Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-24
BY JUNfus B. wooD.

~ Gable to The Star.
MOSCOW, u. s. 8. r., October "a
Not only has the private store vanished,
hNt the windows of many former CO.
weather etreaked, while the once gen.
erously stocked shelves Of those still
open are now bare.
The rationed citizen must depend for
his meat on the particular store where
he is registered and cannot shop at any
store he finds open. For clothing, any
thing from galoshes to q cap, he must
get letter from the factory that he
needs the article before he Is permitted
to buy, and with the same color line of
precedence, according to his ration card.
Even this is to be further systematized
and CLOSED" stores will be located near
particular factories. Shopping as known
In other countries VIII approach the
vanishing point. Public restaurants,
except in Of the so hotels in Moscow,
are gone and only squalid eating houses
remain. Ninety per cent Of them are to
be put on cloSed-shop basis, feeding
only registered customers. Citizens are
supposed to eat in their homes or In
community dining rooms.
Store for Foreigner.
One Of these CLOSED" stores, the larg-
est In Moscow, has been set aside for
white, like the others, 80 that its inte-
rior cannot be seen from the sidewalk.
Those who have admission books (mine
was No. 615) can buy without ration
cards or limitations good meat, butter,
caviar, cigarettes. candy, eggs-almost
Contrasting It's wen stocked shelves
with the bare co-operatives and the lines
Of bundled men and women patiently
waiting to buy their ration of meat,
often horse when they get It, one cannot
fail to admire D nation which Is making
such sacrifices, whether periodically or
compulsory, and to sympathize with o
people who let q stranger within their
borders have the best while they un-
compIainin91y do with little or none
Life has Been sifnplif1ed or routinized
but 1t Is confused and changing with
new enthusiasts. With the piatiletka
has come the 'piatidenka." or the i've.
day week, and the new calendars show
the week Of the rest Of the world, the
days Of the month, and each day Is
marked In q different cclor-yeflow
pink. red, blue and green. It Il quite
simple, but recording everybody's color
In order to know when he can be found
In the once or shop Is 3 task, and
lucky Is the family where an the MEM
berD are OF the same color, 90 that they
have their day Of leisure together.
"Sfmpliefty" II Complicated.
Even this simple color spectrum be-
comes complicated, for the State print
ing house In the enthusiasm Of editing
the calendars has not made Q uniform
color for the same day. Consequently,
when friend informs you that he does
not work On green days, you must not
forget to inquire which edition Of the
calendar he Is using, as . green day Is
liable to be any one Of The I'VE.
The Piatiletka has brought the
udarnik" or shock worker and now the
"sverkhudarniki" or supershoekefs, who
60 10 factory, mine or farm TO speed up
production. A new vocabulary grows
daily. A "zakreplefef' Is one who has
pledged himself TO stick 70 the same
Job until the piAtIletkA Is finished.
Enthusiasm Is here 1lsd the driving
force which carries, laegards along.
When rush jobs need % Be finished the
workers voluntarily adopt 10-h0uY
day. Others IN many Industries are
paid on q piece-wOrk basis and there
are 50 many differences Of facts ana
theories that e Is dif3cult to fec0auize
the altered SOVIET state.
Neither big industries with their
modern machines and the vast c011ec-
tive farms with bumper haryests for
tnsr ,ss yssr which ~ are ;,. e a
SAN8AAy RA0AoCtAg HUI tAAC EbtAO 0444I Vf1@
vations ana inconveniencee about which
90 many who have been here crumbs,
tell the whole story. They must Be
0ovetafled together and three years
more are ahead.
Strain Proves GrueIing.
while the enthusiasm for the new
deus Of the machine does not abake,
the strain 4 grueling on the people Is
wen as the nations finances and re-
sources. It drains, and like the old
city buildings. farm barns, railroads,
street railways and many others which
now get only enough attention to keep
them going. the devotees Of the piati-
1etka who ask so little for themselves
win need when they have finished much
which they now lack.
Already the crystal gazers are peering
into the future beyond the piatiletka's
end on october /, 1888. Leaving proph-
ecy TO the enointed, the fact remains
that whether the five-year plan Is I'm
ished 100 per cent of what Is expected
or fails below, the SOVIET Union will
It Is paying so dearly. Also Russia is
. giutton FOR, enduring punishment and
hardships and has q country as wen as
. people Of wonderful vitality and
strength able quickly to recuperate and
forget these lean years.
DulluluB IaCtOfy ana puylIlB ma
el1inery does not make an industry, but
II the Muzhik,s mechanical ability does
not so beyond greasing his cart. his
sons and daughters may. The youth
who saves for years 20 buy . Violin is
not musician when ne gets the COW
eted instrument In his hands Nor
can he become one until he gets the
violin to practice on, which is much
the same In Russia with It's new and
complicated machinery. The Russian
can learn to run 1t, once he has 1t, and
he has American experts to teach him.
American engineers TO design plants
and American technicians TO organize
them and that IL where the United
States stops, except for o few manufaE-
turing concerns giving limited credits.
German factories are supplying much
Of the machinery, for American bankers
lend 70 Germany and German factories
run on American money while factories
In the United States are idle because
they cannot finance similar credits to
the Soviet Union.
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