"The one at St. Petersburg occupies an enormous building, which might almost be called a series of buildings, fronting on the Nevski Prospect, but entered also from other streets. There are said to be ten thousand merchants and their employés in the building, and certainly the number is little if any exaggerated. We walked among the rows of shops till our feet ached with weariness, and still there were many other rows of shops to be visited. Sometimes the shopmen were importunate, but usually they did not disturb us unless we stopped to look at something. The building is two stories high, the lower floor being used for retail purposes and the upper for the storage of goods. Owing to the danger of a conflagration and the great destruction that would ensue, we were told that no fire is allowed here in winter. Then the merchants and their clerks wear furs and thick clothing when at their business, and shoppers are not expected to lay aside their wraps while making purchases.
"'What do you buy in the Gostinna Dvor?' I hear some one asking.
"'Everything that one could wear or use in Russia,' I should reply, 'together with a great many things whose use it would be impossible to imagine.' Some one writing on this subject says you may come naked into the Gostinna Dvor, bringing only a pocket-book stuffed with money, and leave it in an hour dressed in whatever garments you choose, wear all the jewellery your tastes may dictate, and ride away in a coach drawn by four horses, with driver and footmen in livery, all obtained in the building we are now visiting, or in one of its annexes. Nay, more; you can engage a residence of palatial character from accommodating house agents stationed here, and furnish it completely from the stock on hand in the Gostinna Dvor. Pictures, chairs, sofas, curtains, tapestry, kitchen utensils, library, anything and everything you want, are all ready for sale, and only await purchasers. Your wife and children, 'sisters, cousins, and aunts,' can here be provided with wardrobes, elaborate or economical, as your purse will justify, and so with all the servants of the household, regardless of their number.
POLITENESS IN THE MARKET-PLACE.
"Officers of every grade, rank, and arm of the service can be uniformed here, and their garments may be brand-new, second-hand, or so old that they will subject the wearer to punishment on account of his shabbiness. Decorations are to be bought, at least the insignia thereof, and the seller will ask no questions. The purchaser wears them at his peril if he does not possess the proper diplomas, since the unauthorized wearing of decorations is as serious a matter in Russia as in other Continental countries. The Emperor Nicholas was fond of visiting the Gostinna Dvor accompanied by a single orderly. One day he saw a young officer wistfully eying a decoration in one of the windows, and told the orderly to ascertain his name. Inquiry showed that the officer stood well with his superiors, was faithful in the performance of his duties, and the result was he received the coveted bauble directly from the hand of the Emperor.
"Perhaps you wonder why the Russian market is so extensive, and what must be the habits of the people to sustain such a commerce. This is the way it is explained:
"A Russian rarely buys anything till just as he wants it, and then he cannot wait to have it made. In England or America a man desiring to furnish a fine house would be weeks or months collecting his furniture, ordering some to be made, and buying the rest from time to time when he found what suited him. Under similar circumstances, a Russian drives to the Gostinna Dvor, and makes his selections from what he finds there.
"The Russians are said to be more capricious than people of other nationalities in the matter of their movements from place to place. A wealthy Russian will fit up a house at great expense, buying his furniture in the manner described. In a few months he decides to travel for his health, or go to the country, and the whole equipment is sent to the Gostinna Dvor and sold for what it will bring. It may be so little used that it can be sold again by the dealer as new, and of course the dealer makes a large profit on the transaction. When the man comes back to the city he furnishes anew, and thus the business of the bazaar is maintained. Fortunes come and go very quickly in Russia, and so the work of fitting and dismantling is continuous.