Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-18

ploy six of the cabs. thus scattering
the largesS of the South Manchurian
Railway which is paying the bills.
Hardin Struggle Fierce.
Up in Hardin the struggle for exist
ence is even fiercer, because the ele-
ments there are more mixed and, de-
spite the size of the city and its greater
activity in trade and industry. there is
great suffering. AS have indicated in
my preceding letter, Hardin Is city of
refuge for the white" Russians. Thou
sands of them have settled there as the
only place where they could be in a
Russian environment, hear and speak
their own language and engage In subtle
intrigue for the defeat of the SovietS,
with protection against the reds.
One could spend a month at Hardin
profitably to get the stories Of these
refugees. They are pitiahle in their
pathetic acceptance OF the wretched
fate that has overcome them. Most of
them are brave enough in smiling at
grief, but behind their smiles are the
tears of misery.
In the streets are many beggars, some
obviously professional, some even with
borrowed or hired babies in arms, sad
looking women to suspect whom OF
trickery seems unfair. Perhaps they are
needy, after ALL Perhaps the borrowed
or hired baby is only a substitute for a
child that has died of starvation or
some disease for which there was no
remedy.
The usual street beggars are so nu-
merous that after an hour or SO the
newcomer finds 1t necessary to ignore
them, TO wave them aside with a
peremptory gesture of refusal. Yet
many of them are so absolutely wretched,
so plainly in urgent need, that this
measure of Self-protection seems cruel.
There is one thing about response to
these appeals that hampers the would
be philanthropiSt. That is the money
current in Hardin. 1t is almost wholly
a paper currency. a sadly deprecated
and groteSquely tattered currency. The
Hardin dollar" is worth about 30 cents
American. Thus the ten cent" script
is about cents in real value. To give
q beggar a Hardin l0-cent script Is to
make him very happy, and most OF them
are rejoiced at scent rag. But to get
one of these pieces of brown, pasted,
ragged currency out OF container IS Q
matter of some difficulty, without scat.
tering other and somewhat more Valu-
able scraps to the winds. The wise giver
IF aims carries stock Of the "shin-plas-
tiers" in vest pocket, for ready pro-
duction and distribution.
Weap0nIcSS E1gnt.
I have limited at intrigue by the
whites" and the reds" and OF the
dubious position of the "radishes"-red
outside and white within. Ask Hardin
police officer whose confidence you have
won, and he will frankly say that the
most serious work in Hardin for the
police is to keep the Russians from
fighting one another. But rather be-
lieve that their fighting is mostly done
with ink and with tongue, and not with
weapons or fists.
At the cigar stand at the Hotel Mod
erne, where we were quartered, Is a
young lady Of evident culture. I asked
her II she was "Russky," word that
seemed to please her, for she said. with
evident delight, that spoke Russian. I
admitted that I spoke only that one
word and then asked where she was
from in her home land. From Mos
COW, she answered. To test her tenn
permanent asked If she was OF the
Soviets. She famed into dramatic in