The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-26
RELIGIOUS TRUST
 OF CARS EMPIRE
The Greek Church and Its 87. .OOO, ,OO0
 Members--Edifices Plated With Gold.
opyrighted. 1903. by Frank G. carpen.

Copyrighted. 1903. by Frank G. Carpen-
 ter)
 Moscow. ,, I am in the Jerusalem of Russia, in the holy of holies of the worlds greatest em- pire. Moscow has more pilgrims than Mecca, more shrfnes than Rome and more worshipers than Benares on the banks of the Ganges. It has four hun dred churches. monasteries on every side can't throw a stone without hitting a priest.
 Russia's Religious Trust. Talk about the United States Steel Com- pany and the modern trust. The biggest trust on earth is this Greek Catholic Church. It has eighty-seven million stockholders in Russia alone, and every one of them is subject to daily assess ment The money flows in steady stream week day and Sunday all the year through and .he amount in the treasury is beyond computation. Even the church itself does not know what 1t has, The capital controlled by t., synod, twenty five million dollars is bagatelle in com parison with the total assets, and the $14.0O0,000 a year furnished by the gov ernment for church purposes is a dror fin the bucket compared with the gifts of the people.
 We think we have grand churches. They are nothing in comparison with the cathredrals and churches of Russia. There Is one church here which cost $10 100000 to build, and there is a cathredral in St. Petersburg which cost more than the capitol.
 The Moscow church refer to is that of 'Our Savior" It stands on the banks of the Moscow river. just outside the Kren.- lin. and it's great golden dome may be seen blazing out under the sun from any part of Moscow. The church is of white stone, huilt in the shape of a Greek cross. It has golden cupolas at it's cor ners, and a great dome in the center. all of which are covered with copper plated with gold. It took nine hundred pounds of gold leaf to plate the dome, and it Is estimated that there is a million dollars worth of gold upon 1t. The interior of the church has marbles and precious stones which cost $2.OO0.OOO. and there are sacred pictures within 1t which cost $500, 900.
 The St. Petersburg church is St. Isaac S Cathredral. It has cost about twenty mill 1iof&. and its gold dome is as large as that of the capitol at Washington. It took hundreds of pounds of gold to plate it, almost as much as the dome of the Church of Our Savior. The Kazan Ca thredral of St. Petersburg has a silver
 
 of Russian plate which was recaptured by the Cossacks from Napoleon Bona parte. and the Cathredral of St. Peter and St. Paul has a spire plated with pure gold and an interior gorgeous with gold and silver.
 The Treasures of the Kremlin.
 You have all heard of the Kremlin, tn, holiest place in this holy city. Moscow i. twenty-five miles in circumference. It 1. a mighty commercial and manufacturns center, having vast business building, and hundreds of factories. Right in tn, heart of 1t is space surrounded by 6 wall little more than a mile in length This space is fill ed with old churches ant 4 palaces and Is known as the Kfemlina Tn, churches have domes of gold each as bi, ,s, as a circus tent. There is a great towe D with a golden clock. and in the churche! and palaces are treasures Beyond compu tstion.
 I have gone through many of the build