Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-10-31
FARMLAND OF GAR.
Wonders Of the kremlin at Moscow
Gold and Jewels, the Accumula-
ton Of Centuries.

MOSCOW. Sept. 22.-William e
Nowhere else in all the world is there
II single inclosure that contains SO
much of interest as the Kremlin at
Moscow. Within its walls. for a
thousand years. has resided the head
of the Russian government and the
Russian church: from 1t has proceed
ed all civil. military and religious
authority in the greatest despotism
that ever existed, and In 1t have
been hatched and carried out the
bl, odiest conspiracies that have oycr
Gefaoed the history of civilized men.
1t saw the end of Napoleon endeav-
ors to make himself dictator of Eu.
rope, He came there filed with
pride and glory and purpose. he LETT
| To ME the most interesting nistori
cal object in all Europe is a simple
shaft of granite which rises from the
roadside near the town of wilma q,
'fe western boundary of Russia
1t bears two Inscriptions in the Rus;
sian language. On that side of tnr
shaft which faces the west are these
words.
Napoleon Bonaparte pass
This way in 1912, With no.
900 Men.
On the other side, facing east:
Napoleon Bonapart pass
ed this Way in 1921, With
5000 Men.
The history of the most disastrous
military campaign ever undertaken is
told in those two sentences.
Kermlin is the Russian term for
citadel. There is a kermln in near
ly every Russian city. The Kermlin
at Moscow occupies the summit of
hill rising from the center of the
town and is surrounded by an ancient
and picturesque wall which was built
many centuries ago. Within the In.
closure are the palace of the czaI. the
headquarters of the government the
residences of the ministers. the head.
quarters of the army. with the garrI-
son of the city, four or five churches,
the ecclesiastical department of the
Russian government and a number of
museums. picture galleries. armories
and various other buildings.
Lying on either side of the road.
way are S75 cannon of various sizes.
all of which were captured from Ma
poleon's army in 1872. or were aband-
oned by him in his flight. He did
not capture single gun. In the pal
aces, museums. armories and church
es are thousands of French flags
taken at the same time.
One of the most interesting objects
to strangers is the Great Bell of Mos
cow, which, you will remember. is de
scribed in the geography you stu
died when you were child. It is
called the "Tsarkolokol''-the king
of bells-and was cast in 1853. The
clapper was moved by twenty-four
men. On the 18th of June, 1906. the
tower in which 1t was suspended
caught fire and fell to the grounI
1t was 80 heated by the flames that,
when water was poured upon it,
large chunck dropped out, and IL has
been repaired. Its present weight
is $4,000 pounds. its height
26 feet A inches. its circumference
G7 feet II inches, its maximum thick
ness 2 feet, its diameter at top feet
8 inches on the outside and 6 feet S
inches on the inside. The weight of
the broken piece is eleven tons.
An even more interesting objcc-,
which, however. stands just outside
the Kermlin is the "Vospiatelny
Dom or Foundlings' Home, which is
the largest building in Moscow and
one of the largest in all Europe. 1t
has 2,S2S windows. The morals Of
the people of Moscow and vicinity
may be inferred from the circum-
stances that 81 per cent of the births
registered at the bureau of vital scta
tistics are illegitimate, and between
8 900 and 1000 babies are brought,
most of them secretly, TO this hospi-
tai every year The only questions
asked are whether the child has been
christened, and if SO what It's name
is. At o'clock every day, in lit
tie chapel on the ground floor near
the entrance, those children which
have not already received the ordi-
nance are baptised, and that is the
popular hour for visiting the institu-
| ton.
The hospital is supported by the
profits of the government theaters
and operas. the fees received for IL
censes for private theaters and 9th
er places of amusement, the receipts
from the sale of playing cards, which
| is a government monopoly and a
very profitable one, and by certain
fines and penalties imposed by the
police and courts. Legacies are fire.
quently left to the institution by rich
people, and it owns also large
amount of property. Between the
city limits and Sparrow Hill, bluff
which overlooks the valley, are sew.
eral thousand acres occupied by truck
gardens, and large part of the vege
tables consumed by the Moscowites
are raised there. All this land be
longs to the Foundlings' Home and is
leased in small lots. The institu
tion also owns several estates in the
country to which the children are
sent when they have reached Ger
tain age and kept until disposed of