The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1913-01-24

| day travel or Russia are now
| but memories. The ways OF
| the bureaucracy have become
more liberal and less rigid, SO that
travelling today in that country is as
pleasant and comfortable as in most
countries, and good deal less ex-
pensive than in many. Besides no
other country in Europe can oHer
more beautiful scenery, more objects
of new interests, or pleasanter con-
ditions of life and climate" than some
parts of Russia that are quite acces-
sible to the tourist.
The only difficulty journey In Rus
STA occasionally presents, In places
off the beaten track, is that Of the
language.
Railway travel in Russia leaves
much to be desired, however. For
example, accommodation on one
much-traveled road last summer the
demand for f1rst-class space was so
pressing that travellers were some
times compelled to wait their turn for
a week, while the demands Of officials
for "tea-money' increased with the
competition. This train has neither
restaurant nor sleepers.
Nothing Really Matters.
Russia is the land of "Nichevo,"
the country where nothing really mat
tiers, even as Spain is the land of the
tomorrow that never comes. Let the
traveller realize this at once and for
all; let him recognize the fact that
he has left behind him, at the Ger
man frontier, businesslike habits,
punctuality, scrupulous accuracy Of
statement and all such commercial
virtues. Let him in their place &C
cept and enjoy the easy-going and
tolerant attitude of people which
faces life and all its problems with a
certain leisurely and speculative
stoicism, an attitude which, after all.
has much philosophy and good deal
of religion In its favor Let him adapt
himself to his Slav environment and
he will speedily find himself enjoy
ing the human comedy from new
and instructive point of view-the
point of view Of race of thinking
children" for whom the world Of
ideas is more than all the cold facts
and figures Of trade.
The man who must needs carry
with him on journey his own coun-
try and all his fixed habits had bet
ter remain at home. for the science
and fine art of travelling consists in
al Nd
local. fads to minimum. For all
that, those whose pleasure it is to
Journey with "all the comforts of a
home" can do so today on all the
main lines Of travel in Russia-from
Riga to st. Petersburg, Moscow,
Mimi, INSTRUMENTATION, and Odes-
sa International wagon-lits, polyglot
porters, electric lifts, and meals
served to the wailing of Hungarian
music, all are there, combining the
creature comforts of trip to Paris
with a rapid impression of the land
scapes and people of Russia. But for
the man who can doff on occasion his
garments Of custom, to whom the
cities of men offer something more
than museums and meals, the byways
Of desultory travel in Russia open up
a new and inspiring field Of recrea-
ton and knowledge. Especially won
derful are the unfrequented beauties
of the Caucasus and the Armenian
highlands, all that fertile and historic
land which lies between the Black
Sea and the Caspian; and the Jour-
ney thence, from Tif1is by railway and
steamer, to Tashkend and Fergana,
Bokhara and Samarkland. Here, in a
| summer vacations wanderings, one
| may see Europe and Asia overlap
ping and dovetailing. their conflict OF
ethics and economics acting and re-
acting at thousand points of absorb
ing interest: and all in comfort quite
sufi cient for any sensible man.
Buying Railway Tickets.
IN buying tickets at a Russian rail-
way station, one soon learns also
that it is wiser to book them. in ad-
vance. for the drawbacks of the
"Nichevo'' system of philosophy are
nowhere so conspicuous as at a
crowded ticket Office. TO the writer
| it has happened on nearly every rail-
way in Russia, including the Trans
| Siberian at Moscow. and at Kharbin.
that, after being informed at the tick
ct office that no sleeping-car accom-
| mediation was available, coupe has
been forthcoming on the train as the
result of largesse to the conductor
and other douceurs. On one occa-
| sion. boarding the Revel-Petersburg
express at Weimarn station at a. M.
was informed by the conductor that
there was no room except In the cor.