The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-05

the banks I saw an English pictorial
magazine. The new brick hotel, the
central three stories high, boasting an
annex, lighted with electricity, and facing
the river l,OO0 feet from our landing. Weld
ed three of its fifty large rooms,
The baggage detail fell to me- Eight
stalwart Cossacks shouldered our trans
ana under my personal direction moved
70 the hotel. The men wore gaudy cot
ton blouses, full velvet breeches. baggy
IN all portions, long boots; and felt caps:
ana L was assured by a small but adj
mlrlng audience that as we passed along
the corridor l was the marshal Of an
unusually striking procession. Eternal
vigilance is the price of possession in
Siberia, and the wary traveller keeps
his effects in sight or under lock and kew.
Our Central hotel room was eighteen
feet by twenty feet, high, studded, and
in Russian sense we'll furnished There
were Lace curtains in the big windows,
and the iron bedsted bore a new mat
tress. To be sure we had neither basin,
pitcher, nor bedclothes, the mustard vel
low floor had cracks half an inch wide,
and soap and water would have improved
the tablecIoth.
But these were mere details A few
kopecks cured the worst defects, and by
the free use of the open window we
managed to get along during our seven
days stay.
Blagovestchensk IS noI gay. It is live
ly. 1t has four clubs, for gentlemen,
officers, clerks and bicyclers The BIZ
cycle club has 100 members, and the 9TH
ers are larger. The new theater is used
for social and charity purposes in sum
,mer, and in winter for theatrical and
musical entertainments.
was naturally curious to pick up a
few climatic points, and on this. score
lnterrogated one Of the Oldest inhabi-
tants. I'VE have a nice climate" said
he, ''for the thermometer seldom rises
above 100 degrees (FahrenheiD in sum
mer, and in winter we never have a
record much lower than 40 degrees below
Zero
Blagovestchensk is not a peaceful abode
in winter Four hundred miles away
are rich mines that are worked in sum-
mer by hired miners, who steal more
than their wages, and spend all in riot
Gus living. And SO in winter the city
takes on the wild aspect Of a mining
camp, and people keep off side streets
after dark. go 'efsE s@sS'a
The sale of intoxicating drinks in the
district between Big street and the river
is forbidden, and drunken man on the
streets is liable to arrest. North of Big
street hot and fiery liquors are sold, and
the drunkard may reel without let Or
hindrance. There were over fifty muir
ders in the city in 1885, and in nearly
every case the murderer escape, 1t
should be borne in mind that Blagovest-
chensk is several hundred miles from a
railroad, and that in the last five years
it's population has doubled. In 1893 over
400 houses were built.
The proundest boast of BlagoVestchensk
is its telephone system. The telephone
wires at Vladivostock and Khabarovk are
I'M .k111o IL
line has 230 subscribers, who pay an an
nuaI fee of eight roubles (about eight
guineas) and are allowed all the switches
they want.
In the central office are several girls of
meek aspect and weary face, who look
as If the Russians are as exacting and
impatient in matters telephone as the
people we call our own. When the Rus
slams ring up central they have to say
''hello;" and when we heard their calls
we felt partially consoed for our tedious
task of memorizng Russian words. The
telephones were marked Ericsson,
Stockholm and the boxes were pretty
specimens of inlaid woodwork
We never saw large loaves of bread I'M
til we reached Blagovestchensk The bak-
ers made them round and square. Eigh-
teen inches square or two feet across are
the popular sizes with the peasants. ST.
berian flour is inferior, very inferior, and
to strike an average it is mixed with
American flour.
The Chinese occupy an anomalous posi-
ton in this part of Siberia, and that they
thrive is shown by their increasing
wealth and numbers. They farm large
tracts of land on the Siberian side of the
Amur, between Agun in Manchuria and
Blagovestcnensk, and every year Chinese
officials cross the river and collect taxes
from them. The Russian government
collects 2 head tax of five roubles year
! from every Chinaman
| The steamers and vessels of Siberia are
unloaded by Chinese, most of the building
! is done by Chinese, and, if the Russian
government had not forbidden the Chinese
f, to own and run steamers on the Amur,
the transportation in that river system
would long ago have been shared by the
! Celestial
Biagovestchesk imports 10000 cattle a
year from Mongolia, for which it pays
e15,000, and the $4,000 Cinnamon in and
about the city are not health seekers.
One Chinaman, who six years ago sold
from basket in Vladivostock, is today
merchant prince of this region, and
worth e45,OO0.
There was no artillery about the city
when 1 was there, and few guns
brought to the opposite bank of the river
could have knocked the city to smither-
Gems.