The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-10-31

l rich Russians, and the rest is export ed. A cloak of these paws is worth | thousand pounds. A black fox skin
 worth fifty pounds, and a silver fo skin will fetch twenty-five pounds. ! The whole country is full of beai
 reindeer, wolf, elk, beaver, hare am | antelope. Ardent sportsmen, seeking for some fresh country to try thei guns, might do worse than go to Sibe
 ria for a couple of months in early au tumn. Besides animals, they will fint plenty of game-geese, ducks an( grouse.
 FOUR PROVINCES. Now word or two respecting the
 government of Siberia. It Is divided
 into four "oblasts," or provinces. Al
 the head of each Is a governors general
 who represents the czar, and has su-
 preme control over both civil and mil
 itary affairs. There are various coun-
 cils who advise the governors general
 and each province is divided into dis
 tricts with administrative institutions
 Each town has municipality elected
 by householders. Each village is a
 small commune with an elected mayor
 and magistrates. The commune keeps
 a sharp lookout upon the doings of its
 members, for the community is made
 to suffer when the news of wrong doing
 reaches the higher authorities. The
 chief person in all the village is the
 "pisar,'' or mayors secretary. He is the one person who must be able to read and write, for the members of the present parliament are very likely de- void of these qualifications. Therefore, the "pisar" is a sort of village Pooh Bar. His salary is generally In kind.
 Vile and stenching as are most of the villages, it is impossible to help admir- ing the substantial and clever way in which the houses are built of logs roughly hewn with an ax, dovetailed at the corners, and with layer of moss between each beam to avoid draughts. During six winter months the double windows are closely shut and puttled up, and in summer very little air can get into the house because the windows won't open.
 There Is no bedroom as we under stand it. At night cushions are spread on the floor, and the whole family sleep in their clothes. In the morning they give their faces rub with water, but use no soap I don't recommend the peasant way of washing ones face. He fills his mouth with water, and gently squirts it from between his lips to his hands.
 Naturally enough the pleasures of these agriculturists, far from what is considered civilization. are few. Get ting drunk is regarded as very excel lent thing, and often very vile Is the liquor In each village, however, is young fellow who can play the accordion and so in the evening there is often dancing. The women are not very attractive. They are stodgy and expressionless. Their one touch of vanity is to have a gaudy shawl tied about the head.
 PEASANTS HOUSES.
 I have been going among these peas ants, trying to get a glimpse of their lives. Though often the smell of the houses made me feel i'll. I have, up to now, received nothing but courtesy. They are simple minded people, very 'eligious and very superstitious. And hough there may not be house in the village more dignified than We would 1se as a cowshed. there Is always big white church, with towers of Oriental, ,ulbous shape, painted blue or gilded. n the right hand corner of every room # every hut is a cacred picture called tn icon. The peasant never finishes a rust of black bread without etand1ng before an icon and crossing himself Ie may be on the way to the vodki | hop but when passing the church he akes off his hat and makes the. sign Of he cross. When he gets drunk ne IS lot ouarrelsome. He is worse-for he | becomes very affectionate, and wants l O kiss you.
 He won't start on journey on Mon l ay, and if he sets out on Tuesday | + any other day and the first person | e happens to meet is a priest he will urn back. When there is lightning, | which frightens him, he recalls the | ames of his bald headed friends, and | o stops 1t.
 Only two steps above the savage is he peasant as have seen him In Sibe- ia He ia uncouth, and his passions | re primitive. He hulks about with his sd shirt outside his trousers, and nev- r does day what he can put off till l. morrow. But he has come to fine ountry. Siberia Is no longer an evil mened word. It Is capable of much lore than freezing exiles to death. nd it Is with the object of making lfs fact plain that have written this rticle cle.-Correspondence of the London ally News.