The Foundling Hospital is another of the public institution of which the people are justly proud. Though Russian, it is under German supervision. The place is extremely large; this is necessary, for it is never without 5,000 or 6,000 children. The principal buildings are in St. Petersburg, where the children are kept a few weeks. They are then sent to the peasantry in the country, where they remain until they are six years old. The girls return to St. Petersburg, while there is a branch for the boys at Gatshina. The building at St. Petersburg is much more of a palace than a foundling home. The main building is composed of what was formerly the palace of Prince Bohinski and Count Rasumoffski.
When the children are grown they are relieved from all obligations toward the institution. The boys are easily provided with positions in the trades' and imperial factories; the girls are given positions as teachers and governesses.
Though St. Petersburg has fewer churches than Moscow, it has churches of all denominations and every style of architecture. Here are seen Grecian, Byzantine, old Russian, new European architecture and what not. The handsomest of these is St. Isaac's Church. The church is large and imposing without. Inside it has many handsome decorations, costly pictures of saints and gold crosses.
The roof is supported by granite monoliths from Finland, buried for centuries in deep swamps. They are crowned with capitals of bronze and support the enormous beam of a frieze formed of six polished blocks. But the cupola is the crowning glory to all this splendor. It is made of copper and overlaid with gold that glitters like the sun on a mountain.
The Russian capital is most attractive on a pleasant summer evening. The scene presented by the Exchange, the university buildings, the Academy of Arts, the Corps de Cadets and the Academy of Sciences, surrounded as they are with well-kept greensward and splendid flower beds, present an inviting appearance. The river is lined with sailing craft of nearly every description, devoted to pleasure. It has several fine steam yachts which are used by members of the club for making trips up the gulf. On a summer's evening as one sits on the balcony of the English Club or strolls up the quay, listening to the band in the garden of the Summer Palace, the swift-moving passengers in their gayly trimmed barks made a pretty sight against the splendid buildings and gilded spires of the churches.
Not all the beauty of St. Petersburg lies in this one island. The city is in a delta and is surrounded by a whole chain of islands. The wildest and least inhabited is Neva, visited principally by seals and wolves. Then there are the Volny Islands, the Truktanoff Islands, and some others. These are swampy and overgrown with birch and scarcely known by name to many Russians. They contain magazines and are used for powder and other stores. The most interesting of these are the Gardens Islands, which at one time were covered with scrubs, but Alexander and Nicholas saw in them possibilities for raising flowers, and they have gradually been transformed into splendid islands. Yelagin belongs almost exclusively to the court; it is occupied by a château and beautiful gardens. The court live here in the spring and early summer, when the gardens blaze with brilliant colors. The houses are certainly modest looking. The most interesting feature is that they are built on the bank of the rivers and in different styles of architecture; one Gothic, a second Italian and a third Chinese. The hothouses are wonderfully supplied with cut and exotic plants and the peasants' cottages are filled with splendid window boxes.
CHRISTMAS WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS
Have you ever stopped to think what Christmas would mean with no Christmas tree nor Santa Claus? Still, this year many thousand children will have a heavy heart instead of a happy Christmas tree. Many thousands have lost their fathers in war and their homes have been destroyed.