GLIMPSES OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 



1077 



the two combined with a counterbalance 

 of 10,000 pounds of metal to adjust and 

 maintain the proper center of gravity. 



Near the principal business district of 

 St. Petersburg stands the gorgeous 

 "Church of the Resurrection of Christ" 

 (see page 1070), which in outward dec- 

 oration surpasses in brilliancy of colors 

 the St. Basil Cathedral in Moscow. The 

 edifice is thoroughly Russian in style, 

 with fantastically shaped domes and 

 minarets in most vivid hues. 



This memorial cathedral incloses the 

 stone pavement stained with the blood 

 of the martyred Emperor Alexander II, 

 who was assassinated on this spot by 

 means of a bomb one Sunday in 1881 as 

 he was returning from parade. It would 

 seem after having liberated 23 millions 

 of serfs from slavery Emperor Alexan- 

 der II was deserving of a less cruel fate. 



note;s of the; city 



The population of St. Petersburg is 

 nearly two million, and the people and 

 costumes seen on the streets represent 

 almost every nationality of Europe and 

 Asia. A custom new to us is noticed in 

 the parks, viz., the dresses of nurses, 

 indicating by their color the sex of their 

 charge — blue for a boy and red for a 



The Winter Palace, the chief Imperial 

 residence, is a vast building. Its outlook 

 on the river is beautiful to the ordinary 

 observer; but as the view includes the 

 Royal Mausoleum, it is questionable how 

 great may be the pleasure the vista af- 

 fords the Imperial head of the house, in 

 view of the tendency to anarchistic 

 methods which prevail in Russia. The 

 opposite side of the palace faces the 

 broad square, in the center of which is 

 the Pillar of Alexander I, a monolith 25 

 feet square and 155 feet high. 



The original palace building, which 

 housed 6,000 persons, was destroyed by 

 fire in the year 1837, and was replaced 

 with the present costly structure two 

 years later. The apartments and halls of 

 the part we were permitted to inspect 

 are indeed palatial in appointments and 

 furnishings and are crowded with rare 

 historical paintings and silver plate. 



Imagination must fall far short of pic- 



turing the beauty and grandeur of the 

 royal entertainments given in the mag- 

 nificent ball-rooms of this palace during 

 the long cold winters of this North 

 country. 



Directly across the River Neva and 

 opposite the Winter Palace lies Peters- 

 burg Island, the oldest part of the city. 

 Here stands the most conspicuous build- 

 ing of the river front, the Fortress 

 Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, sup- 

 porting its peculiar narrow spire, 302 

 feet in height. 



The purposes for which this mass of 

 stone, erected 210 years ago, has served 

 are decidedly varied. It has been the 

 burial place of all of the Tsars, with 

 the exception of Peter II, since it was 

 erected. It is a church, a mint, a mu- 

 seum of military trophies and relics of 

 the great Peter, a political prison, the 

 execution ground, and a fortress. The 

 walls of the part devoted to the mauso- 

 leum are hung with hundreds of wreaths 

 wrought in silver. 



While this fortress church is all deeply 

 interesting, one is glad to take his de- 

 parture, since there is a decided gloom 

 connected with the old surroundings, as 

 though some of the sorrow and suffer- 

 ing to which these walls have been silent 

 witnesses still permeated the place. 



AN EPIDi^MIC OF CHOLERA 



Although during our visit in St. Pe- 

 tersburg the cholera had been claiming 

 its victims in the city by hundreds, the 

 only noticeable indications of its pres- 

 ence were some of the precautionary 

 measures taken by the authorities. A 

 sort of wheeled apparatus for furnish- 

 ing boiled water in quantities, gratui- 

 tously given to the public, was located 

 on the corners of the principal avenues. 



To some of the Icons is attributed the 

 power of working miracles and of heal- 

 ing the sick, and certain of them were 

 supported under a canopy and carried in 

 a procession of golden-robed priests 

 through the principal streets, escorted by 

 military and followed by numbers of the 

 commion people chanting hymns. As the 

 procession proceeded, and until it h'ad 

 passed, the people on the roadside and 

 walks prostrated themselves before the 



