The Washington times., 1936-08-04
By ARNE sTROM

Copyright, 1885, by American News
papers. Inc. All rights reServed)
Marushka and I Solemnly
assembled the magnificent steps to
the former dwelling Of a mil
lionaire, where now the local So
Wet (of Borisoglebsk) had its rows
and rows Of smart offices.
Carrying the little slip Of brown
paper we asked the way to the
office Of one Vdovichenko.
The room we now entered was
quite overwhelmingly beautiful.
Whatever may be said of the old
Russia, it did have q wonderful
feeling for dignity and magnifi-
cence.
We had come into the presence
Of q gathering Of men, all extraor.
dinarily embroidered, and with
only q very few women.
Again I saw one Of those much
locked huge green-baize tables
shaped like a "T" and at the
middle of its upper part sat the
man we were looking for.
Powdered, rouged, really beauti-
full to look at, Comrade Vdovi.
chenko reclined in a gorgeous,
high-backed, magnificently carved
oak chair. The chair was so beauti.
full that I could hardly take my
eyes off it.
Everybody stared at me except
Vdovichenko, who made use Of the
trick, which by now I Anew so
well, Of keeping me waiting while
he was putting some very, very i'm
portant papers in order. I felt
could not very well 60 on staring
any longer at his wonderful chair,
so I turned my eyes to the domed
ceiling high up above our heads.
I wondered who had built this
magnificent palace. This glorious
Oriental room so impressed me
that I would gladly have sent all
these people to the devil so as to
be able to study at leisure the
wonderful paintings which deco
rated the marble walls and the
lovely statuetteS which filled the
WAu0OW CeCeSSeS.
In Spacious Office
had put my bit Of brown paper
down in front Of the great gentle
man, and now waited for him to
find time to read it. Marushka
had dwindled down to nothing and
seemed to feel herself a sparrow
among birds Of paradise. With
his elegantly tapered fingers,
covered with sparkling diamond
rings, Tovarishch Vdovichenko
took my modest Identification
paper in his right hand and read
it with haf-closed eyes. His long
blue-black laSheS lay on the
pouches under his eyes. He looked
as if he were asleep; but Vdovich-
enko was not at all asleep, he was
reading. Suddenly he opened his
eyes wide-big, beautiful, kind,
Nght-blue eyeS-and looked at me,
serious, slightly smiling, and sym
pathetic.
What a smart and uncommonly
successful proletarian! And what
a marvellous actor into the bar.
gain! How perfectly he played the
part Of an Oriental prince! How
we'll he matched this gorgeous hall!
addressed him in German, pre-
tending to take it for granted that
q man in his position spoke that
language. I stated by business,
conquering my West European diff
fidence at addressing so prominent
an assembly on such trivial mat
ter as q saucepan. It looked as if
the whole assembly was glad that
here a question had really chopped
up in which it could probably bring
about positive result.
The extraordinary understand
ing with which I was met had a
bracing effect on me; could hear
everybody in the room talking
about Saucepans. I was surprised,
enchanted. flattered by so much
sympathy.
Comrade Vdovichenko, his fore
head wrinkled with worried lines,
asked the advice Of a big, very fat
man-later on I was told that this
man, oddly enough, was a kind of
superintendent Of the local supply
depot Of the Red army. Saucepan,
saucepan" heard them whisper