Evening star., 1901-12-26

the hedge roses were blooming and the hills
were bright with wild flowers. The streets,
following the natural grades of the hills, as
In Fladivostock, are from 100 to 12O feet
wide, and from many points Of view, where
the broad thoroughfares and tree-shaded
houses and shining water can be seen at
glance, the city is fair to look upon. The
water front is pile bund two miles long,
at which are moored narrow-roofed stages,
with htgh-arched entrances that serve as
Wharves, and to which steamers and barges
tie. There is an immense amount of traffic
on the river and it's tributaries. In the
open season over 100 steamers of the side
wheel and stern-wheel styles, some screw
tugs and launches and many big barges
are In active service. The floating piers,
steamers, barges, junks, boats, canoes and
RATS the teams, carriages and water carts,
the peasants in bright, crude colors the
Chinese in blue, the Coreans in white, the
soldiers and civil service men in uniforms
bright in stripes and facings of different
colors, gold and silver, and the silent, eddy
ing, foam-bearing river are features of a
hhabaroVsk scene on any summer day.
My letter from Count Cassini impeIled Gen
eral Grodekoff to extend social and official
courtesies. Through his kindly offices we
saw and studied the city for nearly two
weeks. Khabarovsk is 5S5 miles from Nico-
laievsk, the port at the mouth of the Amur
river.
The Eternal Fitness of a Statue and
Site.
On a bold bluff, above the broad sweep
Of swirling waters marking the union Of
the Amur and Ussuri rivers at Khabarovsk,
Eastern Siberia, 600 miles north Of Vladivos-
took and 5000 miles east Of St. Petersburg
stands bronze statue Of the General Mu-
ravieff who opened the Amur river basin to
Russian trade. The river bank is here 25O
feet high and picturesQuely rough Except
for strip of park along it's top the bank
is in the warm months a gratefully green
wildwood The statue is on the end Of a
promontory that thrusts itself into the
speeding stream Even careless and apa-
thetic spectators are struck with the per-
feet prominence of the situation. The
mighty Amur, 2,700 miles long, mightier
than ever with the amassed waters Of the
Ussuri, Sungari, Seienga, Shilka, Zeya,
Onon and other af1uents, boils and bubbles
at the base of the point and then dashes
off northeasterly to the sea. This south wall
of the river dominates the low-iying coun-
try that stretches to the north until the
horizon is cut by q mountain range. The
vast view is instantly effective. Statue,
site and view blend beautifully. And this
mindless Of motive. Recalling the motive,
such tribute to such man. Idea and re-
suit are heroic. On the pinnacle Of the
promontory is a granite shaft forty feet
high. On this Is the statue. The figure is
twenty feet tall and shows the general in
his later prime. The pose is easy, graceful
and strong. The face Is handsome, INTEL
lectual and resolute. The arms are folded:
the right hand holds a field glass. the left
a scroll. y t-2a
From the sword Belt hangs cross.
AS Muravieff achieved peaceful mastery Of
the Amur, and wrought for peace and trade
rather than war, the statue is as it should
be, essentially norf- military in design and
suggestion. There stands the man. nobly
proportioned, with one foot on broken
chain and head barred: not I'm the square
or market place, the garden. park or mu-
scum of city in European Russia, put on
the scene of his great work, thousands of
miles from imperial st. Petersburg.
The artistic value Of the statue, the
scenic value Of the surroundings and the
vantage value OF the elevation, great as
each is and great as they are in union. are
not comparable to the thought that inspired
the selection of the site.
Above all else is the eternal fitness of po-
sition.
At and for miles above and below Kha-
barovsk, city Of broad streets and rolling
hills, the Amur is from half a mile to a
mile wide. In winter 1t is gay with sleighs,
In summer hundreds OF steamers, RATS and
canoes hover about the: water front, now
gliding down the stream and again fighting
a six-mile current. The speaking statue Of
Muravieff overlooks these activities Tha
calm and winning face is benediction
Where else could this statue mean SO
much? In another ard eq,,nily attractive