Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-20
LESS R|GOR IS SHOWN
Reception of a Visitor at the
Russian Border.
CONTRAST TO OLD TIMES
Formerly All Books and Manuscripts
Were Seized.
THE JOURNEY FROM BERLIN
Largest Estates Of Germany East Of
the Capital-Scienti1c Farming
Men Soldering, Women at Work.
HE JOURNEY FROM BERLIN

| Men Soldering, Women at Work.
| BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
| Record Herald
ST. PETERSBURG, July 4. 1905.
| On the second morning Of our Journey we
| woke up at Z o'clock at Berlin, where most
| of the passengers left the train, because
| few people are going to Russia these days
The trains leaving Russia for the other
countries OF the continent are crowded
| Those going eastward are almost empty.
This is not entirely due to fear OF dis
| turbances in the Russian empire. although
| that perhaps is the principal reason. 1t is
D., customary for rich Russian families to
| spend their summers at the French, Ger
| man and other resorts; the springs and at
| the seashore, and remain at home during
! the rest Of the year, because. notwithstand-
ing the intense cold, St. Petersburg is very
| gay in the winter.
| Among our passengers was Alexander
Zelenoy, formerly attache OF the Russian
embassy in Washington, and very popular
| there. He is now first secretary OF lega-
| ton in Lisbon. and was called home by a
| telegram announcing the dangerous illness
| VI MS ialHer from pneumonia. II is SAD
to relate that the attack has since proven
! fatal. The elder Zelenoy was a man of
| Importance at the Russian capital and
| prominent in business circles.
| Other interesting passengers were state
| ly matron with white hair and the man
| ners of grande dame, who was in charge
| or two lovely children. a bare-egged boy
| OF five or six years and bright-eyed
| curiy-locks of a girl about year younger
| They had an ugly white bulldog and were
| always chattering, alternately in Russian
| French and English, dropping from one
| language into another almost unconscious
| ly, for the dowager Is Russian. the gov
! erness Is English and the maid Is French.
| We are told that they were the Cantacu-
zene children the grandchildren of General
Fred Grant, and that the old lady with
| them Is the dowager princess. That gave
| them an additional interest to u.s. but we
| afterward learned that 1t was a mistake:
thai the Cantacuzene children are in the
| United States.
1t Is not unusual for Russian children to
| speak three four languages. The Rus
slams are the greatest linguists in the
world, and the families OF the upper classes
! usually have tutors or governesses of sew
| eral nationalities and learn the languages
| In childhood. Therefore 1t Is always we'll
| to be careful about what you say in the
| presence OF Russian children-or grown-up
| people, for that matter-because you never
know whether they understand you
| or not When travelling over here some
| years ago we supposed that we had our
| -
| selves. Therefore, i gave expression to
natural indignation when very stout old
lady and beautiful child with half ton
| OF bags and bundles were hurled in upon
| u.s. Looking straight into my eyes with
| an air OF serious concern and anxiety, the
little girl warned me by saying in Eng
| lish:
| understand everything you say, sir,
| and so does grandmamma."
Largest Estates of Germany.
East of Berlin are the largest estates of
Germany belonging to the old aristocracy.
| VINO nave been the supporters of the agra
| ran party and the dctators of the tariff
| policy of the German empire for many
| years. Thousands of acres In single farms
| belong to individuals and to families and
| are cultivated upon scientific principles,
| probably the most scientific system of agri-
| culture in the world. They raise enormous
| Quantities of wheat, barley, rye and other
| grains, and the sugar beet fields are SO
| large as TO remind one of those In Califor-
| MIA. There are no fences or hedges The
| estates are divided by roadways shaded
with rows of trees as in Japan and here
and there We passed a forest of cultivated
| trees, for tree farming Is Just as necessary
| and just as common in Germany and other
european countries as raising wheat or po-
| tatoes. We saw large droves of Holstein
| cattle, watched by herders either women or
boys, TO keep them out of the cultivated
| ground In the absence of fences In some
/ places We herds of sheen co.fined by
| movable fences. grazing in the meadows
| where the hay had been mown
| TINS Is haying time In eastern GERMANY
and we got our first glimpse In Europe OF
| agricultural machinery-mowers and rakes
| drawn by horses: and / saw one of those
| curious spider-looking machines that kick
| up the hay and turn 1t over so that it can
| dry on the other side. Two-thirds of the
workers in the hay fields are women They
| do the raking and loading AS the train
| rushed through the meadows we saw hun
| dreds of women the tops of loads of hay
| Queer-lOOking WAC n
teams of two or four splendid big horses
| like Percherons.
The beet fields were filled with women
| wedding Sometimes we could count fifty
| sixty or hundred crawling along between
| the rows of beets doing the back-brea king
| business which the wives and daughters OF
| American farmers would consider too hard
work for human beings. But one finds
| women doing heavy manual labor every
where in Europe, in the cities as we'll as on
the farms and even along the railway
| tracks. engaged In construction and repair
work beside the men, at about half the
| wages, which seems very unfair If a
| woman Is willing to take a pick and shovel
| and join gang of men making railway
grade you would naturally regard 1t a great
| injustice If her labor did not command so
| large a price as that of the men working
| at her side, who accomplish no more. But
| 1t is the same everywhere, all over the
| world and In every occupation. Woman
! clerks in department stores, bookkeepers
cashiers and secretaries are not paid more
| than two-thirds and often not more than
| half as much as men receive in the same
| positions. Following the logic of the stu
alton. / suppose that when a woman be-
! comes President of the United States her
| salary will be only $4,000 instead of $780,
coo. and when the Senate and Mouse of
| Representatives have women members their
| pay will be cut down to $500.
Men Soldering, Women Working.
| In Belgium the little toy farms look like
| those of Japan and China, but in eastern
| Germany they grow bigger as the train
runs on and the landscape reminds you of
| our western prairie. The cities grow smaller
! and farther apart, but they are all very cd.
| The Baltic cities of Germany are among
! the most ancient OF the empire. The castle
| at Marienberg, which you plainly
| from the car windows. for the track crosses
4 the moat. is said to be the oldest In Ger
many. and Koenigsberg is one of the most
| strongly fortified places In the world. You