The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-09-12
BY ANIsE.


n UGUST, 1924. l am down in a
n health resort in the Caucasus
Mountains. l am staying in a sani-
tarium that is run entirely for work
ers. Just now as write the strains
of piano come upstairs from the So
cial hall, indicating that they have
been having a concert this evening.
That is because 1t is raining; if it
were fine weather, they would be out,
as usual, strolling along the cliff in
the moonlight or sitting on benches
under the trees.
Perhaps the word Caucasus" sug-
gests wild bandit tribes and rough
living to the average American. Just
as "sanitarium" suggests a place
where sick folks lie in bed. l as
sure you that, neither of these pic
lures is a true one. Imagine the
mountains of Southern California
turned into summer resort. Assume
that some one has discovered sui
phur springs, and sparkling soda
springs, and iron springs, and lakes of
sulphur mud, tucked away in the vari-
GUS valleys, and has established there
a host of hotels with open verandas,
and vast stone bathing pavilions with
many rooms and hundreds of attend
ants and scores of rest couches for
use after the baths.
Musicians Entertain Patients.
If any have anything the matter
with you, from rheumatism to heart
trouble, there is a big clinic in the
center of each town, and smaller elm
les in all the sanitariums, where your
doctor will tell you what kind of bath
to take and what kind of water to
drink for what ails you. II you dis
dain medical care, and have merely
come Cor rest, then there are noun
tains to climb, and band concerts in
the various parks. Many of the best
musicians of Moscow are down here,
paying their way by their perform
ances.
The best sanitariums in all these
towns are run by the Sostrak, or So
cial Insurance, and are exclusively for
workers. The lucky chance of a va
cancy occurring at the last moment,
together with my trade union card
and my credentials as correspondent
for the labor press of America, got
me a room in one of these. 1t is in
Essentuki, where they have 20 diff
ferent mineral springs of varying
strength and qualities, and hot mud
baths that are supposed to be good
for various ailments.
On ComradeIy Basis.
AS soon as l got my paper emitting
me to live at Sverdlova Sanitarium,
a pleasant maid took me upstairs to
my room. In an American hotel sup.
pose one would call her the chamber
maid since she makes my bed and
washes the floors every day. But in
the friendly atmosphere of Sverdlova,
she had her arm around my waist
before we got upstairs and was con-
filling to me that she was just a new
Communist and was ever so glad to
meet a comrade from America who
could tell her all about the workers
there. Did they have sanitariums like
this? he wanted to know. Or was
II only after the revolution that work
ers got sanitariums like this
While | was taking off my things
she brought me in a pile OF linen. !
gasped as ] surveyed it. Not only
sheets and bed spread and towel, and
table cover, but also set OF under
weaf a pair o. sandals, handker.
chief! And a new tooth brush with
q box OF tooth powder And new
cake OF soap. Evidently the Social
Insurance which is run by the Depart
ment OF Labor, believes in setting GER
tain standards for the workers who
come from all parts Of Russia.
forgot to mention the bath cloak!
The maid took me down TO bath