be bought for few shillings in
nearly every village, 1 had Travelled some
thousands of miles, both in winter and
summer before 1 saw my first live bear. 1
only saw three in five years, and the
wolves / met / could number on my 10 fin
gers. Yet l once waited six hours at a
post-house to rest the horses I had ar
rived with, as two of the troitka, that
should have taken me to the next station,
had been eaten by wolves that evening
while drinking at little stream just out
side The village. The forests TEEN with life
and food for the bears and wolves. and
these animals seldom take to the road as
means of livelihood.
Whilst living at Yeniseisk l heard from
an angler friend of little tributary of
the Great Yenisei where the grayling were
rising fondly at the gnats and mosquitoes.
Taking few flies, couple of strong silk
lines and Ratchet to cut an impromptu
rod or two, we set out in an old tefega
with couple of horses, one delightfully."-
hot afternoon in June. to drive the 20
versts to the little forest stream. Shortly
before reaching it, we stopped at a quiet
little village inn. Whilst the old mother
handed us wooden bowls of kwass, she
said:
you will probably find Meesha just by
the bridge; he has taken to coming there
lately, to bask in the sun"
We thought nothing of her words until
upon galloping down short, steep hill,
we saw below US, 100 yards ahead, what at
first appeared to be a brown COW or large
dog asleep in the middle of the road. Our
driver cried:
There he is, the sudkiuskil Hold tight,
and when l cry out, shout your worst"
He dashed his horses, which, with their
ears pricked forward, swerved from side
TO side of the road in a panic of fear.
When we were within thirty yards of the
bear, sweeping down like an avalanche,
we commenced shouting and yelling, the
driver cursing. in explosive Russian,
Michael" his mother" and his race.
The great beast sat up suddenly, biinked
al us, and when we were within ten yards
of him. gave a loud snort and bounded up
the side of the bank, where he sat, slobber
ing and growing, as we swept by in
cloud of dust, on the opposite side of the
road A parting shrek sent him off,
crashing through the underwood. When
We could pull up, half mile ahead, and
the driver got down to adjust the rope
harness, he cried:
Pardon my sins! But Meesha can't en-
dure my cursing."
felt a tingling excitement that made
me break into long and loud laughter
In Siberia, murder is rarely punished by
death: the criminal is only sent farther
East If the crime is repeated he is
passed on TO a distant and more inclement
zone Some convicts at the Lena mines
We're credited with being murderers to the
fifth degree. The nurse of my motheriess
how was an exile who had killed her hus-
band. one lost the sharp sense OF antipathy
10 the criminal, so instructive in the west.
Pobberv ACCOMPANIED with murder, Is
common enough. l saw four crosses on tiie
road inst as | entered Irkutsk, one OF
which marked the spot where ten people
had been murdered in open daylight. AT
pipbt robbers wrap themselves In white
calico and. invisible in the snow, cut the
,1ooaee from behind the seighs. Near the
mines a considerable trade in Illicit splrlCs
is ,orried on by the spirit nocu as the
s,,,I, sglers are called These buy contra
hard vodld at within and carry it into the
mining districts, where they make d rap
ulous profit in exchange for stolen goid'
They travel along obscure tootpalhs winch
80 tba main road at well known points.
49, ore notoriously dangerous spots,
go. tbe murders that take place near
.to., travellers gallop swiftly by, peering
on-io,,sIv around. Shafts of gold, dlsused
lines hold chastity secrets. l was toid that
80, ion frozen corpses lay IN some VI
80 and that the company is AFRAID TO
49,, Them for fear of the scandals that
would arise. IT.
y,.t,,r,iro home one midnight from as
- zinc 7 rode toward a light IN a neli'
to end two mounted Cossaeks Keeping
1yotcb over the body OF man VINO nau
t,oan murdered few minutes before Nleh
~ sIain for pair of boots, or even lot
a passport ..ortool, hands Of
- Going east. in slow, loose order
,-,a,.dad nv Cossacks. Escapes are not
? ?, erac,,ent but they are made at terri
~, yiels DAVIS may pass by without Ioon'
a,,d dies and mosquitoes are more nedoy
-, wolves Escaped conviets travel by
nigbt and peasants frequently put 1000
n,itside their huts for these poor run
80 IToreed or stolen passports are car
ried. but many man Is oetec,eu -, ~ 11p
t,red nv slight errors in their preparatl"tl'
NJ, C,ossacls have TO deliver at the jour
- end the exact number of conVlcts
nav started with and CHASTITY tales are
80 Of peasants kidnapped to make up the
lumber for those who have escaped en-
route.
orce when I was travelling on a by
ro,d with governor of the district ne
nointed out to me a Jagged man as an es-
raned :" He covered him, with his revoIV-
or and called the man TO him. saying
"Sbow me your passport The man turn
od while and trembled. "Unbutton your
coatr, shouted the officer. The man obey
cd and fell on his knees. There were the
,oliehed iron chains that he had not been
able 70 remove The officer broke INTO
] rnorciful laugh, and throwing MN piece
of silver. allowed him to escape.
In Siberia. the most naive and grotesque
fetishism exists side by side with not a
lille western emancipation. More tnan
once we met with the stone that was gong
on pilgrimage; a large, round block OF
granite journeying to a distant shrine or
monastery. The orthodox are entreaied
TO roll Il a few yards on the way as an
act Of piety. 1t will be years on the road
buf IL will arrive at last
In the museum of Tobolsk are relics OF
Ermsk. the discoverer Of Siberia "a a.
d.. 1851. Here are some Of the weapons