. Even now there is not a station, and
scarcely a foot of the railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow, that is
not infested with an extraordinary surplus of useless men in uniform.
At the great depots in each of these cities the traveler is fairly
confused with the crowds of officers and employes through which he is
obliged to make his way. Before he enters the doorways, liveried
porters outside offer to take his baggage; then he passes by guards,
who look at him carefully and let him go in; then he finds guards who
show him where to find the ticket-office; when he arrives at the
ticket-office, he finds a guard or two outside, and half a dozen
clerks inside; then he buys his ticket, and an officer examines it as
he goes into the wirthsaal; there he finds other officers stationed to
preserve order; when the bell rings the doors are opened; numerous
officers outside show him where to find the cars, and which car he
must get into; and when he gets into a car he sits for a quarter of an
hour, and sees officers going up and down outside all the time, and
thinks to himself that people certainly can not be supposed to have
very good eyes, ears, or understanding of their own in this country,
since nobody is deemed capable of using them on his individual
responsibility. I only wonder that they don't eat, drink, sleep, and
travel for a man at once by proxy, and thereby save him the trouble of
living or moving at all. In fact, I had some thought of asking one of
these licensed gentlemen if the regulations could not be stretched a
point so as to embrace the payment of my expenses; but it occurred to
me that if I were relieved of that responsibility, they might
undertake at the same time to write these letters for me, which would
be likely to alter the tone and thereby destroy my individuality. But
it must be admitted that good order, convenience, politeness, and
comfort are the predominant characteristics of railway travel in
Russia. The conductors usually speak French, German, and English, and
are exceedingly attentive to the comfort of the passengers. The hours
of starting and stopping are punctually observed--so punctually that
you can calculate to the exact minute when you will arrive at any
given point. Having no watch, I always knew the time by looking at my
ticket. Between St. Petersburg and Moscow there are thirty-three
stations, seven of which are the grand stations of Lubanskaia,
Malovischerskaia, Okoulourskaia, Bologovskaia