The student cannot attend any social or public gathering or entertainment, neither can he go to the theater or concert hall. He must not be on the streets after seven p. m. He must not read any newspaper whatsoever, or any books but those written by Russian authors and approved of by the censor.
Any one observing the violation of any of these rules may demand the student’s passport and return the same to the authorities, for which the informer receives a reward, while the student is punished by being locked up for twelve hours in a dark room.
Secret societies or organizations among the students are not to be dreamed of; neither are students permitted to gather in groups. Two may converse or speak with one another, but three together are not allowed.
A young Russian who says he attended one of these institutions is our authority for the statement that there is always among the students one spy in ten. The same person declares that when a spy makes an unfavorable report, the student reported against suddenly disappears.
If inquiry is made for the missing student, the inquirer will be told that the young man was considered a dangerous subject to the community, and was therefore removed out of harm’s way. The teachers, professors, and directors of universities are appointed by a body selected for that special purpose by the czar himself.
Many parents, knowing the risks and the dangers their boys are subject to while in a Russian university, educate them abroad. The young man sent abroad for education is looked upon by the authorities as a dangerous subject, full of liberal ideas and opinions concerning public problems.
A BEAUTIFUL SWISS CUSTOM.
The horn of the Alps is employed in the mountainous districts of Switzerland, not solely to sound the cow call, but for another purpose solemn and religious.
As soon as the sun has disappeared in the valleys, and its last rays are just glimmering on the snowy summits of the mountains, the herdsman who dwells on the loftiest, takes his horn and trumpets forth “Praise God, the Lord!”
All the herdsmen in the neighborhood take their horns and repeat the words. This often continues a quarter of an hour, while on all sides the mountains echo the name of God. A solemn stillness follows, every individual offers his secret prayer on his bended knees, and with uncovered head. By this time it is quite dark. “Good night!” trumpets forth the herdsman on the loftiest summit. “Good night!” is repeated on all the mountains from the horns of the herdsmen and the clefts of the rocks.