Evening journal., 1922-06-29
OF
SOVIET rule
ARE RELATED
Continued From First Page.

| to pay $1,000 rubles for one pound,
Mrs. Keyser said. To get money
with which TO pay for this food. men
of wealth have been impoverished
and died. with entire families. of
starvation, she added.
Promises by the Soviets. which Is
the Russian term for council, are
glowing, but according TO Mrs. Key
ser, they fail to practice their preach
I ings or adhere to the doctrines ad-
vocated by them.
Mrs. Keyser was asked II any diff
| ference was seen between what was
/ first termed Bolshevik- and the pres
ent day Soviet regime. In reply
! she said. there is absolutely no diff
! ference. and both are cruel in their
| treatment OF all who are not their
/ soldiers or not members of the
/ council. Conditions" she said con-
tinue to grow worse. and deaths
from starvation more numerous. I
am glad my beloved country refuses
| to allow promiscuous immigration
from that country. l would fear
/ the teachings of these so called
/ friends of the peasant or poorer class
! Of inhabitants. would sow seeds OF
/ discomfort and discord. resulting in
strife in my country that would be
disastrous"
Mrs. Keyser said the program out
lined by the soviets, compels all
girls of the lower type, and OF i'm
moral character to work. and to
possess a working certificate. While
| this was considered an excellent
method. she said. girls OF respecta-
bility and refinement were subjected
to all kinds OF indignities. Other
promised reforms by the soviets.
Mrs. Keyser said. were either ig-
nored or worked injustices to the
respectable and shielded the i'm
moral characters Of the country es-
pecially in and around odessa
where she spent the greater part OF
the seven years in Russia.
Mrs. Keyser and her husband Ell
Keyser who was a Philadelphia
druggist, went 10 Russia in 1914.
For two years. Mrs. Keyser said, her
husband. who was suffering with tu-
berculosis, improved but at the end
of that period he began to fail in
health and died in a short time. She
said the great suffering appealed to
her and she began teaching the Eng
/ Hsh language and singing TO the
Russians who were able to pay and
with this money she provided sus-
tenance for her sick husband and
afterward for other sufferers.
Conditions in Odessa she eX-
planned. "are almost indescribable,
/ with BoIshevist and soviet spies
1 everywhere. I was afraid TO confde
my opinion TO anyone fearing be-
trayal. II caught saying anything
! against the governments dealings
with its subjects, you are imprisoned
! in cells. alive with vermin, and pois-
onous insects. whose bite or sting
means disease and lingering death.
Dogs, cows, horses and all domestic
animals are in a similar emaciated
condition 10 that OF the human in
habitants of the diseased country
which is teeming with theft, murder.
suicide and almost every conceivable
crime"
Rather than remain in a country
whose officials were liable to arrest
and imprison one for doing good to
others. 1. with my friend, Madame
Tchernofsky. a noted pianist, deter
mined TO escape into Turkey, which
with all it's reported harems. and
crime was a haven OF rest for our
bodies and minds, as compared with
Odessa. Russia" She said she and
her companion purchased a guam
tity of deadly poison. and carried 1t
with them In case they were cap
tured by Russian Bolsheviks or
Soviets. with the intention of kill
ing themselves rather than being
taken prisoners.
When asked TO tell of the famine
of lower Russia as she knew it. Mrs.
Keyser. replied: Don't ask me to
even think of it. It is all so terrible.
I can't find words to describe it
properly.
Mrs. Keyser. receives many letters
from friends whose acquaintance she
made while living in Odessa, who
beg her to do something to aid the
impoverished Russian subjects.
ION my arrival in the United
States a few weeks ago friends
showed me a clipping from a news
paper dated February IA, 1920.
which reads as follows: Despite
the threatened danger of immedi-
ate battle between Bolshevist troops
and British naval forces in the har-
Dor of Odessa. Russia. Mrs. Eli Key
ser. a former Philadelphia, refused
to leave the port and avail herself
of the protection of American naf'
officers
"I certainly disapprove OF that
statement" Mrs. Keyser said. What
happened was this. Two years ago.
I remember. it was the first week in
February. 1920. was III in bed with
pneumonia. tonsilitis and bron-
chitis. My pupils and friends came
TO me and stated that the Allies
were evactuating the city and that
the Bolshevists would take posses
sion of it. I got very nervous as
had suffered enough from the Boil
shevists before. Sick as 1 was.
scribbled a note to the American
mission to save me from the Bolshe-
visits.
Lieut.. Foster who represented
the American Mission came to my
house with a young woman who
was a daughter of a Prof Clark and
was fortunate to leave Odessa with
the American Mission.
It told Lieut.. Foster that II l
should not receive help in leaving
the country I would certainly per-
ish. He promised that I would be
Of me. to pack and sell my little
home so I would be ready to go
talsay, with then1