The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-08-22
TALES OF SAD
RUSSIAN FOLK
BRANDED BUNK
Young Observer Discovers
SovietS, Young and Old,
Are Jolly Crowd.
The Times and United Press present
herewith the final chapter in the Jack
Howard series on Russia.
BY JACK HOWARD
United Press STAFF Correspondent


to the contrary, it is not so hard tc
find a smiling face in Russia. A
foreigner looks in vain for the
downcast faces Of which he has
heard so much.
Where is the sad city of Moscow
with its smileless population?
Where are all of the people who
either are afraid or unable tc
laugh?
How about the serious-faced lit
tie children whose smiles are sc
carefully restrained?
If Moscow ever has been a sad
humorless city, there now is plenty
of evidence that the city has taken
a new lease on life and developed
a real sense of humor.
For months before going to Rus
STA one is bombarded with tales of
how detected and unhappy every
body looks in Russia. One expects
to visit a land of hangdog express
sions and it is surprising to find it
quite permissible to laugh and smile
in the domain of the SovietS.
Same Kind of Fun
On the streets and in the parks
one constantly meets groups of chill
dren playing and getting just as
much fun out Of life as any of
their brothers and sisters in capital
iStic nations.
Young people walk the streets and
through the Moscow'S parks laugh
ing and joking just as they do the
world over. They even may be
happier for they don't have to
worry about unemployment and
rent. They seem keen and
enthusiastic about the new Russia
which will be theirs.
At the park of culture and rest on
the banks of the Moscow river ]
found groups of Russian workers
having a grand time on all of the
''a Ia Coney Island" features of the
playground. Thick-thighed Russian
girls whirl about on merry-go-
rounds, while their admiring boy
friends stand by and drink pop
made from wheat.
Hard to Find a FrOwn
Directly across from the park
saw hundreds of Russians enjoying
themselves in a fine swimming pool
Boys clad only in trunks run about
pushing their friends in the water
Splashing equally scantily CLAD
women and laughing and joking
You can't find an unhappy or de-
jected face in the crowd unless its
that of some small child who has
fallen down or lost a parent in the
crowd.
The theater is a great place fol
laughs in Russia with the humol
directed mostly against such
enemies of Communism as capital
ism, the "bourgeoisie," and the
church.
All of these and the internal
enemies of Communism come II
for a great share of laughs, laughs
which are at and not with. Not
Withstanding the fact that the
humor is for the masses of workers
it is not light and pointless.
1t may approach coarseness from
our point of view, but it always has
something definite behind it. A
| Joke is a SlIgar-cOated mill of some
kind for the audience which, while
it is entertained and amused, is ex-
pected to learn some moral lesson
from it all.
But a Russian audience at the
theater laughs just as heartily as
if it were an American audience
watching one of the more promi-
nent screen comedians going
through a lot of slap-stick. Farce
is an important element in the
Russian theatrical humor.