Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-05-28
NEW TASTE
FOR BOY AND GIRL
MOUTHS IN RUSSIA
Villagers View American Child
hood Drink With Alarm
Until First Taste.

Moscow, Russia, May 20.-Did you
ever know an American child WHIT
didn't like cocoa?
Most of them have been drinking the
sweet, brown drink since their chubby
fingers could grasp a silver mug OF
blue china bowl. And. usually, they
did not have to acquire a taste for it.
as they do for olives, celery and cavie1
when they are grown.
But the little Russian boy or girl il
the far off country villages had never
seen cocoa until it was brought there
and served to the children in the kitch-
ems which the A. X. A. opened through
out the Volga famine area, says Nellie
Gardner. They did not know what il
was and many Of them were afraid tc
drink it. Some thought it was rec
mud; others thought it was poison
Many refused to try it. But finally
some brave little daredevil of a boy
pnt his nose down close, and liked the
Whit of the steam, and then with
great courage stuck his tongue in the
bowl.
Now First Choice
A smack of the lips, a grin around
~ thtCh AinIpiCS, III N hulCI oil
national drink of childhood had been
sold to the boys and girls of Russia
Cocoa is now the first choice of many
of the 5000, 900 children who are be.
ing fed by the A. r. A. in Russia.
The following letter has been re-
ceived by the American relief admin
istration at AZ Broadway, New York
1t was written by Madame Mary Den
issof. of Tomishevo, Russia. who is as
sisting the A.. r. A. in the manage
ment of children's kitchens in the vii
lagos near Suizran. Mr.. and Mrs.
Denissof formerly attended the Uni
versity of Minnesota, where they stud
led agriculture. Since their return to
Russia they have both taught school in
the village Of Tomishevo.
Madame Denissof has submitted the
following page from her diary. of De-
cember Is, telling the story of the
opening of the A. r. A. kitchen in
Tomishevo. and the children's first
taste of cocoa:
THE American kitchen is opened the
first day. The list Of children, who
are to be fed is fastened on the wall
Of the building and lots of children and
grown up people try to find their
names among the chosen. Some moth
ers are carrying their children three,
foul years old, meagre and pale with a
little red nose and large Unlocking eyes
because they are too weak and can
not walk themselves. Two teachers
are engaged in calling out the names
and distributing the cards. The food
is cooked. the bread is cut and weighed,
the children must take their places in
the dining room. The little ones are
afraid to enter in the dining room
without their mothers. Some of them
are crying, nobody knows where to go.
and what he is expected to do. At last
they find their places and receive the
piece of bread and a cup of cocoa.
White Bread a Surprise
They have never seen ii. so they
decide what it is. The white
bread surprises them also. because last
year their parents ate only rye bread.
often mixed with some pile or wood
split. The members of the committee
and the teachers present try to explain
to the children that cocoa is sweet and
nourishing, but they are so afraid of
the dark color of it that they do not
dare to try it.. Some of the schoolboys
put a little piece of bread in it and
taking it out all brown. begin tt laugh
and say that they are eating little ne.
groes.
1T them and little by little
they find out that these pieces of
bread are very sweet and remind them
some candies. They pour out the
cocoa in a bowl and put small pieces
of bread in it and eat this new meal
prepared by their own menu, with a
wooden spoon. calling it by the Rus
sian Tor TARTAR name "turka'
tmush). The first weeks they prefer
red the beans to all other meals, but
later on. they got used to the sweet
cocoa and Cruel and ate them with
great appetite"