One of the most serious and annoying dangers with which
Rus- sian statesmen have to contend is the chalice that their capital may some fine day disappear altogether. It is well known to the Govern- ment that St. Petersburg is insecure, and probably grows more insecure every year, but no precautions seem to be of any avail. On October 15, for instance, the capital must have been in frightful danger. The water driven by the wind into the Gulf of Finland met the waters of the Neva, drove them back, and caused a sudden rising of the river, apparently to nearly 13 ft., flooding the lower parts of the city, and heaving up the wooden pavement in front of the Winter Palace for nearly its entire length. The streets, of course, were literally turned into rivers, and the bridges became impassable. But one other flood, that of 1824, has risen so high, and if the wind which hurls the Gulf of Finland on the Neva were only to blow steadily for three or four days, the piles might in the end give way. The Russian Government would, we have read, be willing to move the capital, but for the frightful expense attending it; but could not Dutch engineers suggest some form of dyke? The force of the Neva can hardly be greater than that of the mit at some places on the Dutch coast.
Previous page
