The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-09-06

the other day and went out to Kronstadt,
the little island at the mouth Of the Neva,
which guards the entrance TO the Russian
capital. When Peter the Great built st.
Petersburg he said that he wanted It as
a window through which he. could look
out upon Europe. Kronstadt is the steel
bars of that window, It ia only twenty
miles away and is reached by q sea canal
sixteen miles long and more than twenty
feet deep. This leads into the Gulf of Fin
land and It ends only = short distance
from Krcnstadt
In coming In to St. Petersburg you must
pass Kronstadt and as you do SO you
make your way In and out through islands
covered with forts. There are about q
half dozen such island forts, In addition
to Kronstadt itself. They rise from the
81 sea looking like mighty floating batteries.
end effectua1ly protect this gate to the
ernn great Russian Empire.
esss Kronstadt itself 10 low. II is. walled IN
from the sea, and az you look at It you
- can SEQ @ forest Of masts back to the
3 walls. and among them the srnokestacks
sxGp Of teamers out OF many Of which the
,4:t black smoke 10 pouring.
k=4b The war harbor IL at the southeast end
ssEx, OF the island There were hvs great boats
inside It during my visit. Near this is the
eSs middle harbor, in which all sorts of naval
eSL@ EopdAIS u Hlaucr dIQ uoL LEI AWAY aro
z61 the admiralty buildings, IN arsenal, the
c naval school and a great marine hos
p $ pitaL
The Notifications are very powerful. and
sss the island altogether contains some of the
efkn strongest forts of the world. There is
Vsio quite q city upon It, With something like
e1eo people It has two divisions, one de-
voted TO the navy and the other to mer~
= p camille interests
Z. aH
naval officers and msn. The sailors are
fne-looking fellows, big-framed. broad
- shouldered. and. as q general thing.
snse bearded. They are said to be the equals of
eTaoe any other nation as to seamanship, and
~ S'ithey are as brave az the Cossacks and
~sT2e other Russian soldiers on land.
Isrrs The Gear is fond Of the navy. He fire.
euently comes to Kronstadt to look over
- the Notifications. and not long ago he and
the Czarina held there a review of the
= marines
- RUSSIAN BOATS IN A EAST.
-.,s If a war should arise between Russia
and Japan, all the Cars shipping in
Chinese waters win be pressed into serv-
49, ice. There are many ships in the volunteer
: 5~heet which can be used as transports or
cruisers These ships are about fifteen in
number and are now running between
Odessa, vladivostok and Port Arthur.
They carry troops, provisions and emil
grants by the thousands. I understand
that Russia Is quietly planting colonies
along the Chinese Eastern Railroad, and
that she will eventually Russianize Mah-
churia- These colonies will also do eff
-, <ective work In time Of war, supplying
provisions and perhaps men.
In addition to her merchant vessels and
80. men-of-war, Russia has now some or the
mest effective ice-breakinE steamers of
the world. She has enormous floating ma
chimes run by steam, which will crush the
1 lee OF the harbors and force their way
u. into almost any port. Kronstadt IS kept
open during the winter by such ice-break-
era, and they VIII also be of great value
SC vladivostok and other Siberian ports
s1s The largest of these vessels is the
Ermak, built In 1893 at Newcastle-on-
Tyne. Il 10 like q bugs man-of-war, being
as long as tbs average city block, as wide
e d the ordinary city street ana g depth as
xsssreat as that OF a four-story house. It
has q draft OF twenty-five feet and a dis
placement Of s.oc9 tons. It's machinery Is
operated by engines furnishing 1e.ooohor,s
4 vowes, and whoa It pushes against Zoe