Three heroes of the anniversary

Kobrin → Outstanding persons → Alexey Mikhaylovich Martynov

Presently the amusing phenomenon is observed: numerous fans "to poyubileynichat" even more often bring to the level of events, worthy to be solemnly noted, even those which from a sort only two-three years, not to mention more "solid" to five - and ten-year-old. At so widespread fashion on the most lightweight anniversaries would be absolutely inadmissible, though with delay, not to remember three original heroes of the anniversary of the dying year. Especially as all of them have a direct bearing most on Kobrin district and remind of little-known initial stages of development in us of different types of a land and water transport. This official opening on December 1, 1846 through movement on Moscow Warsaw highway. Same year fundamental reconstruction of the Dnepro-Bugsky channel came to the end. At last, 125-year anniversary of the beginning of operation of the Moscow and Warsaw railroad which acquainted Kobrin district with the benefits of railway transport. And as from the mentioned triad for a number of reasons all and each citizen directly most of all were affected in due time by laying through the center of Kobrin of a site of the new highway, to begin pertinently with it.

Previously the reader is offered to be released for several minutes from the image of the downtown habitual to us and to dream up a little, having imagined it without present Lenin Street which initially carried the name Babruysk. It is known that at the beginning of our history the island which from the North was washed by Mukhavts's waters, and from the East and the southwest two sleeves of Kobrinka's small river following from the divinsky bogs, in this place falling into Mukhavets became Kobrin's cradle. Until now only east sleeve of Kobrinki whereas from the second which branched off approximately at present music school and proceeded in the direction of the square which was absent at that time there is no trace left also remained. Then from the South shoal of this sleeve surrounded the remains of the Castle mountain and possession of the ancient Spassky monastery adjoining it (nowadays militia) then again merged with Mukhavts.

The total disappearance of this southwest branch, and at the same time and islands, occurred only at the very beginning of this century at the initiative of the Kobrin district district police officer (the chief of police) Lukin. On the place of the filled-up channel the small square was put. On its western roadside in 1912 will erect the solid monument reminding of the first victory in Patriotic war of 1812 won in Kobrin on July 15.

And finally to put the end to completely disappeared island, not to the liyena to remember that from time immemorial on it is mute the two-humped, apparently, artificially filled "castle mountain" serving as an administrative center of Kobrin, carrying different names rose. Here by tradition there was a building of a city town hall. On its place there is a modest one-storeyed house of music school built in the early twenties for the Polish magistrate now.

The complete elimination of the Castle mountain was directly caused by laying through its center of a city site of the highway. In one of archival documents - the official report of the Kobrin governor of a town to the Grodno governor - it was reported that the arrived military working team headed by the captain of engineering troops started an unearthing of the Castle mountain which earth is used for construction of a highway embankment.

There is a lawful question: in what way in the absence of present Lenin St. with the bridge so habitual to everyone through Mukhavets the population of the main, left-bank part of the city daily communicated with Zamukhavts? To this purpose from olden days served the abrupt bend of Pinskaya Street which was directly surrounding castle strengthenings from the West and resting against Mukhavets. A crossing were raznovremenno whether the small constant bridge, whether folding, plashkautny. It is enough to remember that when as a result of military operations in 1915, 1920, 1939 and 1944 traditionally wooden bridges were serially burned, before their complete recovery on the habitual place what a lot of time was spent for, as the steady place of a temporary crossing through the river served the joint of present st. on September 17 with Railway. Up to post-war time a city site of the highway, having passed across the western suburb of the Market square, turned at right angle on narrow Brestskaya Street. Only at the very beginning of the 50th years at the initiative of the chief architect of area of P. V. Leonov St. Lenin it was directly laid to Pushkin St. After the detailed retreat caused by need to clear up the sorted question we come back to the main subject.

The plan about a construction of so important highway in the strategic and economic relation connecting Russia with the West began to be carried out after the shocks caused by Napoleonic wars. The first site from Warsaw to Brest was put in operation in 1823. Further works were continued at the same time on different sites, this time in the opposite direction - from the East on the West. Were especially intensively conducted at the final stage connecting two first-class fortresses Brest and Babruysk. This route was begun in 1842 and finished in 1846. It is necessary to recognize that at primitive technical capabilities of that time it were really record terms. In many places it was necessary to overcome extensive marsh massifs (to remember at least the Polish bog 7 versts long, Zapolsky - 5 versts) therefore the earth for an embankment had to be brought from far away on lean country loshadyonka. But delivery of a necessary huge number of field stones which lay on the neighboring fields much was facilitated. Through a large number of the rivers and rivulets wooden bridges were constructed (three times through one Mukhavets). On roadsides of the carriageway the trees softening summer heat landed.

Throughout the highway there were brick post stations which are favourably differing in the improvement from it similar on other directions. Between more considerable there were intermediate, incomparably more modestly, playing a role of substations. From Kobrin in the western direction that was in Petrovichakh, to the East - in Dams.

The extensive Kobrin station was built in the country, at the very end of Brestskaya St. On that time it was allocated with the comfortableness, in it there were even so-called "imperial rooms" intended for stately persons. At the main hotel building there were stables on 32 horses, canopies for crews, sheds, barns.

Emergence of the new highway highway abolished a traditional post path from Kobrin to Gorodechno, Pruzhan, Slonim, Nesvizha. For fuller picture of transportation terms of that time we will give a number of official data. After natural "cosmetic" completion regular post chase on the finishing site of the highway began on January 1, 1948. Stations were leased from auction for 6 and 12 years of mails holders what at us were mainly Jews. Coachmen were employed by the month on harcha of mails holders for 2-4 rubles a month. Average speed of driving on the highway made 12-16 versts an hour. Post crews britskas and carriages were applied. To the first four places: two inside and two outside. Besides passengers, these crews delivered an ekstrapochta from Moscow and Warsaw and back on two times a week. Besides, from Brest four-seater cabriolets and 3, 8 and 14-seater carriages went to Warsaw...

However at us the exclusive triumph of the new highway not for long proceeded. Did not pass also several decades as in the seventieth and eightieth years it had a terrible competitor in the person of the railroads. Soon after the beginning of their operation our post station was transferred for military hospital from which, in turn, turned into long use of district, and then regional hospital. For this purpose internal rooms were significantly reconstructed and adapted for new appointment. Less external, rather peculiar image of the building which became an architecture monument suffered as a result of repeated reconstruction. As for the highway, after it twice in both directions Drang na Osten", left indelible marks which still a long time were got rid in post-war years thundered Teutonic ". Due to the subsequent asphalting in a number of low places the embankment had to be raised considerably. The wooden bridges destroyed by war everywhere are replaced by concrete.
Such is in brief history of the sesquicentennial highway. The laid modern highway became his successor improved in every respect and the rival recently in parallel. In the near future it should become part of incomparably more impressive transeuropean highway Moscow - Paris. Is not subject to doubt that at the modern prevailing development of all types of motor transport on a global scale before our modernized highway the most favorable prospects open that, naturally, cannot but positively affect welfare of Kobrin district.

Continuation of our review is devoted to the hero of the anniversary N 2 which will become such memorable event of local scale as the 125 anniversary of familiarizing of Kobrin district with a railway system. There was it in December, 1871 when regular train service throughout the Moscow and Warsaw railroad which northwest piece lay across the territory of the Kobrin County began and had two stations - Tevli and Zhabink. Thus kobrinets for the first time had an opportunity to say goodbye substantially to eternal monopoly of "cartage", having passed to the most perfect at that time vehicles. This circumstance led to the fact that soon in essential degree paramount value not very long ago of Moskovsko-Varshavskoye Highway seeming attractive was lost. And though traditionally recovered path Kobrin - Gorodechno - Pruzhana was abolished recently, most of Kobrin passengers still preferred to use as the nearest station of Tevli.

Further we will glance in the past of the adjacent railroad which is directly connected with Kobrin which is a little younger than the predecessor. Everything began with the fact that in 1880 a certain private finance company started a construction of the new railroad named by Libavo-Romenska 1191 verst long. (During the Soviet period its Belarusian site received the name Polesia. e). Establishment of a direct stable relation of seldom freezing Baltic port of Libava (now Liepaja) with rich Poltavshchina became its purpose. Construction of the single-track highway was conducted so intensively that in 1882 Zhabink's site - Minsk was put in operation. The termination of all road took place in 1884. And in 1891 the privately owned road was redeemed in treasury. Soon it was found out that the single-track railway is not able to cope with ever-increasing freght traffic therefore laying of the second way began.

In Kobrin rails lay through a northwest extremity of the city, at the very end of Goncharskaya St. of that time. The one-storeyed standard wooden building of the station was under construction in so-called "glinishcha". The matter is that this waste ground was covered with the poles of the different sizes which arose after a vykopka of clay which was used on production of the brick burned by numerous handicraft "voles". If the first. the bridge through Mukhavets was rather primitive, two-section, for the second track more perfect one-arch option was chosen. For its construction at station rather solid railway workshops appeared. Their collective took active part in the all-Russian railway strike of 1905, among strikers numerous arrests were made.

The brisk petty-bourgeois youth of the city with elementary education did not fail to use the opened opportunity and hurried to hold positions of switchmen, conductors whereas entrants of city school became kontorshchik and telegraph operators. Diligent gimpers, many of them reached further "the known degrees", having held important posts in railway hierarchy. In World War I in August, 1915 at retreat of the Russian army all station constructions were burned, and both bridges are blown up. The German invaders restored only the first bridge.

After completion of military operations at the beginning of the 20th the Polish administration on the place of the burned-down wooden station built the two-storeyed brick building - the exact double by miracle of the Zhabinkovsky station which endured wars. Only the initial bridge whereas one-sidedly undermined arch for a number of years understood on scrap metal was restored. The second way from which rails are removed was as superfluous completely liquidated. In general for all intermilitary twentieth anniversary our road conducting in "Bolsheviya" became insignificant that, naturally, affected its activity. If the movement of goods trains was rather rare, then two-three couples of scanty passenger trains a day in general consisted of several cars.

In all continuation of fascist occupation diversionary groups of guerrillas did not stop the hardened rail war. On only one site Kobrin - Pinsk under a slope there were 398 enemy military echelons with military equipment and manpower. Often the loss caused to invaders was so essential that restoration of the movement required considerable time that, naturally, gave serious help to the front.

Realizing paramount importance of railway traffic, the running Hitlerites with special exasperation destroyed everything with it connected. All station structures were reduced to ashes, bridges, bridges, viaducts, not to mention pumping stations, semaphores, shooters methodically blew up. Besides, the special device was used to a perebivaniye of each separate left rail, each cable column.

Results of this vandalism painfully affected during a row of post-war years. Even on such first-class highway, as Moscow and Brest., in a number of places on separate sites, especially in Smolensk region where as necessary it was necessary to use temporarily unsafe rails pudges, the speed of train service did not exceed 15-20 km/h. And passenger trains spent for overcoming of a thousand-kilometer way not less than one and a half days.

In the very first months after liberation of Kobrin district only with the greatest care military echelons on unsteady similarity of the bridge erected by sappers on a fragile stage from cross ties instead of blown up hardly crawled. The depressing look the Kobrin station represented many post-war years. Everywhere, since a pumping station, and up to the pathetic barrack which is carrying out functions of the station only one temporary barracks of different function met. And to passengers of already normally rushing trains still remembered about war and feats of guerrillas demolition men of a heap of the rusty scrap metal rolling decades on roadside ditches.

1996 finishing our "trilogy" of heroes of the anniversary there will be a Dnepro-Bugsky channel which capital reconstruction ended exactly 150 years ago when in December, 1846 its present name was officially approved. At detailed acquaintance with more than bicentennial history of the channel which is distinctly dismembered on three stages lyubypytny regularity is found: each subsequent stage surely differed in the essential growth of its extent of "a water smooth surface". So, if initial length very narrow (to 12 m) "pro-cop" as he was called in 1786, made only 56 versts, then after the first detailed reorganization in 1846 it increased up to 75 versts. However and it is not a limit yet. Century later after the second stage and modernization of modern option of the waterway "from the Varangian in Greeks", his artificial part from Kobrin to river. Pins reached 110 km at the general extent of 196 km.

In article offered the reader the second stage as a result of which the canal became originally navigable water highway which is reliably connecting basins of the Dnieper and Vistula Rivers, and in wider scale of the Black Sea with Baltic is considered.

However first not to do without at least most cursory examination with the initial stage. For the first time the thought of the channel arose in 1635 when in many European countries mass construction of artificial midland waterways began. However at us implementation of an initial plan dragged on more than for century, till 1775. The planned route of the channel lay on strongly boggy forest district. Works were conducted by hands of thousands of "krepak" deprived of civil rights which used the most primitive instruments of labor, and dragged on for the whole decade. 1786 when in commemoration of so memorable event the commemorative medal was rapped out became an official expiration date. The first successful experience of through navigation carried out, pinchanin Butrimovich whose small boats with goods of local production covered the considerable distance from Pina's mouth to Gdansk. Gradually navigation extended, and according to 1817. across the canal abroad passed already 382 vessels and 221 rafts.

However along with indisputable achievements soon it was found out that owing to steady shoal during considerable part of the navigation period it is impossible to use possibilities of the channel at full capacity. For elimination of so essential shortcomings in 1839 construction of a number of hydraulic engineering constructions as in the system of the channel, and its auxiliary water supply systems, having used water resources of Belozersky, Orekhovsky and Tursky lakes began. About a huge number of the labor spent for these purposes it is possible to judge at least by the fact that 10007 plotnikodny and 6989 unskilled workers, were spent auxiliary days for a construction of each their 16 dams. Each dam cost treasury 5815 rubles. Width of the channel reached on a bottom of 10 meters, on a surface of 20 meters with a 2-meter depth.

Very essential natural link in system of the channel it is necessary to call Mukhavets. Here the interesting data on him printed in the detailed two-volume book "Description of the Grodno Province" published in 1863 under Bobrovsky's edition.

"The river Mukhavets serving by the main link of this system and falling into Bug at the territory of Brest-Lithuanian is formed of connection of three small rivers or streams. The first stream - Vlok originates in the Kobrin County near Gorodts, near Vorotynich from where the channel begins. Vlok falls into other stream - the Wreath or Berezna. The river flows into the last above Kobrin. Mucha or Mukhavets following in 6 versts to the northwest of of Pruzhana. On connection of these streams the river Mukhavets which flows from Kobrin on the West in sandy and peaty coast is formed".

In a zone of the channel whimsically coiling Mukhavets was straightened on especially abrupt bends of 27 times. At the same time its coast obvalovyvatsya by the so-called bechevnik intended for the barge haulers pulling vessels bechevy against the current.
Especially large straightening happened on Kobrin's territory where before the bed of the river on a considerable extent proceeded on the boggy lowland near Pinskaya Street, regularly flooding the lower sites of kitchen gardens during floods. In places traces of this staritsa remained up to now.

Now ideally straightened site stretches from SSh N 2 to the next winding at the end of Naberezhnoy St. On Kobrin's plan of 1857 this site of the river and appears "channel". Along its right coast the high towing-path which slopes in a number of places were strengthened by piles, boards and fascines is filled.

Owing to the competition to quickly developing railway system cargo navigation continuously was reduced whereas timber rafting sharply increased. Only in 1897 on the channel floated 407 small small boats, but 13692 rafts.
"For Polish hours" without due attention from the authorities the semi-abandoned canal with the showered coast only during the short period after a high water was used for an alloy of rafts. In the summer in city boundaries neglected Mukhavets grew with seaweed to such an extent that even pleasure walks by boats and kayaks became difficult.

Decisive change in further history of Dnepro-Bug, it is equal as for all Belarus, came in fatal 1939. In the first months after reunion the project of reconstruction and modernization of the channel impressing with the scale was developed. Despite severe winter of 1940, the drawn-up construction plans were implemented in time. Throughout a large number of modern water-engineering systems, dams, floodgates was constructed. At the same time throughout 22 km from Kobrin to the village Benefit is straightened a huge bend of Mukhavts thanks to what the channel reached east suburb of the city. In August, 1940 on all route of the channel the intensive navigation which is abruptly torn off next year by the broken-out war began to boil. In occupational hard times the channel was reliably preserved by the guerrillas breaking enemy attempts to resume navigation. In the closest post-war years all hydraulic engineering constructions which are completely destroyed by Hitlerites were not only are restored, but also reconstructed. Originally the next decades became "hour of triumph" of our channel for all perennity of its existence. During all navigation period the round-the-clock recovered passing backwards-forward through locks of huge number of various vessels with economic freights did not stop.

The recent rupture of relations between the former republics of the USSR painfully responded on further activity of the channel which, being figuratively expressed, fell into a deep lethargical sleep. Let's not begin to lose nevertheless hope that this phenomenon short-term and passing, and the waters which soon stiffened will begin to seethe under screws of tows again. And in conclusion of this anniversary review it is pertinent to raise one more question which directly concerns both all three heroes of the anniversary combined, and everyone separately. I mean our bridges.

Speaking about any to "a water barrier" on military terminology, it is involuntarily thought of a way of its overcoming. Whether it will be mobile floating means, whether the reliable, steady bridge. This question is of a certain interest in itself, and in addition also because at us between the canal and the bridge rather curious analogy is looked through. Whereas any updating of the channel surely involved its lengthening, and construction of the next bridge instead of burned down was the cause for its increase in comparison with previous.

In confirmation of told we will take at least the city bridge through Mukhavets. In the remained photos of the beginning of the century it appears at us rather primitive and stocky. Rise on it did not exceed three-four tens meters. For example, the entrance to a cathedral was at the level of the carriageway of Bobruyskaya Street, and the socle of a monument of 1812 considerably towered over the sidewalk. The first increase in height of the bridge with the corresponding raising of a cobblestone road belongs to the first half of the 20th when the bridge which burned down in 1920 was restored. However, rise was so modest that the direct message between Nikolsky and Railway streets remained completely. Ocherednoy Bridge was under construction in 1940, with moderate "take-off" this time. The most considerable vzdybleniye new, this time the reinforced concrete bridge, came in the first post-war years. This time height of the bridge reached a record point, and rise on it dragged on for many hundreds of meters. The explanation was unambiguous. Estimated intensive growth of navigation considered high-pipe steamships which when approaching to undersized bridges were stopped, pipes should be lowered at first, then to lift. Naturally, it had an adverse effect on swimming speed. The same reason influenced the similar height of the bridge on Pinsk of the highway via the channel.

 A. Martynov

Martynov, And. Three heroes of the anniversary: pages of history / A. Martynov//Kobrynsk_ vesn_k. – 1997. – 4, 11, 22, 29 studzenya, 5 lyutag. Transport, land transport, Moskovsko-Varshavskoye Highway, railway transport, railroad, water transport, Dnepro-Bugsky channel, bridges.
 



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