MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 94, 20 April 1904, Page 5

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

I OFT THE BEATEN TRACK. , THE CZAR'S CAPITAL AS PLEASURE RESORT. If you have a fortnight's holiday and you wish to be unconventional, go to St. Petersburg. Only you will have to bear tbe shattering of some of your most cherished ideals. " . The very mention of the name conjures up to your novel-fed mind pictures of chain-rattling convicts on the icy Siberian road, of bearded, booted, and sworded policemen lurking round corners to arrest you as a spy. Therefore you will be disappointed, and regard the English novelist who "depicts" Russian life with a. cold and unfavourable eye; for St. Petersburg is a city of enjoyment, a duplicate of Paris at. night time, and during the day a curious blend of the Orient, with a dash of London and Berlin thrown in. You need not scamper through Holland and Germany to get there. You can be economical, thanks to Messrs Bailey and who run passenger steamers every (wieek from iMillwail Dock direct to the Novi Port, StPetersburg, taking the Kiel Canal route on the way—a canal of 53 miles, full of interesting sights. You are five days on the sea. and on the fifth day are steaming out of the peaceful Baltic into the River Neva, under the scowling forts of Cronstadt. But do not be alarmed. These are not genuine forts, fierce as they appear. They are frauds., innocent mockeries; and the real protectors of the city lie further back, out of sight-BUSHY-BROWED RUSSIANS. There is no occasion for alarm when at Cronstadt the ship is invaded by bushy-browed Russians, in green braided uniforms and long boots: they are only customs officers, and their" chief occupation seems to be sitting on the hatchways. After Cronstadt comes St. Petersburg, and by this time one will have become quite used to the officials. Some more will come aboard, with jangling swords and spurs, to look after the passports.. Treat it all as though it were a scene from, a comic opera. There is much to see in St- Petersburg if you will go sight-seeing; the Cathedral of St. Isaac, with its wonderful stained-glass windows, its massive pillars of malachite and lapis lazuli, Jts gold ikons, glittering with diamonds and precious stones; the Hermitage, with its glorious collection of old masters; the Winter Palace, with the apartments of Alexander H. left to this day just as he left them, only to return bleeding and broken by the Nihilists' bomb. There are the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, with its dazzling wealth of precious stone 3, the Church of SS. Peter and Paul, where lie buried the Emperors of All the Russias; the musenm, with mor; pictures; the palace at Feterhof, a few miles- distant; the wonderful avenue of fountains, also at Peterhof; and scores of other interesting sightsA walk down THE NEVSKI PROPERTY is fascinating. Every shop has side-signs, on which are painted the articles that are sold within. A walk down the Nevski Prospect is fascinating. Every shop has side-signs, on which are painted the articles that are sold within. A sausage shop will have inviting designs of the various kinds of sausages; a heterogeneous collection of hat-pictures of all sorts and conditions tells that Di- : mitri Vedenski is in a position to sell headgear. These signs are really there for the uneducated people—the peasants —who would not be able to read a written notice. The droschky. is a comical vehicle; even more the isvostchik who drives it. He wears a low-crowned top-hat, and bis hair is cut in a manner that resembles a wig. He is dressed in a long blue gown, ridiculously padded, probably to keep him warm, and give him an air of importance. . . Girded round the waist with an Ori-ental-coloured band, he looks fierce. But he is not. He is open to drive you a short distance for fourpence, and if the distance be very short, to consider himself so well paid as to doff his hat and call a. blessing on your head. There are 27,000 drpsbhkys in St. Petersburg, and" the drivers do not say "Whoa" when they., want the" horse to -stop. They say "B-r-r-r." At every street corner are saints franred in*gilt metal, with a perpetual light burning before them. You never see a peasant or a poor man pass by one of these without snatching off his cap and crossing himself three times. .The isvostchik does it while he is driving, and not only bafore the street ikons, but at the sight of th j churches and cathedrals. In the railway stations, also, there is the ikon before which travellers bow and pray ere setting'out on a journey. If ever a man has been shamefully traduced, it is the Rusian policeman. There is nothing gruff about him; he is super-polite if you ask him a question. OPEN-AIR THEATRES. As far as amusement goes, there are over thirty "gardens," which combine a cafe chantant and a theatre, with a promenade in the open air, as in most Continental cities. In the summer this is delightful. You sip your lemon-tea* or your vodka (for in Russia one must drink as the Russians drink) under the j shade of the trees, while listening to a comic opera or some Cossack singers. Grey-coated, magnificent officers stalk proudly in and out of the throng of plasure-seekers. Fragments of French, Russian, German, and English conversation drift on the wind. Students and uniformed schoolboys wander about. I Bareheaded girls thread in and out of the crowd, offering red roses for sale. The scene is always one of gaiety and animation. The entertainment is generally of cosmopolitan variety.; At one garden. I went to I heard a German sing a comic song, a Spanish dancer gyrated like Tortojada, a Swedish couple sang a duet in their native tongue, a coon and an American lady obliged with a cake-walk, Fougere sang "Hello, my baby!" in a manner reminiscent of Marguerite Cornille, and a Russian chanteuse warbled soft gutturals. Although the gardens are illuminated there is no night at this season of the year in St. Petersburg. You can read a newspaper in daylight at two in the morning. Only between half-past eleven and twelve the light fades for a brief period and half-darkness descends; then swiftly it becomes daylight again. It is an experience to cross the Neva after leaving a garden. Silent stands the city in the white night, with the gold shining dully on the minarets, spires, and cupolas of the various praying-houses. Tall and straight uprises the needle-like spire of SS. Peter and Paul against the eerie whiteness. Five days in St. Petersburg pa 33 all too rapidly, but there ia the five days'

return journey on the sea to look forward to —five days of perfect rest after the ceaseless sightseeing on shore. To St. Petersburg, then, if you want an unconventional holiday. In the matter of the passport, the shipping company, with paternal will look after you. Tbe holiday, considering tha distance yon are going, and the novelty of the trip, is not expensive. You 'can do it comfortably, without being either too economical or too extravagant, for £25. —Alphonse Courlander in London "Express."