The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-07-06
THE CAPITAL OF RUSSIA
Scenes at St. Petersburg During
War Time.
NEARLY ALL IN UNIFORM
The Streets are Throngcd With Peo-
pie, SIelehs Dash by at Speed
Of Fire Engines, Marching Sol
diers,-All is Hustle and 3ustle.
Methods OF the Police.


st. Isaac the great cathedral rears its
enormous bulk of gray and green gran
ite and marble, with the gilded dome
blazing in the sunlight. Its outlines
are picked out, wherever snow can
lie.
Down below, over the smooth snow,
the sleighs glide swiftly, noiseiessly
by. At the end of one perspective of
painted houses the slender golden pin
nacle of Peter of Greats Admiralty
shoot a tongue of flame aloft. At the
end of another perspective the curl
Gus cupolas of a great church float
like balloons in the sky. The Bolshoia
Marskaia, the Bond street Of st. Pet
ersburg is full of life and movement.
Pavements are thronged with men in
astrakhan coats and caps, ladies in
sable and fox. In the roadway a dou-
Bile stream of sleighs, driven by
shaggy haired izvostchks in caps like
ladies' muffs and huge padded coats
wrapped round and round them and
secured by embroidered waist bolts.
Down the middle of the street, with
great shouting to clear the way, comes
at the furious pace of a fire engine the
private sleigh, drawn by two magnfi-
cent horses, of some great nobleman.
over the horses quarters a blue silk
netting is spread to screen the lady
in richest sables who occupies the
sleigh from the flying snow flung up
By the horses hoofs.
Through tho archway which leads
from the Morskaia into the Great
Place before the Winter Palace comes
the sound of an approaching cheer.
Instantly police officers in long gray
coats appear from nowhere, the traf-
flc in the roadway draws to one side,
the people on the pavement stop and
face toward the road, sleigh convey
ing a distinguished looking officer,
who looks keenly about, and whom
all the suddenly materialized police
salute, dashes by; then, after an in
terval, a sleigh magniiicently horsed,
with the driver in the bright scarlet
and gold lace livery of the court.
Officers salute, the people raise
their hats, and the Empress bows and
smiles Another sleigh follows, the
little procession turns into the Nevslly
Prospekt, and, taking the center of the
broad avenue, is gone like a fash on
its way to the Antchkoff Palace,
where is a gathering of great ladies
interested in the Red Cross organiza-
tion. The swarms of police disappear
as quickly as they appeared; the un-
obtrusiyely dressed men who when
the royal carriage was passing showed
indications of official responsibilities
mingle once more with the crowd.
Down on the broad quay alongside
the Neva, where the palace fronts and
many of the great houses are, the
heavy carriages of Ambassadors race
along at what seems more than motor
car speed. A detachment of soldiers
in queer, tall brass helmets that look
more ecclesiastical than military
marches by, people are out taking the
afternoon constitutional--in furs and
goloshes, of course, and the men
mostly in uniform, for nearly every
one wears uniform Of some sort. Not
only soldiers but students, officials,
all sorts of people, wear uniforms.
Even ladies' school out walking two
by two along the quay, has its distnc-
tive uniform. The river is a broad
white snow plain, upon which dark
groups Of men with horses and sle!ghs
are engaged in digging out huge
blocks of ice. The Neva Is frozen
nearly two feet deep, and heavy
wagons are crossing it by the tracks
which supplement the long-spanned
bridges.
Along the Nevsky you come upon
row Of handsome steel frame, stone
faced shops, so light and SO lofty that
you almost fancy you are in New York
And ten yards further there Is a shop
built of wood, the entrance to which
is down a short flight Of awkward
steps, and you almost wonder whether
you are not back in the eighteenth
century. The front of one shop Is
nearly all plate glass, the front of the
next Is covered with colored paintings
of the goods on sale for the informa-
ton Of the large proportion of people
who are unable to read. Here you
see tea and bread-and butter shop
all marble and gilt and electric light.
and across the way Is dim bazaar
where priceless goods and the
tawdriest rubbish are to be found in
little recesses that serve as stores
where the proprietors stand at their
shop doors to tout for customers, and
where the smallest bargain is not
struck without mucn naggling and
gesticulating
In one street you are as far west
as Broadway, and around the corner
you are as far East as Damascus.
People dine at a restaurant with walls
OF inlaid marble, where, with great
pomp and circumstance, they catch
You your selected fish alive from the
glass tank in which it swims, serve it
on silver dish and charge prices that
would make the Carlton envious, then
the same people go out into the street