Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-02
SOCIAL REVOLUTION
THREATENSGEORG|A
Soviet Edict Banning Wells in
Caucasian Republic Stirs
Up Storm.

A white veil attached to black vel
vet band adorned with two artificial
curls is causing trouble in Georgia
This article of apparel is not worn as
much as formerly in that part of the
-Transcaucasian Federation of Soviet
Republics, bot recent news dispatches
tell of a miniature revolt there result
ing from a Soviet edict banning the
wearing of wells by Georgian women.
Georgia is famed for its beautiful
women and picturesque men," says a
bulletin from the headquarters of the
National Geographic Society. THE
Georgian warrior is a tall, bold figure
in his tightly belted, full-skirted coat,
his poniard and a row of cartridge
cases across his chest. The farmers in
their huge, sleeveless coats of lambs
wool, high astrakhan caps and bushy
boards look like big bears. In the cities
many of the Georgian women have
adopted Western dress. However silk
stockings are not yet achieved, because
even that luxury is beyond the Geor-
gian family's income.
East and West MingIe.
THE ancient capital of Georgia was
Mtskhet. The present capital of
Georgia and the entire Transcaucasian
republic is Tiflis. Eastern and West
ern architecture and customs vie here.
Beside an electric street car one may
see a befeZzed Mohammedan from the
mountains leisurely riding along on
tired looking horse with two long wick
er baskets of produce slung from either
side Of his saddle. There are automo-
bileS, but they have not Supplanted the
droshkies, the old-fashioned horse cabs.
whose sole concession to modernity is
the adoption of pneumatic rubber tires.
Occasionally the two-humped Asiatic
camels are seen on the streets.
"Tif1is has twentieth century build
ings of stone and concrete and mod
ern hotel. 1t also has old houses of
baked mud with wavy roofs of red tiles.
Efficient sales methods prevail in the
large, up-to-date shops, but the spirit
Of the Orient permeates the bazaars of
the native quarters, where Georgians,
Armenians, Kirghiz and Persians, in
tall felt turbanS, make their purchases
with traditional eastern leisureliness.
"A Tif1is ice cream parlor may have
for its patrons a Mongol woman with
bound feet, wide blouse and trousers,
or light-haired, blue eyed Circassian
girl in MILDLY blouse and plaid skirt.
Bagpipes in Georgia.
"Tifis and Batum, the latter an i'm
portant commercial port on the Black
Sea coast have accepted western inno-
vations more readily than the rest of
Georgia Out in the less settled dis
tricts the farmers and shepherds have
not changed their mode of living in
thousand years. A Scotchman travel
ing along a Georgian highway might
think his mind was playing tricks on
him upon hearing the first notes of
Georgian orchestra. The GeorgianS
have bagpipes, which they play with a
Scotch martial swing, but their music
has an unfamiliar oriental strain.
Mandolins and drums complete the list
of instruments in Georgian orchestlE.
1.-The grapes of the Caucasus are
famous and grape wines are most pop
ular, but koumiss, fermented mares
milk, has many devotees.
AN odd sight for visitors is the
transportation of Georgian wine. 1t is
poured into the hide of buffalo
through an opening in one leg. and
when this leg is tied up the wine is
ready for transportation. A wagon
containing several Of these inflated
casks looks as though its proper des-
tination was butcher shop and not
wine merchants store"