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Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2030, 25 February 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

How the Russians Keep Warm.—The Killian* have a great knaek of making their winters pleasant. Vou feel nothing of the ceM in those tightly built houses, where all doors an i windows are double, and where the r" 'ins are kept warm by big stoves hidden in the walls. There is no damp in a Russian house, and the inmates may dress in doors in the lightest garb, which contrasts oddly with the mass of furs and wraps which they don when going out. A It issian can afford to run no i i=k of exposure when he leaves the house for a walk or a drive, fie covers Lis head and cars with a fur bonnet, his feet and legs with felt boots lined with wool or fur, which are drawn over the ordinary boots and trousers, and reach up to the knees ; he next cloaks himself in a top coat with a fur collar. lining, and cuffs ; he buries his hands in fingerless gloves or seal skin. Tims equipped, the Russian exposes his nose only to the cold air, and he takes care to frequently rub that organ to keep the circulation going. A stranger would often get his nose fro/.cn if it was not for the courtesy of the • Russians, who will always warn him if they see his nose whitening,” and will, unbidden, help him to chafe it vigorously with snow. In Russian cities, walking is just possible for m in during the winter, but hardly so for ladies. The women of the lower order wear knee boots ; those of the shop-keeping class seldom venture out at all; those of the aristocracy go out in sleighs. Kissing an Ancient Book.—The hook on which all the kings of England, from Henry I. to Edward VI., took the coronation oath, is in a private library in England. It is a manuscript of the four Evangelists, written on vellum. The original binding, in a perfect state of preservation, consists of two oaken boards an inch thick, fastened together with thongs of leather.