The Washington times., 1935-05-20


handwork is organized into trusts,
Syndicates, cartels. Nobody works
for himself. Everybody works for
the state.
This is indeed a poor part of
Esthonia. A poor place for any
country. But what a riotously
good time they seemed to have.
The sober ones snapped horses.
For Sc you could buy a horse.
Shouts of laughter went up when
the seller said the horse was four
years old. Fourteen" the audi.
ence beloved.
How They Sell
A big pig you could have for
SO and a tWo-WeekS-old calf for
So. One merchant specialized in
hope chests" for brides. Hand.
made, hand-painted like the back.
drop in a Russian ballet, they
sold for SIS each.
Scores of peasants jammed
into the buffet fire depart
ment," where for the equivalent
of 10 American cents they wolfed
lunch of cabbage soup, roast
pork and onions, white bread and
butter, cucumber salad and tea.
Large crowds stood around and
debated whether 10 kronen, about
$3.50 was too much for pair
of knee-high leather boots good
for five years wear.
Everybody ate heartily, includ.
ing the revoltingly deformed beg
gar who had been panhandling al
the gate of the old Russian mon
astery and was now drinking soup
out of a basin, disdaining the
spoon.
A gramophone played to an
open-mouthed group and a fish
monger with a basket yelled ne
was selling out his prime herring
for 10 Esthonian cents kilogram,
OF about one American cent a
pound.
Poverty Apparent
Out of this bedlam we jumped
in a sleigh and drove to the vii
lage of Regozina, inhabited by
Russians. 1t lay bleak and mourn
full in a desolate landscape of un-
broken snow. Middle in the VII
lage was a poor little house. Mid
die in the house was a bed and
on it lay Mihail Krupenin, head
OF the family. Three daughters,
20, 18 and Is years old, blushed
and listened. They were pretty.
The 21-year-old son Sullenly lis
tened. The mother talked.
They had three and one-half
acres of land, two COWS, one horse,
two pigs, ten chickens and one
sheep. They lived poorly, but
got enough to eat by consuming
everything the farm produced.
The old man got a pension of
sc kroner, about 81 a month.
Otherwise they wouldn't get along.
Everybody in the village had an
outside job. Nobody could live
on that little land.
Half an hour away is the Setu
village of Liapa. Emin Umblaya
with four in the family and Is
acres of land was better off, but
not much. Ten of his acres were
forest and not good for much.
He had one COW, one calf, one
pig, one sheep, seven chickens and
would buy a horse in the spring.
They had potatoes and bread for
breakfast today, salt pork, pota-
toes and milk for lunch, cabbage
soup and bread fer dinner. No
butter.
Somewhat Better Off
Their low-ceilinged room was
untidy. The 15-year-old daughter
had never seen a movie. The
mother could not read.
Still better off was Pavel LUX,
in the next village. Golovina.
LUX was barefooted and a child's
barefoot prints showed in the
snow on the porch. There are
seven in the family. and 80 acres
of land, but only five cultivated,
but there were three cows, one
horse, one pig, two sheep and
eight chickens.
There were no rugs on the floor
and the furniture was a table,
several benches and beds. They
ate potato soup, roast salt pork
and bread for breakfast, roast
salt pork and bread for dinner,
mush and milk for supper.
Mother and sister could not
read, but father and son could.
They got Reval newspaper three
times weekly, but had no radio
and never went to a movie, as it
was too far and too expensive. I
asked LUX:
"Why do you let your little
2-year-Old son go barefoot in
this weather."
He replied: