The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-09-14

Moscow and Warsaw.
 Russia being the only country in Eu- rope north and west of Servia had not
 seen, you may well imagine the keen
 anticipation enjoyed when finding my self on the 'Uleaborg,' one of the small
 but nevertheless staunch steamers of
 the Finland line.
 It was, however, with some regrets
 that, after a week of most delightful sightseeing, together with various SUI
 burban excursions, We left the beauti- full city of Stockholm, the last glimpse | of which, as we sailed away, will re- main one of the most exquisite pictures
 in our memory's collection.
 For some fifteen hours we blow through the green waters of the exten- sive Baltic archipelago, passing thou
 sands of small pine-clad islands. Our first stop in Finland was Hango, a
 small town, the curious market-place
 being the one feature which fingers in
 the mind. On entering the harbor we
 were just in time to witness several
 rock-blasting explosions, the pieces of
 stone being thrown hundreds of feet into the air and sea. Helsingfors, some five hours sail, the capital of Finland, we found to be a fine modern city. The senate chamber is a noble structure and the fine monu-
 ment of Alexander II will be remem-
 bered. Most of us took supper at the concert garden, where the "Hornorkes- ter" as 1t is called, played a fine class of music We now sailed out into the open wa | ters of the Gulf of Finland, and the fol-
 lowing day passed the great naval sta | tion of Cronstadt. Here were myriads
 of torpedo boats school ships and bat
 tle-ships of many varieties. We mo- tieed also several American yachts. | Now steaming up the Neva, we soon perceive the forest of spires and domes | all glittering with gold and divers col
 ors, and 1t Is not long before we find
 ourselves passed through the hands of I the custom house officials, our passports
 returned to us after much clerical at tention has been given them. and we are driven through the densely crowded
 thoroughfares of that royal city of Pe- ter the Great, the modern capital of all the Russias-St. Petersburg.
 l This city might well be called the
 Russian Paris. A three hour drive the
 day of arrival, with true Russian live
 ry, was a novelty, and included the
 Nevski Prospekt, the Broadway of St. Petersburg, and many monuments, the
 fine quays and the Palace Square.
 Russia is land of churches. St.
 Isaac's is a wonder among cathedrals. One icon near the gorgeous altar, stud- ded with jewels, is valued at thirty-five | thousand dollars; a solid silver casket
 used by these Greek Catholics on what
 they term Resurrection day, weighs
 eleven thousand pounds and is worth fifty-five thousand dollars. At the Ka-
 gan cathedral one fingers before the
 lovely painting known as Madonna, or Our Lady of Kazan, for which eighty thousand dollars was paid. St. Paul's and St. Peter's church contains the tomb of Peter the Great, his wife Kath- lerine I, and among numerous Czars and
 members of the royal family the tomb lof Alexander IT, who was assassinated, l the street where the crime was perpe-
 trated having been pointed out to us the I day before.
 l The little wooden house (Peter's hub, l in which Peter the Great lived as a
 young man, is of interest and is now a chapel. Tn some of the adjoining rooms, however, are shown articles of his own
 make, such as chairs, tables and a boat. From the school Of mines we derived a fine idea of Russia's great wealth in minerals, marbles and precious stones. A gold nugget is valued at. seventy l thousand rubles (thirty-fve thousand I doIlars), and a single uncut pearl at six thousand rubles.
 I The Czar's Winter Palace was some what disappointing to me, especially Z when comparing 1t with others I had seen. The white room and throne room were, however, very gorgeous. Inter- l esting rooms were those in which Alex lander II last lived. Here everything is
 seen just as he lefttit the day he was I killed by an exploding bomb. A cigar cite, half smoked, is shown, but care- fully guarded, and is considered one of l the choicest relics. His toilet set, of very ordinary quality, the comb with
 several teeth missing and all showing Iconsiderable wear, lie before the huge mirror.
 l The Czar's chapel is interesting.
 Here is a beautiful icon of the Virgin
 Mary, with valuable jewels, said to
 have been painted by St. Luke, and in
 the same case are seen the withered
 hand of St. John, and also the hand of Mary Madeleine. The people of Russia
 are very worshipful, the Czar himself setting a most noble example. One of the most valuable are colIec- tions in the world is the Hermitage.
 Here are seen many of the famous mas l terpieces in both sculpture and paint ling, which the Czars have bought from l time to time. There is also wonderful
 collection of malichite, jasper and Lapis Lazuli vases and tables. Tn Peter the Greats hall are exhibited all sorts of things made by his own hands, as wei
 as many handsomely bejeweled swords and articles of adornment presented to
 him by various rulers. I visited the l Convent of Smolna Monastery back of which is Rubinstein's tomb. In the Church of the Resurrection are careful | ly preserved the uniform and blood stained sword of Alexander II, which he wore when assassinated.
 During my travels through Norway and Sweden had heard many fine