The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-06-07

Our commercial travellers Will have 10 sen
tc the Russian merchants. and in order 10
| Gaal well they ought to speak Russian, or
| at least German
They ought 10 know some thing OF the
! merchant class end how the do business.
They must be careful not to offend them.
and it VIII pay them to study their customs
before they begin to trade.
The merchants as a rule IRE proud Of
! their business. They are essentially Rus
! sian and they DO not put on foreign airs.
| The most of them wear long coats and
| high-topped boots into which they stuff
| their pantaloons.
They usual. part their hair in the middle
and cut it off around the neck 50 that it
| forms sort If Il brush as It hangs down
from the crown. They are shrewd traders
| and 70 on the principle that everything IS
+; fair in trade.
! Some II them are very rich. and as a rule
! the richer a man IS the poorer he dresses
and the less style lie puts on outside his
! own nome.
The most of the merchants are religious.
! Every store Of this big bazaar has sacred
| picture over the door. with ltIe candle
| burning under it.
! Sometimes the picture is no bigger than a
| playing card and sometimes even as small
! a5 postage stamp. but it is always there
+ The prc1-eto ard his clerks each say
! prayer ard cross themselves as they open
! the store and they ali say prayers before
/ they leave.
spent one right at the great bazaar
watching tho closing Of the diff rent stores.
Il was . o'clock. the usual closing hour,
but in this latitude as light as at O'Clock
IL the United States.
As / looked the cle.ksscame out and be
gan to put up the shutters. They Closed
the whole front of each store. leaving i
crack for the clerks and proprietor to come
out.
Before departing the merchant and his
clerks crossed Themselves.
They crossed themselves and prayed
when they stood outside and then watched
one of the men pull the great doors to-
gc,her and turn the pCuGerous Keys in the
half dozen different locks.
Then the merchant took a string and tied
it about the iron work that 1t crossed
the opening of the door He joined the ends
cf the string with wax and stamped this
with his private seal. so that ii was iFnpos-
slh,e to open the lock without cutting the
string or breaking the sea"
Then there was another taking off of hats
on all sides. all crossed themselves again
and rnuttered prayers. and ali shook hands
and went away 10 their homes
This ceremony was observed before al
most all the stores of this vast bazaar. Not
a clerk left before the shutters were up
and employers and clerks departed to-
sether. Indeed, / saw but one man who
did not seal his store with wax
He was p.ous-lool5ing fellow and appar-
entity contented hiIns elf with saying an eX-
TIA prayer over the i@ssen!nEs.
As / watched HIM said to my son Jack.
who was with ne: There. my boy. is a
man whom you would do well to initiate.
He believes in prayer and he trusts the
Lord 10 take care Of his goods
Yes" said Jack. Il see he docs. but
also notice that he Is mighty careful TO
lock his store with three separate keys be-
fore he gives the Lord a chance
Indeed. Jack is surprised at the praying.
He says it keeps the Russians busy cross
ing themselves before all the shrines and
churches. They DO this as they so along
the streets. no matter what their class or
condition.
The military officer and the noble. the
peasant and the drosliy driver never pass
Is d church without lifting his hat and say
ing prayer
We see men kneeling on the steps before
the closed doors of the churches. and with
in them they may be always found bowling
their heads TO the stone floors in their de-
votions.
Any one who imagines the Greek Church
is dead should come 10 Russia. These peo-
pie are not ashamed of their religion. and
they practice it more openly than We do
ours.
/ am surprised at the backward methods
of Russian business. Our American in
vaders should come here and study the
situation.
They will find many things the same as
in the Middle Ages. There are open-air
markets. where all sorts Of things are sold,
and peddlers go through the streets with
every kind of ware. even to caps. trousers
and boots a man will have half a dozeh
pairs of pants on his back. and sell them
as he goes.
OF course there Is no trying on. The po-
lice would not permit that. but as nine
teuths Of the Russians wear their trousers