New-York tribune., 1922-04-10

'hSi ", tliG OuIy u ue center since the
.cIosing of the shops drove trade
, underground.
In this marketplace two classes
stand out and are to be distinguished,
There are The peddlers and petty
traders of the marketplace, members
OF an old Russian tribe. and there are
the new small tradesmen of the revo-
| luton, holding up for display the
trinkets of their homes, a shawl, a
piece Of fur, cigarette box, clock,
some opera glasses, hoping to sell and
not to sell, knowing that sale means
bread, knowing too that sale means
the breaking of one more link with the
| past.
Here in the market and in the sales
of Junk you get the old and the new
Russia, the old Russia of the lower
classes, the marketplace the center of
village and city, and the new Russia of
the levelllng OF classes, still garrulous,
but mingled with strange new recruits,
! the decayeo aristocrats of yesterday,
who stand silently in the outskirts,
with faraway look in their eyes,
holding up to barter the birthday pres
ent Of yesterday, given by some one
! loved now dead.
The commerce Of Russia is not all
is done In the little new shops that are
springing up everywhere over the
cities. Some of it is done by personal
solicitation on the street. Much is
done by agents who come secretly to
: your lodgings. bringing diamonds.
, sables, rugs. The sale and purchase of
the best of these is forbidden by the
Soviet law, and one either refuses to
| deal or does so at his peril
The new shops are products Of the
much advertised new economic policy
of Russia. To an outsider it seems to
be a plan for starting up tempest
disturbing the economic lethargy that
has been laid OH production.
The opening of the Moscow shops is
like the first steps of an invalid city
during convalescence. The first shops
to open in great numbers are pats
serie and delicatessen shops. These
soon take on a surprisingly luxurious
appearance, the cheeses, fine canned
fruits, sausages and other delicacies
billionaires. The number of food shops
soon outruns all others combined.
Only Spectators Can Afford
To Buy Restaurant Foods
Here and there little restaurant is
opened in q small store or In a base
ment. There arc not many of these;
| in October two or three; in January
perhaps twenty for the entire city
Some Of these have beautiful silver
china and linen.
Of course, the prices in these res
taurants and food shops are extraor.
dinarily high. Only a speculator can
afford to buy. And yet so great are
speculation that there is some trade
in the delicacies. The -four and milk
and sugar that go into their making
have come incredible distances and un
believable hardships have been over
come to bring them into being at all.
In order to see what it feels like tt
be Russian millionaire and pay mil
linaires' prices let us look at the prices
of foodstutfs as they were about
rant in Moscow. a place called the
Grotesque, set in two little rooms anc
g basement near Soviet Square, one
could get dinner of soup, meat, &
side dish amt a sweet for about 500,00(
rubles. If one wished imported fresh
fruit. which was temptingly displayed
one paid from $4,000 to 100000 rubles
for pear or g peach.
In this place one could not order
wine. Prohibition restricts more il
Russia than in America. But there
are places at which one can order {
bottle of Burgundy for 100000 rubles
or champagne for 100000 rubles.
1t should be remembered that al thi
time about 100000 rubes could b'
bought for dollar. This sum repre-
sented the income from about two
days work for All average paid worker
Here are the prices of some of th'
foodstuffs in Moscow day: Potatoes
1000 rubles pound; salt. 10000
rubles pound coffee, 100000 ruble
pound; wheat -four, $4,000 rubles
pound; butter, 10000 rubles q pound
lard, $4,000 rubles 4 pound; meat, 25,
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