The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-09-11
CROWDED
BY RUSSIAN FUelTWfS
People From Poland and Baltic Prov
iIsccs Find New Homes AZ
Slavic Capital.
MANNED HAUNT STREETS
Grent Tragedy of Broken Bodies
Grects Visitor On Every Hand-No
Pensions, Injured Forced to Rely
On Public Aims.

Stockholm. Sept. l0.-A Swedish en-
gineer who has just returned from
Russia gives an interesting descrip-
ton Of war conditions In Petrograd,
He saws:
The population OF the Russian
capital has increased nearly forty per
cent since July. 1915. This is partly
due 10 the arrival OF hundreds OF
thousands OF fugitives from Poland.
the Baltic provinces and Volhynia.
partly to the erection of numerous
new factories and the enlargement
Of old ones The industrial establish
ments In Petrograd and the surround.
ing towns now employ six hundred
thousand men and women. Many of
the workers have been brought from
the interior OF the empire
within a radius of thirty miles of
Petrograd every existing factory pro-
duces war material and nothing else.
The Russian industries. after some
delay. have been as completely mohi
iized for the war as those OF Ger
many. Under the direction of Rus
sian, English and French experts the
factories turn out enormous quaint
ties of shells OF all sizes and cart
ridges for machine guns and rifles
The Putiloff works now make nearly
as many big guns as the world famous
Krupp works in Essen and IL Is as
serted that more machine guns are
finished every week in Russia than
in Germany.
Housing Is Problem.
"One Of the most serious questions
the authorities Of the capital have OF
wrestle with is the housing Of the
fugitives and the large army Of work
ers brought from other cities and the
rural districts. Rent in the sections
inhabited by the laboring classes Is
$50 and 200 per cent higher than
before the war. Thousands OF families
and single persons are not able 10
obtain quarters and have TO be hous-
ed In barns. storage houses and wood
on barracks erected near the fac
tories.
"All food Is prohibitively dear and
the working classes are starving. al
though they receive better wages than
ever before In the history OF Russia
The prices of meat fiour, sugar and
other necessaries have been driven up
more than 800 per cent
There is plenty of food in the in
terror provinces and in parts of 81
ONI but II CaIiHol bt tToukut W tiit
capital. because ALI the rolling stock
is used for the military purposes, High
government officials are openly charg-
ed with aiding the spectators by
stopping all food transports whenever
certain powerful clique Of Insurers
desires to make a new raid upon the
pockets of the public
Masses in Good Humor.
( "Despire their privations. the masses
are In good humor and confident. They
| expect the end Of the war before mex
| winter, and are firmly convinced thai
General Brussiloff has destroyed tht
Austro- Hungarian army. and is also
cutting the German forces to pieces
The newspapers daily publish storie!
| of wholesale deaths by starvation II
Germany and Austria and these yarn:
are not only believed by the jgnoran
! laboring classes. but also by the more
intelligent part OF the public.
aside from this general sufferin :
| few effects Of the war are felt In the
Russian capital. The restaura nts and
cafes are always crowded with off1
GERS. soldiers and women who drink
| enormous quantities OF tea, lemon
F! ade and kwas since they cannot ge
Z alcoholic beverages. In the streets
which have little trafT1c. recruits car
he seen drilling from morning I'll
night
The recent Zeppelin raids on sea
port towns of Finland have caused
considerable excitement in the capital
IT Is feared that the German airshi D,
may appear over Petrograd some da,
and hurl a hail OF bombs upon. eht
Nevski Prospect and the Winter Pa
lace. The military authorize IS evil
IDENTIFY expect this also. They hav,
mounted a great number of anti air
craft guns and organized special IRE
brigades and ambulance corps IN TIM
different parts of the city.
The saddest sight in Petrograt
Is the large number OF war cripple.
who are begging in the streets. Tnes-
unfortunates still wear the uniform.
in which they fought for their coun
try and the chests OF most are 4 ,cor.
ated with the St George Cross The
! little cross is the sole reward of ha-
roes for their bravery and thct- do.
votion to the Gar and the Father
land. Nothing whatever Is done 70,
them by the government and mar,
actually die of hunger because theil
number has become so large that tbs
public Is no longer able to support
them with aims.