The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1921-09-02
wealth. gold and silver ana precious


stones.
There is so much in Siberia that re
minds an American of our wild
Vest of earlier days, whether it be
lawlessness, freedom, opportunity,
place to live life over again, great dis
tances, vastness and gloriousness Of
scenery, or barrenness such as is seen
on the Cobb desert, where the caInels
craze.
And there are many features that
may be described in typical American
superlatives. Vladivostok has the fin
est harbor in the world; the rail-
road connecting Vladivostok with Pc
trOgrad is the longest in the world
thus the Siberians rave, and not alto
gether madly. But they cannot rave
about their roads. The Russian word,
"doroga," meaning road" literally
means bad road" and it would be
redundancy to speak of a bad do
roga." 1t merely means a place where
you may get through.
Cities Handsome but Dirty.
The cities of the Russian wild
East are not very populOus, but each
one boasts of sufficient beautiful
churches, government and private edi-
fees to give it a noble aspect. First is
Vladivostck, combination of Gotham
and Chicago. At the other end OF the
country is Omsk, the capital In be-
tween and top and bottom are TOmsk,
Ekaterinburg, Cheliabinsk, Chita,
Xabarosk, Irkutsk, Hardin and Mix
DISK. One of the most Objectionable
features about these beautiful cities
is their filth and the attendant odOrs.
Tomsk has an unusually beautiful
cathedral and a great university that
has produced more than one famous
name, Metchnikoff, the great bacteri-
clogist, being one of them.
Vladivostok, the largest and most in
teresting city of eastern Siberia, owes
much to Russia's loss of Port Arthur,
for that misfortune increased the
tSars interest in the more northerly
seaport until he had made it worthy
of it's name, "Ruler of the East" The
one disadvantage of VladivoStok is
that its harbor is frozen during sew
eral months of the year. In spite of
this drawback, Vladivostok probably
possesses the second finest harbor in
the world, and it is claimed that from
a military standpoint the city was sec
ond only to the Dardanelles.
The city spreads out at the foot Of
many hills and rises into a beautiful
and sudden spectacle as ones steamer
makes turn in the approach from
the sea. A cathedral with many gold
en- domes occupies a place of vantage,
and everywhere rise huge stone and
brick barracks, mostly white, with an
occasional pile in red brick for con-
trast.
All around the city are barracks.
barracks everywhere. 1t is said that
there are sufficient barracks in and
around ValadivostOk to house an army
of half a million men. These barracks
are substantially built and provide
against the heat of July as
well as the cold of winter
The outstanding characteristics Of
the Siberian Russian are his phys
ical strength and stamina and his
gentleness Of nature. Most peo-
pie will be surprised at the
second part of that statement, on ac-
count Of what has been published
about the Bolshevist cruelties. 1t Is
true that the peasant went from the
extreme of an absolute monarchy to
the most fantastic socialism the world
has known. Nevertheless he is gentle
and forgiving by nature.
OF course, Siberia did not taste the
full bitterness of Red Bolshevism. The
extreme elements were present, but
they never had full swing. Red Boil
shevism in Siberia never was more
than pink" and that pink is becom-
ing paler every day.