cks the hour; but the drivers, like their profession everywhere,
are inclined to overcharge. Every one who thinks he can afford it,
keeps a team of his own, the horses being generally of European stock.
A few horses have been brought from St. Petersburg; the journey
occupies a full year, and the animals, when safely arrived, are very
costly. Private turnouts are neat and showy, and on a fine afternoon
the principal drives of the city are quite gay. General Korsackoff has
a light wagon from New York for his personal driving in summer.

I found here a curious regulation. Sleighs are prohibited by municipal
law from carrying bells in the limits of the city. Reason: in a great
deal of noise pedestrians might be run over. In American cities the
law requires bells to be worn. Reason: unless there is a noise
pedestrians might be run over.

"You pays your money and you takes your choice."

Cossack policemen watch the town during the day, and at night there
are mounted and foot patrols carrying muskets with fixed bayonets.
Every block and sometimes every house has its private watchman, and at
regular intervals during the night you may hear these guardians
thumping their long staves on the pavement to assure themselves and
others that they are awake. The fire department belongs to the police,
and its apparatus consists of hand engines, water carts, and hook and
ladder wagons. There are several watch towers, from which a semaphore
telegraph signals the existence of fire. An electric apparatus was
being arranged during my stay.

During my visit there was an alarm of fire, and I embraced the
opportunity to see how the Russians 'run with the machine.' When I
reached the street the engines and water carts were dashing in the
direction of the fire. The water carts were simply large casks mounted
horizontally on four wheels; a square hole in the top served to admit
a bucket or a suction hose. Those carts bring water from the nearest
point of supply, which may be the river or an artificial reservoir,
according to the locality of the fire. Engines and carts are drawn by
horses, which appear well selected for strength and activity. All the
firemen wore brass helmets.

The burning house was small and quite disengaged from others, and as
there was no wind there was no danger of a serious conflagration. The
Chief of Police directed the movements of his men. The latter worked
their engines vigorously, but though the carts kept in active m