YOUXG RUSSIA 



503 



lethargic Slav, say such authorities as 

 Samuel Wilkinson. 



A PROI-IIBITION NATION 



The abolition of the sale of intoxicants 

 in Russia represents the greatest prohibi- 

 tion victory of the age. With one dash 

 of the pen one-sixth of the earth's sur- 

 face and one-tenth of its population Avent 

 "dry." Heretofore vodka-drinking has 

 been the curse of the Russian masses. 

 Being a government monopoly, the offi- 

 cials of the government encouraged the 

 sale of vodka, and the constantly and 

 rapidly growing revenues from that 

 source showed that they did so with suc- 

 cess. 



Then the war came on. Realizing that 

 a drunken soldier can never be a good 

 soldier, the Tsar prohibited the sale of 

 vodka temporarily and inhibited his 

 troops from using intoxicants in any 

 form. 



Over night hundreds of thousands of 

 government dram shops were closed. 

 The response of the Russian people to 

 this order was one of the surprises of 

 Russian history. Everywhere it was re- 

 ceived with acclaim, and there were such 

 widespread and universal evidence of the 

 approval of the government's stand in 

 the matter that it soon became evident 

 to the Tsar that what he had intended 

 as a temporary measure could be made 

 permanent. 



The result was that Tsar Nicholas has 

 answered a petition of the Russian Chris- 

 tian Temperance Society, presented by 

 the Grand Duke Constantine, by saying: 



"I have decided to prohibit forever the 

 government sale of alcohol." 



And so prohibition, the Russians hope, 

 has come to a great Empire that prob- 

 ably more than any other in history has 

 suffered from the evils of intemperance. 



RUSSIAN SHRINES AND CHURCHliS 



Whoever has been so fortunate as to 

 visit Russia can never forget her won- 

 derful church music and numberless 

 shrines. Three of her imposing cathe- 

 drals are pictured in this Magazine — ■ 

 pages 469, 499, and 508— and are doubly 

 interesting because they show what mod- 



ern art can do. Being built on the lines 

 of the Greek rather than the Roman 

 cross, the interior is wider in proportion 

 to the length than is permitted by the 

 design of western cathedrals, and this 

 added width gives the Russian edifice an 

 impressiveness all its own. 



We had seen the famous cathedrals of 

 Europe — the noted structures of France, 

 Germany, England, Italy, and Sancta 

 Sophia, in Constantinople — but were ut- 

 terly unprepared for the splendor and 

 brilliancy of St. Isaac's at Petrograd! 

 Pillars 30 feet high of lapis lazuli and 

 malachite, altar rails of solid silver! con- 

 taining half a ton of this precious metal; 

 icons of pearls, studded with huge dia- 

 monds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies ! 



And then added to the appeal to the 

 eye is the appeal to the other senses. 

 The ear is charmed by the beauty of the 

 voices of priests and deacons rising in 

 waves of sound to the responses of the 

 service. No instrumental music distracts 

 the attention from the human voice. And 

 so beautiful is the singing that one does 

 not miss the organ. The singing, in- 

 cense, the lights of many candles, the 

 gorgeously - robed priests and deacons, 

 passing in and out against the golden 

 background, all make an irresistible ap- 

 peal to the emotions. 



The icons are the symbols of the saints 

 and of God. In every Russian home, in 

 every room in your hotel, in the railway 

 waiting-rooms, everywhere there is an 

 icon. It is not proper to sit with one's 

 back to it. It consecrates the home, and 

 is a reminder to the Russian that "God 

 is in the midst" — not locked up in the 

 church, but always present. The repre- 

 sentations of Christ, of angels, and of 

 saints are given in relief or mosaic or 

 are painted. 



The pictures accompanying this arti- 

 cle, showing peasant and gentleman at 

 devotion— pages 427, 433, 441, 443, 467, 

 and 477 — are actual snapshots. None of 

 them were posed or planned ; similar 

 scenes may be seen every moment every- 

 where in Russia. His religion is very 

 real to the Russian, and his God is really 

 omnipresent to him ; he sees His Spirit 

 everywhere, and everywhere acknowl- 

 edges it with the sign of the cross and 



