The Washington times., 1935-11-11
TELLS
. OF LAST DAYS
INRUSSIA
BY GEORGE KITCHIN
Chapter XLVu

AG every sLop-oVer i was
furnished fresh evidence Of the
poverty into which the popula-
tion had sunk. No household,
for instance, had any chickens
in its yard. It did not pay to
keep them, said the collective
farmers. The taciturn Zyryans
only repeated: Eyes, fellow, it's
. hard life nowadays" AS a
consequence of the govern
ment's tax collections, which
had preceded the collective
farming edict, the peasants had
slaughtered all their livestock.
Now they had neither cows, nor
pigs, nor sheep, nor even goats.
At all stop-overs Karamanov in
Variably took the seat under the
tkons, next to the Samovar. He
had q long neck, which looked
shriveled from the long exhaust
ing journey and on it sat his little
head with sharp eyes and an alb.
normally long nose. Zyryan
women from other cottages came
in especially to get a glimpse of
the huge froStbitten beak with a
hump on it and stood there star
ing at it.
Karamanov was bald and had
Q grayiSh beard. He reSembled a
faded eagle. Tea did not seem to
satisfy him. He held that water
is good to run under the bridges" I"
: and always opened negotiations
for a bottle of vodka. 1t was
usually produced and Karamanov
changed in an instant, joked and
made merry. Half an hour later
he would be sound asleep.
Slept On Benches
During the six days o. our jour
ney we did not undress, sleeping
on benches in the cottages or doz-
ing o.: top of our hay. While
we were on Zyryan territory our
teamSterS had no concern for the
safety of their teams during the
stop-overS. They were quite sure
that nothing would be stolen! But
when on the third day we crossed
the border into the northern
area populated by Russians. our
zyryans tool an entirely different
attitude. They kept on constant
watch near the teams and paid
no attention to our hosts aSSur-
anceS that this was not necessary.
bad folks ere, fellow, thieving
folk. Can't leave anything un-
watched" they said and advised
as to look out for our own things.
They were right. On the very first
stop-over. on Russian territory
somebody brok the lock Of my
basket, which had left in the
hall, and got away with some, OF
my supplies.
All the villages of this region
were crowded with the wives OF
peasants exiled from Central Rus
-sia. Their number greatly ex-
eeeded that of the natives. It
was hard to tell how they made a
living, for the poverty all around
was appalling.
Young mothers with babes in
their arms looked especially pitt
full. They were evidently half.
starved and as result they lost
their milk and the children died
Of hunger. These little living
skeletons stubbornly struggled for
existence and spent their last bit
of strength screeching for food.
Their little hands eagerly reached
for the bottle, grabbing it and
sucking the sugar-water greedily.
We left all our supply Of sugar in
these regions.
Board Train
At Kotlas we had our first regu-
lar sleep and the next morning we
boarded the train for Viatka. Be-
fore departure and during the
journey our travelling documents
were checked over three times.
Finally the train started and
through the windows we got our
last glimpse of the memorable
internal KotlaS Transfer Station,
where two years before we had
been drilled and humbled, starved
into submission and made to stand
iE the icy cold or trot to the
pleasure of our masters.
The Viatka station was full of
people waiting for transportation.
They were crowded like sardineS.
We were stopped twice and asked
to show our papers. Viatka was
the last post of the penal camp
guards on the lookout for fugitiveS.
Here Karamanov and I parted.
He was going south via Moscow,
while I was bound for Leningrad.
I was given warm welcome
at the Finnish consulate. A lovely
room, a bath, a spring mattress,
sheets as white as snow. and
warmth-how foreign all Of this
had become! It seemed unnatural
to sit down to a nicely appointed
table and eat properly. But, alas,
there were only few such oases
as our consulate in Leningrad.
Visits Friends
During the two weeks which I
had to spend in the city, waiting
for my visa to leave the country,