Rocky Ford enterprise., 1903-05-15
The wom.n's c,sb's Russian Day,


Mrs. @. n. Taylor had uea, in store
for tho woman's Club when they me;
with hef on May 9th. Tho regular Of
der Of business was suspended. ian ad-
,oufred meeting 10 DO held at Mrs. Fen
tons homo on May i6,hI and the ladies
were invited 10 spend an Afternoon In
Russia.
Nothing 10th they were transported To
;ha; gfea; but unhappy land. ~i;hou,
any OF tho diseomiofts Of travel however.
ea, by the graphic word pictures Of Mrs
S. r. Mendelson o! La Jun,a. She las,
year span; several months visiting Hol-
land. Belgium. her own family in Ger
many and hof husbands family In Rus
ala. where she remained some time. ke-
eofding TO tho Russian custom the guests
on being seated were served with the
usual refreshments offered In a Russian
homo. Ho, ;as In glasses was served. TO
DO s~oe;anod with preserves. and odd
little Russian cakes woro passed TO bo
dipped In tho tea. All afternoon the
Russian ladie. would sip their tea from
glasses constantly foplonished. Had
,hoy any nerves or stomaehs lci,7 soma
ono asked. ''oh yes." replied Mrs. Men
delson. both much better than Ameri-
cans"
While NO were slipping our ,aa In the
approved Russian manner. Mrs. N. In
brigh, and interesting fashion told Us Of
some Russian poeuafitios: Of her diff
culuos In getting across tho line into
Russia: Of tho beautiful Russian women
Of tho higher classes. kop, Tapped in idle
luxury in ihoir beautiful homes and re-
gardod almost like some beautiful piece
Of s,atuary. And thcn almos, with tears
in her eyes sho told Of tho hopeless. s;olid
misery Of tho lower classes. Oppressed.
mis,reated. utterly ignorant. yet helpless
TO change or leave their condition. upon
whose face tho speaker never saw a
smile. Tho always bitter con,ras. bo-
tween tho veTy rich and very poor is
hore. more startling. Only Is per cen,
Crock priests diseouraging rather than
forwarding education. In the pub
lie schools only 5 per cent Of the attend
ance can be Lutheran and 2 per cent
Jews. Only certain occupations also are
open to certain classes. This. together
with ignorance and ages Of oppression
has crushed out all ambition and push.
She then told Of the general prevalence
Of immortality. and Of the rottenness Of
official life from highest to lowest, every
man having his price.
Mrs. Mendelson told some sad tales OF
cruelty and oppression, sounding like the
dark ages. which resulted from the strict
watch for Nihilism or progressive ideas
Of any kind; Of the severe censorship. the
right Of the police to enter and search
any home, and question any gathering.
How the Woman's Club thanked their
stars they lived in a land Of freedom.
She then gave the guests with charming
touch. less sombre pictures Of their home
and social life; Of their dress. servants.
and the furnishingt Of their houses. Little
Miss Mildred Mendleson was dressed in
the pretty, gay peasant dress and a num-
Der Of pictures and articles of interest
were passed around for inspection.
For some time Mrs. M. kept her audi
ence spellbound by her interesting de-
scription, her heartfelt sympathy with
Russian wrongs and her intelligent COM
ments. Then she invited questions and
the ladies were not slow to avail them
selves Of the offer. They asked of ev-
erythng from tzars to pictures and from
schools to things to eat
With reluctant farewell to their hostess
md the La Junta ladies' the fortunate
guests departed, fully appreciative of
most novel. delightful and instructive
afternoon and most charming narrateur.
E.