Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1921-09-08
gold and silver and precious

wealtll-gOld and silver and precious
stones.
There is SO much in Siberiu that re-
minds an American Of our "WiId
West" of earlier days, whether 1t 10
lawlessness. freedom, opportunity. q
place to live life over again, great dis
tances, vastness and glOriousness Of
scenery, or barrenness such as il seen
on the Cobb desert, where the camels
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 Siberlans rave. and not alto
gether madly. But they cannot rave
about their roads. The Russian word,
"doroga," meaning road" literally
means dad road" and 1t would be
redundancy to speak of bad do
rcga." It merely means place where
you may get through.
Cities Handsome but Dirty.
The cities Of the Russian wild
East" are not very populous. but each
one bOusts Of sufficient beautiful
churches, government and private edi-
fees to give it noble aspect. First 10
VladivOstok. 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 Nix
DISK. One of the most Objectionable
features about these beautiful cities
is their filth and the attendant OdOrs.
TOlnsk has an unusuully beautiful
cathedral and great university that
has produced more than one famous
name, Metchnik0fr. the great bacteri-
olog!st. being one Of them.
vladivostok, the largest and most In.
teresting city Of eastern Siberia, owes
much to Kussia's loss Of Port Arthur,
for that misfortune increased the
tsar's interest In the more nOrtheriy
seaport until he had made 1t worthy
Of its name, "Ruler of the East" The
one disadvantage Of YiAtliv0stok Ia
that Its harbor Is frozen during sew
eral months of the year. In spite of
this drawback, Vlad!vOstOk probably
possesses the second finest hurbor In
the world. and 1t Is claimed that from
military standpoint the city was sec
olid only to the Dardaneiles.
The city spreads out at the foot Of
many hills and rises into beautiful
and sudden spectacle as ones steamer
makes Il turn In the approach from
the sea. cathedral with many gold
en- dolnes 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 million men. These barracks
are substantially built and provide
protection against the heat Of July a.
well rs 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 &C.
count Of what has been published
about the BOlshevist crueities. 1t Is
true that the peasant went from the
extreme Of an absolute monarchy 10
the most fantastic socialism the world
has known. Nevertheless he Is gentle
and fOrgivtng by nature.
! OF course, Siberia did not taste the
full bitterness OF Red BolshevisIn. The
extreme elements were present. hut
they never had full swing. Rel Bel
shevisn' In siberia never was mora
Than pink. !" and that pink Is besom,
Ing laler every day.