The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-11
THE RUSSIAN WOMAN
 AT HOME

f like an OK and has for her daily drinl
 only some tea and a villainous sort o weak beer.
 l And these daughters of toll ant
 mothers of men drink vodka--all they
 can get. Do you wonder? Vodka is ir | Russia what whiskey is in other lands only more so It is distilled from po- tatoes and is not nearly so strong a: corn whiskey, but strong enough tc fuddle the brains of people half fed I like these peasants. They stupefy themselves with vodka and then lie down outdoors or indoors to sleep il off. If Russian peasants had abund- ant, nourishing food they would not drink so much vodka. And there you are!
 The pay of the people is almost star vatfon wages. It has always required the united labor of men and women bboth to produce the hardly won Rus
 sian farm crops. For a year past the men have been raked and scraped off into the czar's army, leaving only wo-
 men and children to till the fields. Tn consequence the crops themselves are scant. It is said there will be a terri ble famine in Russia ere long because of the war, and that is at the bottom of the revolt of the peasant population in several districts
 Roger Pocok writes of the women:
 Tn need or difficulty they come to the great lady, scratching at her door like
 mouse until they gain admittance
 Then. kneeling or even lowing their heads to the floor. kissing her hands and her feet. clinging to her dress, they make petitions until she grants two farthings to buy something for the ba- A,y4 oil fnI1 of f,.na Gov the repairing of a hut. The lady will scold in a whirlwind of rage or laugh until she cries, but she always helps l always forgives."
 Childrens nurses wear the pictur- esque national dress. When a girl baby is born in a wealthy family the
 nurse always wears a red dress; if the infant is a boy the nurse wears blue. When the cold weather cuts off farm work Russian peasant women who can
 do so flock to the cities and get work in factories. This is the only ray of brightness in their poor lives.
 One curious custom of the Russian peasant women might well be com
 mended to their class everywhere. This is their weekly bath. In every neigh-
 borhood, no matter how poor, there is a steam bath, often a mere hut out
 wardly, but fitted for it's purpose with in. A great steam is raised by pour ing water upon hot stones, and in that the poor people cleanse and soften the skin. Accommodation are provided for the renovation of their undergar- ments. They wash their body linen as we'll as themselves and then run home
 to let the men use the bath. The outer clothing of both sexes is in winter sheep skin with the wool on. These woolly skin clothes have serious
 drawback, however They cannot be cleansed. And Russian housekeeping,
 high or low. is not altogether that of a
 we'll regulated American home.
 Hope for Russia lies in the rapidly
 increasing number of educated and hu-
 manitarian women of the middle class. It Is only within about twenty years that women have been allowed to strike even an entering wedge into any of the learned professions They are so brilliant intellectually. though. and so
 jealous in their love of their own land and people that they are making rapid
 progress toward emancipation for themselves and their sisters.
 There are now in Russia 1000 prac- ticing women pharmacists. St. Peters- tirely operated by women. Russian medical women, of whom there is a large number. are surpassed by none. as surgeons in military camps. And if possible, even more dreaded by the autocracy than the men are.
 CHARLOTTE VAN BECK.