The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1905-03-10
64e Sewers
By
HENRY SETON AERRIAAs
Cr,1rxa b! Es-vE & 8eetsz
CHAPTER x.

stble Russian figures
4 "soEl." BE- il Known. i : different
ohta. il is land o. Lhs ears f-nn
that vague prusoplzsm about which our
young persons think sEG mighty
thoughts, our Old uel wE.rs such f.
NOUS zig tooEs. I soul Is laUsly {
marin Russia Ihe volel have mt
yet begun 20 sex LLe.- rights and lose
.hetr prTiIaa. Z usn Is Therefore &
"loul" il RUssis s1d g El2 enjoys
the doubtful privilege o. contributing
to tie land rs1 and 10 eT=E oris tx
That tie Russian peasant Is q! L.
tre oae Of TIE Gse-ssL the ro-s.asC
and Iifhtsr tara o. Esl i o-i! an
Other prof q the Creators power to-
this dtnly Lighted sou Las nothing
to cheer hin OF lis to-.o- wa! o1t tie
neuoE 9, the LIST i-iulgels II
strong drink and tle LoEe q Uo-e 10
cone. He e hsrassed By z ruthless
Tex coIlec-o-; he Is shut u t-ou TIE
world by eao-uou= distances oys- liz
practicable roads. When the famine
conA, and coue It sssureiiy will tie
uou!tk bss 10 alternative hut 20 sta!
where he Is and save. Since Alex
srde- II. Ct philanIh10pEc meuoC
made the Russian sgt & free nan the
blessings Of freedom have bean found
to resoI7e Themselves chiefly into & per
feet ltoerty 10 die Of starvation Of
cold o. o. dire disease. When he vas e
eeFr this nan vss Of sous small yaIue
to some one: Row he IS OF no conse-
quence 10 any I whatever except
himself. and with considerable tntelli-
renee, he sets but small store upon his
OWE existence. Freedom. il tacr, cane
to him before Re vas ready fo- il, and,
hsupe-d as he has been By petty de
parmenrsl tyranny. government neg
lecr and g natural stupidity, he has
made very small progress toward g
mental independence All that he has
learned 70 do Is 70 hate his tyrants.
When famine urges hin he goes blind
y. hetplessly. dunbly. and tries to take
By force that which Is denied by force.
Some day there will BE- in Russia q
Terror. but not yet SoEe day the uou-
5fk VIII erect INTO himself & rough sort
Of q gutiioGne, but not IN Q day. Per
haps some Of Us who are young men
now may dtnly read IN our dotage Of
4 great upheavsl beside which the Ter
Tor OF France will be tame and VI
sTentfuI. Who can tell. When a coun-
Try begins to grow It's mental develop
ment is often s~tsrtltngly rapid
But we have to do with Russia OF To-
day and the village OF Osteno, in the
government Of TIER: not 6 famine
government, mind ron. for these are
de volsa provinca-samara, Pensa,
iyoronsh, Vintka and a dozen others.
No. Tver the civilized, the prosperous.
the manufacturing center.
The street, bounded on either side By
low wooden houses. IS. siagulariy
enough, well pared; this, the traveller is
told, by the tyrant Prince Pavlo. who
made the road because he did not Ike
driving over ruts and through puddles.
the usual Russian rural thoroughfare;
not because Prince PayIo wanted 10
give the peasants work. not because
he wanted to saTs them from starva-
ton. not at Eli, although il the gratia-
cation Of his OWL within he happened
to render those trifing services. but
merely because he was a great BARN.
& prince who could have anything be
desired Had not the other BARN. Stein
metz by name, superintended the work
-steiumerz, the hated, the loathed, the
tool OF the tyrant whom they never
see: ASH the "srarostt" the mayor OF
the village. He knows the BARNS and
hates them.
Michael Room, the starosta or elder
OF Osterno. president Of the mir. OF vii
Age council, principal shopkeepe-, may
or and only intelligent soul OF the so.
probably had Tartar blood in his veins
To this strain may be attributed the
narrow Tartar face, the keen bIace
eyes. the short, spare figure which
many remember to this day, although
Michael Boon has been dead these
msuy years.
It was late IN the utum Ole even
Ing remembered by nany for its death
soit, th1t srsrosa was standing ar
TIE door Of rs gnail shop. He was
apparent! Ls- Es nsyer sold vodka
and tAs majority Of the villagers were
IN one Of tie A-@ thriving inns which
drove q famous trade III strong drink
and weak tea 1t was q very hot even
ing.
The starosta shook his head fore.
boddngiy. 1t was cholera weather
cholera had come t Osterno; had
come, the starosta thought, to stay
II had settled down In Osterno. and
nothing but the winter frosts would
hl 1t, when hunger typhus would un.
doubtedly succeed it.
Therefore the starosta shook his
head at the sunset and forgot to regret
the badness OF the times from a com.
msrctal point Of view. He had done
Al he could He had notified the
ssmstvo OF the condition Of his village
ae had made the usual appeal for
haap, which had been forwarded in the
usual way to Tver, where it had ap.
DArenty been received with the usual
phtlosophic silence.
But Michael Room had also te,e
gfaphed to Karl Steinmetz, and since
The dispatch Of this message had the
starosta dropped into the habit Of
standing at his doorway in the even.
ing. with his hands cIasped behind hts