Semi-weekly herald. [volume] (Durango, Colo.) 1907-1917, 1910-08-15


is two hours difference. but for the
convenience of the public the clocks
in the station-houses are rugged with
two sets OF pointers, one painted black.
which represents the railway, and the
other red, which indicates the local
time.
Several years ago, while riding
about the City of Savannah during a
wait OF a couple of hours between
trains, l happened to look up at the
clock in a church steeple. noticed that
had only few minutes to spare be-
fore my train left, and and directed the
old colored driver to hurry. He re-
piled that we need not hurry, for we
had more than an hour to spare, and
in answer to my inquiry said:
1--WE have two kinds of time in Sa-
yannah, boss; de standard time and
the mediterranean time De cyars
runs by the standard time, but the peo-
pie of de town gifts up and goes to
bed by the mediterranean time, which
am de time of the SUM-"
In Turkestan there is similar prac-
tice. The inhabitants rise and shine
by meridian time and the railway
trains run by St Petersburg time.
There is an excellent restaurant in
the station at Krasnovodsk, where we
were eating very satisfactory dinner
when an imperious young officer, in
the unifom of the gendarmes, or inn
perial Russian police, stepped up to us
and in an arbitrary and insolent man
ner asked who we we're and where we
were going, as If we were tramps and
he policeman. We told him we were
Americans on our way to Bokhara sim
ply as tourists and showed him our
passports and permit, which very
courteous senior officer in charge OF
that business had pronounced regular
and satisfactory. But the subaltern
evidently suspected that we had de
signs upon the peace and tranquility
OF Turkestan and was determined to
avert the danger If possible We made
an effort to satisfy him of our limo
cence and responsibility, but he looked
very distrustful as he left the dining
room.
The Central Asia Railway, as have
explained, is primarily military road
to transport troops and supplies to this
Russian possessions in Asia, and nc
one can pass over 1t without a special
permit in addition to the regular pass
port, which a foreigner can only OBJ
tain through his ambassador at st
Petersburg from the minister of war
The ministry of the interior has jur
isdiction over ordinary passports, but
the Central Asia Railway is outside its
jurisdiction and under the control oil
the war department. No one can &C
aboard a steamer on the Caspian sea
or buy railway ticket or enter trair
in Turkestan without an octriti lista
as the permit is called, and even Their
1t must first be compared with du
picate which is forwarded to the pol
ice bureau at Krasnovodsk whenever
one is issued at st. Petersburg.
Our passports and our permit hat
been inspected, approved and returned
to us by the officials in charge of sucf
matters, and this young subaltern was
informed by the senior officer ii
charge that everything was satisfac
tory; but his suspicious had beer
aroused by something about our con
duct or appearance, and after we hat
purchased our tickets to Tashkend he
came around again to inquire why We
had done SO, when we had just told hin
that we were going to Bokhara, which
is only little more than halfway. We
explained that, having found the trair
so comfortable, we had concluded t.
continue our journey to Tashkend ant
to stop at Bokhara on our return, bu-
he seemed to consider this a suspic
ious circumstance and made himself
very obnoxious by his inquisitiveness
An officer who had been at the same
hotel with us at Baku and had crossed
the Caspian on the same steamer put
in good word for us, bat tine youn.
captain refused to be convinced and
as we learned the next day, telegraph
ed his suspicious to the chief of the
political police at Askhabad. which oc
casioned an exciting little episode.
The regulations are very strict about
strangers. The Russian government
does not want tourists to come to
Turkestan and evidently the officials
make it as disagreeable as possible for
them. All foreigners are unwelcome ::
commercial travellers from every other
country are excluded; no German or
Frenchman or Englishman can sell
goods in Turkestan, and the trade is
protected in thorough and arbitrary
manner for the merchants and manu-
facturers of Moscow and other Rus.
sian cities. There are Russian agents
OF foreign commission houses buying
wool, cotton, hides, skins and other
products of the country. and they are
never interfered with, because the pro