Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1921-10-19
RUSSIA F0RGETS
HOW To SMILE
dCoNTIlJUED FROM PAGE oNM

z
isfy the most primitive human needs
there ~
Nearly every man and woman met
on Moscow or Petrograd streets today
is carrying some sort of food parcel
or bartering with food dealers on the
street corners. There Is practically
no wood and coal is not dreamed Of
Oil is the only fuel. Every family has
a primus on which the hot water for
tea and the simple meals are prepared
Political Strife Over
Under the housing system most per
sons have only one room in which I'd
cook, eat, sleep and do washing. All
the talk one hears on the streets is of
food. There are laments everywhere
that the bread allowance isn't regu-
lar and the frequent expression of
fears that the famine in the Volga dis
tricts WAL make the bread supply of
Cenetral Russia even worse.
Potatoes at 1000 rubles a pound are
the cheapest food on the market, but
1000 rubles is small fortune to most
of the population and it takes lot of
oil to cook potatoes.
The days of political strife are ap-
parently over. Russians have tired of
theoretical politics. The anti-Bolshe-
visits no longer discuss the govern
ment. Paper DEGREES are showered
unnoticed upon Bolshevists and non
Bolshevists alike. They are too busy
in their strife for food and clothing
to- worry about what Is going on in
the Kriemlin.
Streets without food shops are prac
tically deserted in all the cities. The
n,-<I, f1,. te, fG<, 10
and the recreation of the public. BOul-
evards are lined with food wagons
offering fruit, vegetables, bread and
eggs, and the people seem far more
interested in these than in the list
less pedestrians and the little bands
which give occasional evening con-
certs.
There seems to be no spirit of play
left in Russia. Even the children are
sad and quiet. Recently many toy
shops have reopened. The Soviet
government never requisitioned No
abs Arks and Teddy bears, so dealers
in that class of goods are unlocking
their old stocks and dressing Santa
Claus windows.
Few Movies Are Open
Few moving picture theatres are
open, and those are given over chiefly
to government propaganda pictures.
The opera season has not yet opened
Dramas are offered in several less i'm
portant houses. 1t was in these thea
tres and in concert halls that the cor
respondent saw the only persons who
seemed to relax and divorce them
selves from the gloomy Moscow at
mosphere.
Moscow newspapers and the news
papers in all the leading Russian cit
les are little more than government
bulletins. Because of the shortness
of paper they are generally only one
sheet, and the greater part of the
space is given over to long political
articles. The newspapers are pasted
upon the deadwalls. Crowds gather
about them eagerly and scan the few
foreign dispatches The great major
ity of readers show no interest in the
political leaders.
Street crowds in Moscow present
strange and varied appearance. I'm
less the weather is sunny and warm
there are very few pedestrians in the
center of the city. Markets which
formerly existed near Opera Place
have been abolished and there are
few food shops in what was formerly
the great shopping center. In conse-
quence. most promenaders go to the
food-lined boulevards, and the slight.
est threat Of rain drives the crowds
to shelter. Boots and clothing are too
precious to be exposed unnecessarily
to the weather.
Really welldressed men and wom-