Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1920-12-02
~PETRoGRAD IS
mo MANS lind
Once Gay Capital of Russia Is
Now a Nightmare of Hor-
r0r and Death.
HOUSES WRECKED FOR FUEL
Death Stalks on Every Side, Waiting
for Winter to Aid in the Grim
Work of Moving Down
Thousands.

Parls.-A graphic, eyewitness de-
scription of the fearful conditions ext
listing in Petrograd is given by the Fin
nlsh hed cross in an appeal just is
sued to the Red Cross Societies of the
World. 1t is accompanied by doct1J
lhents prepared by Professor Zeider
formerly head Of the Petrograd Red
Cross, but now a refugee in Finland.
The documents tell the story of the
agony of a dying city. Petrograd's'
present population based on the food
cards, now is from 100000 to coo, OOOI
II the former capital of the czars isl
described as having shrunk to one
fourth its pre-war size. The report
says.
Death stalks on every side, waiting
for winter to aid in the grim work OF
moving down the silent, hungry SICK;
n dying by thousands. With streets
n houses choked with filth that is
already spreading spotted and inter-
mittent typhus the cold weather will
finish the task with pneumonia and
abdominal typhus.
Wreck Houses for Fuel. {
THE fuel situation was never sol
bad. Wooden houses have been
torn down for fuel. The material isl
distributed equally among the popula-
ton but during the night the more
active citizens steal the quota of wood
from others.
Attempts to repair the streets.
which are full of holes, owing to BURST
ing water pipes, failed because the
wood blocks used for pavement had
been stolen during the night for fuel,
Lighting is allowed on'l w half
u each day, and tn, not alla
houses are supplied on the lines fur
nshed by the authorities. Kerosene
costs 400 rubles. There are no can
dies. Most homes are in darkness.
There is no means Of transporting
things by waterway, because the
barges were long since demolished for
fuel. The railway transportation is
devoted almost exclusively to the dis.
tribution of flour. Only 200 persons
are permitted to leave Petrograd daily;
by passenger tram.
"Workmen receive half a pound Of
bread daily; sometimes other food is
given. The prices Of foodstuffs con-
tinue TO rise to incredible heights,
Many products nave almost complete
ly disappeared from the markets.
1.-The mortality has reached a star
ting rate, owing to the lack of food
n the l%nsanitary conditions Of
: houses and streets. Fat has left the
majority of the population long ago
At present the muscular tissue is con-
sumed. The faces of the people have
taken on 4 waXlike color.
City of CHASTITY Horror.
I'm order to fill their stomachs with
something, they drink different substi-
tutes for tea and coffee, or great GUAM
titles of plain water, resulting in puff
ness and dropsy, which change the ex-
preston of the face so that even old
acquaintance are unrecogniZable.
There is'no fuel, no hot water or
baths, no %janitor, doorkeeper or serv-
ants for cleaning yards, streets, build
ihsS' OF loi the removal OF garbage.
"Petrograd is facing 4 dreadful
phantom of epidemjcs. Thousands are
already dying every month of spotted,
abdominal, and intermittent typhus,
%dysentery, Spanish influenza, small
poN, pulmonary diseases, hunger and
exhaustion.
"The hospitals are overlooking with
dropsy victims, mostly women, elderly
men and children"