The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-05-31
ROYAL FAMILIES SEEK
EMPLOYMENT OFFICE,
MANY Leave RUSSIA
nv Associated Press,

RIGA, Latvia, May Silt Is nothing
unusual in Riga to have a Russian
princess as your stenographer. At
least, business man can acquire the
service of a countess in thSA capacity.
Almost every diplomatic % consular
mission in Riga has at least one
princess or countess working as
typist
If the supply of princesses and
countesses fails, there remains
large number of other well-educated
people, most of them unaccustomed to
work, but now anxious to do anything
to save them from starvation.
Men who have been general mana
gers of big Russian factories are now
glad to take any kind Of decent hon
orable employment to earn their liv-
ing here.
The condition Of these Russian ref
ugees who have found shelter in the
infant Baltic states shows how COM
plete has been the financial downfall
Of the Russian nobility.
Change Habits of Decades
In Riga, Reval and other Baltic
towns, princes, barons and counts and
their families, accustomed for decades
in Russia to lives Of luxury. are liv-
ing hand-to-mouth existence. The pos
sessions which they once had and
that escaped confiscation by the Boil
! sheviki clutter up the shelves Of sec
ond hand dealers in these cities. Dia-
monds, other jewels, fine tapestries
and the countless costly nick-nacks of
luxurious civilization have been sold
by these refugees to get bread.
a
few nights ago at an entertainment
for the benefit of some of these refu-
gees-all members Of the old Russian
or Baltic nobility. Some Of the more
fortunate had saved their evening
, clothes. They were in sharp contrast
to those that had not.
Here and there were men In coats
of one color, trousers OF another and
tan shoes or high boots. They danced
with women as variously Gladstone
chic, in latest modes, some in shirt
waists and skirts; still others in
frocks so obviously home made or re-
made that the poorest shopgirl in New
York would sniff at them:
| Contrast Is Notable
| The casual stranger dropping into
Riga or Reval for day or two would
never find this poverty. Instead. he
| would find cafes, open all night, where
foreigners, lucky because of the low
rates of Latvian or Esthonian ex-
change, and local profiteers, tossed
fat bank rolls of almost worthless
rubles or marks to walters who count
only in hundreds or thousands.
An American correspondent who ad-
vertised, in a Riga newspaper. for a
translator able to read, write and
speak fuently English, Russian and
German and with some knowledge of
Lettish, received 81 replies by mail.
The corridor before his room in the
hotel was filled with men and women
seeking to apply personally for the
position. Most Of them were so well
educated that they could qualify not
only in the four languages mentioned,
but in others as well.
They were either out Of work, or
receiving such small pay in their pres
ent employment that they were anx-
ious to change.
/ Among the applicants were a for
mer colonel in one of the most arts
tocratic Petrograd guard regiments, a
dozen other former officers. two men
who had been managers of big Russian
factories, and many other we'll edu
Gated people