Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-09
BY WALTER c. WHIFFEN.

| NOR the tSSOridfcd Press correspondent
| in MOSCOtc. the present Russian capital
BY WALTER c. WHIFFEN.
LENINGRAD. July 9 R.-This
city, beloved capital of Peter the Great
and his "windoW looking toward Eu-
rope" better known as PetrOgrad or
St. Petersburg, seen after 20 years by
one who knew it at the peak of its
glory and who witnessed the begin
ming of it's decline, resembles a tar
nished brass button.
Outwar(ily it is the same: the con-
tour and design are there. but there
is no glitter. There is much activity
in the streets, and even signs of mod
crate prosperity, but the hrilliancy
impaired by the gaudier czarist uni
forms, the smartnesS of the women,
the luxurious carriages and motor
cars of other days is gone.
Restaurant Life Gone.
There is none of the glamourous res
! taurant life which was q feature of
| pre-revolution days and which caused
| the streets at am. to be as lively as
at the same hour of the Afternoon.
! There are almost no restaurants, and
such as there are are sOrdid affairs
| There are no cafes Chantant nor out
| lying resorts such as used to cater to
the tastes of the well-to-do pleasure
seeker, and whose patrons were enter
| tanned in lavish fashion with bands
and orchestras and folk songs and
eypsies.
The opera IS here and the ballet in
practically pre-revolution standard Of
merit but the fashionable attendance
| has given place to asscmblaGes of APP
parently arprcciative people of all
sorts, con- tons and ages and in all
sorts Of rb except the bourgeois"
evening dress.
Leningrad today is serious, semi
somnolent and drab. The NeVsRy
| Prospect, formerly fashions parade
ground, is crowded of a late after
noon, but. with modcstly CARRIED Wom-
en- and girls and becapped and booted
men and boys. happy enough look
| ing-happicr than in Moscow. where
they are under the shadow of the 'ad-
ministration' with nothing snap
by looking in the ensemble.
| Formerly there was scarcely time
| in the year when some portion of 1t
was not undergoing requirements, and
it was common gossip that foreign
contractors had repeatedly offered to
repave the whole of the boulevard
with durable and guaranteed paving
for the cost of the repairs for given
period. The offers were as repeatedly
! refused because Of the profit to be
! had by the bureaucrats of the day
from the frequent requirements. The
| broad cement sidewalks were receiv-
| ing apparently long needed attention
| in places Here and there a plate
glass window neatly bored through by
rifle bullets 10 years ago and patched
with metal washers and bolts still does
duty and serves as a reminder of those
| troublOus days.
Changes in Evidence.
A stroll down the Nevsky reveals
| to accustomed eyes further evidences
of the changed times. Street traffic,
besides the street cars, manned by
| hooded and woollen iacketed women,
and a line Of new and efficient looking
motor busses, is confined largely to
shabby public carriages and motor
cars, and an occasional government
| owned motor truck.
| At the far end of the Nevsky is the
Winter Palace of the Cars, built by
| the Empress Elizabeth about 1850 at
a cost of 100000 rubles at time
when she could not pay her milliner
It was a sort of sanctified precinct
where one felt the presence Of impe-
| rialiSm and power. The big circle,
with the column of Alexan l mark
| ing its CENTER with the palace occupy
| ing one large arc and the former gov
ernmental departments the rest, i'm
parts no feeling Of reverence to the
people of today.
The front of the palace is still pock-
marked by rifle and machine-sur bull
| let's of revolutionary days. The paint
Is peeling off, the gates are incrusted
| wit n
buildings, with one exception, shows
signs Of dilapidation and decay. The
| exception Is a former municipal adj
| miniStration department, which still
serves a similar function, and which
| looks conspicuous with its fresh coat
of yellow and white paint.
Palace Dreary and Deserted.
An old graybeard permitted the
writer to enter the courtyard of the
| Winter Palace. Piles of timbers and
rubbish partially filled the space that
once resounded to the rumDling wheels
of imperial coaches. In one corner a
group of children of the street were
making merry with a circular swing
erected there. The palace, with its
various wings named for bygone Cars,
| their windows streaked with dust,
| looked deserted and dreary. The Her
mtage, that famous repository Of
| paintings, Statuary and gems which
every visitor to st. Petersburg or Pet
rograd. FASTENED to visit, has over
| flowed into the Winter Palace. Con-
nected as it is by sort of bridge OF
sighs," it readily lent itself to the
| needs Of the Hermitage, whose exhib-
it's have been swollen out Of all pos
| sibility to accommodate them through
confiscation Of valuable private colec-
tons.
Another wing is devoted to exhibit
| ton Of revolutionary mementoS-ll-
Illustrating the progress or revolution
in Russia during the last hundred
years. There are to be found portraits
| innumerable of victims of revolution,
both imperial and proletarian; bombs
and internal machines and implements
of torture which have marked its
path.
The admiralty building, adjoining
the palace on it's other side, is still
used for admiralty purposes, and APP
nears to be in a fair state Of repair.
| Revond lies st. Isaac's Cathedral,
completed during the reign of Mich
olas I, and 80 years in process of con-
struction, dating from 1919. 1t IS awe
inspiring from without, with Its mas
siye granite columns and gilded dome.
It's interior is dank and denuded Of
some Of it's glittering affairs, ikons
and candelabra. A few minutes in the
chill Of it's echoing emptiness suf-
feed to give an impression of the stag
gering blow dealt by the revolution to
the orthodox Church.
Famous Hotel Converted.
On side of the square in front
of st. Isaac's Cathedral, and facing
the former German embassy, wrecked
hv Russian rioters at the beginning
of the World War, the Hotel Astoria,
once the rendezvous at the tea hour
for fashionable women, foreign and