The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-08-21
JOLLY ST. PETERSBURG.
Droschky Fare is Cheap, Policemen
Are Polite and Sing.

Are route and Sing.
For some reason or other very few
Americans visit Russia, yet it Is a most
delightful country, and well worth see
ing. In an article entitled "Off the
Beaten Track" Alphonse Courlander
gives a brief but interesting account of
a visit to st. Petersburg. and destroys
some of the strange ideas many people
have formed of the land of the car.
He says:
IF you have a holiday and you wish
to be unconventional, go to st. Peters
burg. Only you will have to bear the
shattering of some Of your most cher
iShed ideals.
THE very mention of the name con-
jures up to your novel-fed mind pictures
of chain-rattling convicts on the icy
Siberian road of bearded, booted, and
sworded policemen lurking around cor
ners to arrest you as a spy. Therefore
you will be disappointed and regard the
novelist who depicts Russian life with
cold and unfavorable eye; for st.
Petersburg is a city of enjoyment,
| duplicate of Paris at night time, and
during the day a curious blend of the
Orient, with dash of London and Ber-
lin thrown in.
There is no occasion for alarm when
at Cronstadt the ship is invaded by
! bushy browed Russians, in green braid
ed uniforms and long boots; they are
only custom officers, and their chief oc-
cupation seems to be sitting on the
I hatchways. After Cronstadt comes st.
/ Petersburg and by this time one will
have become quite used to the officials.
Some more will come aboard, with
J jangling swords and spurs to look after
| the passports. Treat it all as though
it were scene from a comic opera.
There is much to see in ST. Peters
| burg If you will go sightseeing; the
! Cathedral of st. Isaac, with it's wonder
! full stained-glass windows, it's massive
pillars of malachite and lapis lazuli, it's
gold ikons, glittering with diamonds and
precious stones; the Hermitage, with its
! glorious collection of old masters: the
! Winter Palace with the apartments of
Alexander II left to this day Just as he
left them, only to return bleeding and
/ broken by the Nihilists bomb.
4 There are the Cathedral of Our Lady
4 of Kazan, with its dazzling wealth of
precious stones, the Church of IS. Peter
and Paul. where lie buried the Emperors
of All the Russias; the museum, with
more pictures; the palace of Peterhof,
! few miles Distant the wonderful avenue
of fountains. also at Peterhof; and
scores of other interesting sights.
"A walk down the Nevski Prospect is
fascinating. Every shop has side signs
on which are painted the articles that
are sold within.
"A sausage shop will have inviting
designs of the various kinds of sau-
sages; a heterogeneous collection of hat
pictures of all sorts and conditions tells
| that Dimitri VedenSli is in a position to
| sell headgear. These signs are really
! there for the uneducated people-the
peasants-who would not be able to read
a written notice.
THE droschky is a comical vehicle;
even more the isvostchik who drives it.
He wears a low-crowned top-hat, and
his hair is cut in a manner that re-
sembles a wig. He is dressed in long
blue gown, ridiculously padded, prob
ably to keep him warm and give him an
air of Importance.
ss(xirdad the waist with
Oriental band he looks fierce.
But he is not. He is open to drive you
short distance for eight cents. and, if
the distance be very short to consider
himself so we'll paid as to doff his hat
and call a blessing on your head. There
are p 900 droschkys in St Petersburg,
and the drivers do not say Whoa"
when they want the horse to stop. They
say 'B-r-r-r.'
sAt every street CORNER are : saints
| framed in gilt metal with a perpetual
light burning before them. You never
see a peasant or a poor man pass by one
Of tAcse without snatching off his cap
and crossing himself three times. Tine
lisvostchik does it while he is driving,
and not only before the street ikons,
but at the sight of the churches and
cathedrals.
an the railway stations also there is the
ikon, before which the travellers bow and
pray ere setting out on journey:
"If-ever man has been shamefully ira
duced, it is the Russian street policeman.
There is nothing gruff about him: he is
super-polite if you ask him a question.
LAS far amusement goes, there are
over 80 gardens which combine a cafe
chatant and a theater. with promenade
in the open air, as in most continental
cities. In the summer this is delightful.
You sip your lemon-tea or your vodka flor
in Russia one must drink as the Russians
| drink under the shade of the trees, while
listening to a comic opera or some Cos
sack singers.
"Gray-coated. magnificent officers stalk
proudly in and out of the throng of pleas
ure seekers. Fragments of French Rus
sian, German and English conversation
drift on the wind. Students and uniform
ed school boys wander about. Bareheaded
girls tread in and out of the crowd. Of
fering red roses for sale. The scene is al
ways one of gaiety and animation. The
entertainment is generally of cosmopoli-
tan variety.
TAT one garden went to I heard a Ger
man sing a comic song. a Spanish dancer
gyrated like Tortajada. Swedish couple
sang a duet in their native tongue. a coon
walk Fougere sang Hello. my babyn and
a Russian chanteuse warbled soft gutter
ais.
year in St Petersburg. You can read a
newspaper in daylight at 2 in the morning.
Only between II 80 and II the light fades
for a brief period and half-darkness de-
sends: then swiftly it becomes daylight
a.It is an experience to cross tht .Neva
after leaving a garden Silent stands the
city in the white night. with the gold
cupolas of the various praying houses
Tall and straight uprises the needle-like
spire of SIS. Peter and Paul against the
eerie wilderness.
unconventional holiday.