The Washington times., 1935-09-30
RANCID LARD
QUELLS PANGS
OF HUNGER

future. The apportionment was
handled by prisoner clerks who
filled. the minor positions in the
department. Since I had no
friends in the department, I had
been included in the detachment
leaving for the timber.works, and
the position for which I was
singled out by Bukhalzev had
been reserved for some friend.
The manipulation was frustrated
at the very last moment and this
decided my further destiny.
I stepped out of the ranks, fol-
lowed by envious looks. This GER
tainly was a piece of rare good
luck. One of the last in line and
overloaded with baggage, stood
Timofeyich, who waved to me a
last farewell. Shall we ever see
each other again? The column
started. It's head had already
disappeared before the rear got
under way. Finally even the last
lines started forward, three or
four men to a row, with bundles
or baskets on their backs, some
of them with sticks in their
hands. They waved farewell to
me. Good-by.
At S o'clock in the afternoon
I started for the town Of Kotlas,
together with Pevny and Gra-
novsky, who were also requlsl-
toned by Bukhaltzev fer the
"EKO," as his office was called.
We walked on the railroad tracks,
without escort. IT was a strange
feeling to be almost at liberty
after 20 months of imprisonment.
Feels Relieved
Our baggage was sent on ahead
of us and we walked leisurely
along the railway track. Fine
snow was falling and the general
silence was broken by far-aWay
whistles of locomotives and by
the occasional barking Of dogs,
which I had not heard for
long time. I felt peaceful and re-
lieved. In the dist nee we saw
the lights Of KotlaS.
Coming out of the forest, we
began to encounter the little gray
houses of the outskirts. Through
some of the little Snow-covered
windows we could see families
having tea around the samovarS.
We repeatedly stopped to admire
the long-missed tableaux OF family
life: women with infants tugging
at their breasts, a thin red-haired
cat licking its paws, samovars,
bearded heads-of-families sitting
under the ikons or under the por-
traits of communist leaders and
slipping tea from their Saucers,
children of all ages show utterly
different it was from the sights
which we had just left behind us
in the penal camp!
We reached the station and
went into the large lunchroom.
At one end of the room was long
counter with a sketchy assortment
of edibles, and, as behooves a
lunchroom, huge Samovar which,
however, had not been polished for
ages. A similarly unpublished
looking waiter was doing behind
the counter. In the center of the
room was a full-length table COW
cred with spotted gray oilcloth.
On the table stood two chandeliers
without candles and two dusty
decanters without glasses. Strung
along the walls were some 20 little
tables covered with tablecloths
dreadfully neglected by the laun-
dryman. Some of the tables were
occupied by dull-looking provincial
comrades" drinking tea. Two
homely girls with filthy aprons
were waiting on them. In cor"
ner was a newsstand tended by
an over-ripe hump-backed sales
woman with a shapeless, extrava-
gantly powdered nose. The room
smelt Of stale cabbage and some
other decaying matter. But in
spite Of the disagreeable first i'm
preston of the place, we greatly
enjoyed a glass Of beer; the news
papers, which we had not seen
since leaving Moscow, seemed par
ticularly interesting.
It was already dark when we
passed the market-lace, soaring
the goats which were pasturing
there. We came out on the main
street of KotlaS. The town was
divided in two parts: new and old.
Neither one had paved streets. In
the daytime people walked on mar
row sidewalks made of a double
row Of boards, at night they
walked in the middle of the street,
for safety.