Evening star., 1926-10-10
BY HILTON L. BROWN.

LENINGRAD.-You don't go first
or second class on the railroads of
Russia. You go hard" or soft"
Hard" means wooden benches with
out cushions. soft" calls for COM
Portable seats with cushions. You can
get sleeping accommodations with
either, but usually hard" remains
hard, softened perhaps with a pillow
or blanket carried by the passengers.
These ''refinements" may. be had
from the trainmen for a consideration.
soft" seats may be converted into
sleeping compartments (also for a con-
sideration with mattress, pillows,
sheets and blankets--two beds to the
compartment without curtains. One
is lucky if travelling alone to get an
acceptable roommate on the bed oppo
site in his compartment.
There are also on the through
trains, as from Berlin to Warsaw or
from Moscow to Leningrad, regular
sleeping cars (spalni wagon. equipped
somewhat like Pullmans, only the beds
are transverse in the car, and the
compartment Is entered from a side
aisle, as in the English and French
trains. Take soap and towels with
you. The train towels are not always
provided.
Windows Barred to Robbers.
They close the windows on these
sleepers now. A tiny ventilator in
the roof is made to satisfy any de-
mand for air from European travellers
or comfortably clothed Russians who
patronize these trains. The window
rule is a precaution against robbers. d,
The other day as the train came
up from the capital to Leningrad
with open windows a thief in the night
crawled in at an obscure station and
stole every stitch Of clothing belonging
to a passenger who both "slumbered
and slept" and also snored. When he
was called for his station his loss was
discovered. A woman in an adjoining
compartment loaned him a skirt-all
she could spare-and thus airily
clothed he went out into the night
land, 1t is hoped. to home and friends).
The result of his vigorous complaint
was the order to lock car windows at
night.
The Soviet Union u. s. s. r. has
done rather well with its main lines Of
railway. Through service has been
restored and the rolling stock has been
improved in the last year. Railroad
fares are not as high as in the United
States, though soft" and sleeping IA
cilities approximate those in the
States. Hard" is cheap, and it is all
hard in local and suburban trains.
Peasants are the commuters. They
buy season tickets at low rates, and
thousands of them ride the trains daily
into the large cities. Without them
the cities could not be provisioned.
The Morning Milk Train.
The milk train" is not the express
service known to American steam and
electric transportation. Take, for ex.
ample. one of the early morning trains
into Leningrad. There will be 10 or Is
cars, four wheels each; IA hard benches
in each half a car, each bench, by
crowding. capable of holding five per-
sons, but built for four with an allow.
ance for packages or breadth of beam.
At every stop the milk land often vege-
table, producers get aboard with an in
credible number Of milk cans about
8 gallons to the CAM and other farm
products strapped, suspended and tied
on their persons. The empty cartons
alone would make a load-and impos-
sible bulk--for unframed shoulders.
These peasants are mostly women
and girls. but men are always to be
seen among them. They come into
the car rafting and banging with
from two to four milk cans, a sack Gf
vegetables and perhaps two or three
baskets or bags. Some have fewer,
and some more. depending on the
wealth and productivity Of the peas
ants lands.