The Lehi sun. [volume] (Lehi, Utah) 1913-1949, 1921-09-01


stones.
There is so much In Siberia that re-
minds an American of our "wlld
West Of earlier days. whether II be
iawlessness. freedom, opportunity, a
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 camels
Craze.
And there are many features that
may be described In typical American
superlatives. vladlvostok 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,
"dorom." meaning road" literally
means bad road." and II would be
redundancy to speak of bad do
roga." II merely means a place where
you may get through.
citles 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 edl-
fees to give II noble aspect. First Is
Vlndivostok. a combination OF Gotham
und Chicago. AT the other end of the
country Is Omsk. the capital. In be-
tween and top and bottom are Tomsk,
Ekaterinburg. Chellabinsk, Chlta.
NabarOsk, lrkutsk, Hardin and Nix.
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, Metchnlkoff. the great bacterl.
ologist, being one OF them.
Vladivostok, the largest and most In.
terestlng city Of eastern Siberia, owes
much to Russla's loss OF Port Arthur.
for that misfortune Increased the
tsar's interest in the more northerly
seaport until he had made II worthy
OF Its name. S.iuler Of the East" The
one disadvantage OF VladlvOstOk is
thut It's harbor Is frozen during sew
eral months OF the year. In spite OF
this drawback. Vind!vOstok probably
Possesses lie second finest harbOr Ia
The world. and u Is claimed that from
a military standpoint the city was sec
Und only TO the Dardanelles.
The city spreads out at the foot OF
many hills and rises lnto beautiful
and sudden spectacle as ones steamer
makes turn In the approach from
the sea. A cathedral with many gold
ep domes occupies Il place OF vantage,
and every Shere rise huge stone aud
brAck barracks, mostly white, with an
occasional pile IN red brick for con
trast.
All around the city are barracks,
barracks everywhere II Is said that
there are sufficient barracks In ana
around Valndiyostok To house an army
of half q million men. These barracks
are substantially built and provide
protection against the heat Of July as
well ms the cold Of winter
The outstanding characteristics of
the Siberian Russian are his phys
ical strength and stamina and his
gentleness of nature. Most PEG
pie will he surprised at the
second part Of thar statement, on &C.
count OF what mas been published
about the Bolsheylst crueitles II 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 BOlshevlsm. The
extreme elements werO present. but
they never had full swing. Red Boil
shevism In Siberia never was more
than "pink." and that pink Ia becom.
Ing paler every day