The Penn's Grove record., 1912-04-12
Russian Life Not Appreciated,

Mrs. Harry A.. Dalbow has received
letters from her husband from which the
following is taken:
Baku, Russia, March Is, 1912.
Mr.. Schein and myself reached here
yesterday, Sunday, both well, but very
tired from riding in the rain. 1t is 4
beautiful day with sunshine, not cold nor
hot, but a fire feels good in the house.
The houses are all stone and cement,
damp and cold and Oddly built.
The people are odd, very poor and live
in mud houses out inthe country and do
very little work. Their dress is a very
queer looking costume, filthy dirty. There
are persons who dress and look fine, most
" Jews and Germans who came here.
You can see camels and donkeys all thru
the streets. 1t is a curious sight to see
how people live here.
Boarding places are very scarce, hard
to get and very high IN price. Drinking
water is scarce and bad. 1t has to be
boiled before drinking so as to avoid few
er or sickness. Tie living and cooking is
not like it is in Germany, England nor
at home. Vegetables are very scarce. No
Irish potatoes are TO be had. There is
plenty OF good meat and bread, but no
pies or buildings. They give a kind OF
cake. Fruit is scarce. An orange costs
about ten cents. Most all kinds of nuts
are served. Milk is scarce also butter for
which you have to pay extra.
They have queer ways OF doing here. l
have to show my passport at every place
| stop. 1t is given to the chief OF police
and my name is registered. If | change
hotel or boarding house every hour in
the day l would have to do this so the
police may know where every person
stops or lives all of the the time. One has
all sorts OF such foolishness to put up with
1t takes between three and four weeks to
come or go from here. | shall be here
about three weeks and then go to Astra-
kan for thee or our weeks Then | will
start for home, where l expect to arrive
about July LIST.
March 23d.
| am all alone III my room at the hotel
as Mr.. Sciein goes to his uncle's to sleep.
In the morning he comes and takes me
to get breakfast, as can't make anyone
understand me-. | have not seer a person
who talks English, except Mr.. Schein
who talks English, German, French and
Tartar languages. | could not get along
without INN to speak for me. AS aeon
sequence ieel pretty lonesome.
1t is raining a little and has been
cloudy ever since | came here. / have
only seen the sun tor a few minutes at a
time i'll three weeks. | want to take pic
lures Of things here but can't get enough
sun to do it well.
[ came back yesterday from the Kura
river where | visited the largest sturgeon
-fiShnrIpG IN tlln world cau 1E00 Ct,,c
geon caught i'll one day. They were small
only 3 to 6 leet long, not much larger
than a big shad. The Kura river is 600
miles long, but very shallow and very
narrow, beilg only about 400 feet wide
250O fishermen at this place. They are
all Persian people, very poor and dirty
with scarcely any clothes on. They live
III mud houses with hay roofs. Lumber
is very scarce. Trees and bushes are
rarely seen. The people scarcely know
what a fire is. There is no wood and
coal has to be brought several hundred
miles by railroad or steamer. The price
is so high the poor people cannot buy it.
Fresh. water is scarce. We have to buy
1t at ten cents a pail full. The water here
is salty and the ground is SO saturated
with salt that scarcely anything will
grow.
Baku is located at the loot of the eau
casiau mountains. The soil is sandy like
a desert. The mountain tops are covered
with snow most of the time. At the edge
OF the city and foot OF the mountains are
the largest oil fields and wells in the
world. Thousands OF men work day and
night including sundays. About a third
OF the people are Mohammedans and dc
not believe i'll God. There are some Jews
and the others are Catholics. Sunday is
like any other day. Only a few observe
it while most people work or do any
| thing.
There are some odd looking people
here. Many of them carry daggers, guns
knives and pistols and are ready for wal
or fight.