The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-03-29
PAINTS vienna
FORL0RN CITY
Polish Artist Tells Of Misery, Es-
peciaIIy Among Middle
y. Classes.
FOOD OUT OF THEIR REACH
Workers Make Apparently Huge
Amounts, but Are Obliged to Spend
It All on Their Living
Children Suffer Most.

Children Suffer Most.
New YOrk.-NicOl Schatenstein, 9
Polish portrait painter, who has just
arrived from Vienna, said that the
reason why he left the Austrian cap
ital to come to America was be
cause of the misery he had witnessed
for four years and his desire to joir
his family, who are American citizens
He expects to become an American
citizen, too.
"The worst sufferers in Vienna" the
painter, said in an interview, "are
those of the middle class, because they
cannot afford to pay the high prices
demanded for food. The working man
is we'll paid, but he has to spend it
on food to keep himself and his fam
lily. Thousands of the children Of the
masses have been sent to Italy and
Switzerland to be fed, but the unfor-
tunate children Of the middle class re-
main in Vienna to share the hunger
of their parents. When / passed
through Holland two weeks ago the
working people there were giving one
guilder, or 40 cents American money,
for the starving children of Vienna.
Pay Barber More Than Professor.
"A BARRIERS assistant in Vienna"
Mr.. Schatenstein continued, receives
$4,000 kroner a year (about $4,000 in
prewar days., and has to spend it all
to live in an ordinary way. Compare
this with the $4,000 kroner paid to
professors of the universities in Aus
tria and the 5000 to 5000 kroner a
year paid to schoolmasters and Office
clerks. How can they exist In city
where food Is scarce and dearer than
1t is in New York? I had plenty of
money, but did not have an egg once
a month. Milk I never saw. Butter
was rare and dear. Meat could be
had in the restaurants in small por-
lions and potatoes on rare occasions.
Bread was scarce and so poor that
only persons with the digestion Of os-
triches could eat 1t. I could never
find out exactly what 1t was composed
Of except that there was scarcely an,
sssGo5dr. Wood. straw. rye and dried
bushes were all chopped up fine and
baked into a hard cake to be sold as
bread.
"The poor could eat dog sausage.
and the rich could buy horse sausage,
but I could never accustom myself to
eat such food. Instead, went hungry
often with money in my pocket.
During one Of the hunger riots in
the city last winter I saw the mob
knock a police officer Off his horse and
shoot the animal. Half an hour later
the carcass had been cut up and car
ried off by the famine-stricken citi-
zens.
Lack Of Coal Causes Misery.
zone chief source Of the misery in
Vienna was the lack Of coal, because
the poor could have neither heat nor
light. The glassware, porcelain and
Gather factories were unable to keep
going because there was no fuel to
lrive their machinery. Only the
have a warm bath once a
week and burn one electric light for
i've hours day when there Is enough |
.oal to drive the dynamos in the power
louses. Multi-millionaires told me
hat I was a fortunate man when |
vas leaving for America.
II was not in sympathy with Aus
ria in the war, but I think that in
he name Of our common humanity
something should be done for the
tarving men, women and children Of
Jenna, especially the middle classes,
Who are the greatest sufferers.
"Just before left the capital city
he doctors in the hospitals went on
trike because scrubwomen. received
igher pay than physicians or sur
cons.
"The peasants in the country have
God, but they will not send it to
Jenna because they do not like a so
ialist form of government. Some of
he best stores in Vienna keep open in
he daytime and have fine artistic ar
cles displayed in the windows, but
one enters to buy them the proprie-
,r, or one of his clerks, says that
ley are not for sale. He will take or
ers for goods to be delivered when
bal arrives and the factories start IN