Evening star., 1947-03-30

then for all three to stop again for
you on the way up.
Considering the fact that this
same process is repeated for every
body else who wants to ride on an
elevator, it's hardly surprising that
more delegates are taking to walk
ing up and down stairs.
The dining room is also worth q
closer look. 1t occupies almost half
OF the third floor; the grand ball.
room at the Mayfiower would fit
tidily in one corner of it. It Is full
OF marble columns. At either end
hang huge chandeliers like giant
blue-glass saucers. They have an
oddly menacing aspect. One dele
gate studied them apprehensively
while he drank tea from a glass on
the first day here.
"Stormy Weather"
THAT" he said, shrinking into q
corner of his chair, ''is probably as
close as Russia has come to making
an atomic bomb"
One can get an idea of the over.
whefming size of the place from the
fact the floor is studded with lamps
each bearing a tan-colored shade
fully feet in diameter. The effect
Is like rows of beach umbrellas.
Once again no stone Is left untlrned
In effort to please and impress
guests. Two groups of musicians
play alternately during meals and
music is carried to farthest corner
Of the room by series OF loud
speakers.
One Is a very fine small orches-
ira which concentrates on semi
classical pieces and folk songs. It's
repertoire includes several American
marches. The other is a jazz band.
1t sticks to good old songs Of several
and would do nicely in
the best American night clubs. The
pianist, heavy-set man whose
shaven apple head shines like WELL
polished glass, occasionally is al.
lowed to cut through the blare with
a wistful solo on Stormy Weather"
Learning the Language.
Language problems have largely
been overcome in this world Of ours.
There were some difficulties at first
but now most Of us know an essen
tial few words Of Russian and most
Of the staff knows about the same
amount Of English.
For instance, can say please"
thank YOU" and quickly; can
order half a dozen different kinds
Of food and count from one to nine,
with some omissions-one, two,
three, four, six, eight, nine. I have
had no regular occasion to use num-
bers five and seven, nor any number
above nine, therefore don't know
them. The vocabulary OF most Of
us has similar odd gaps.
For more complicated communica-
tions there Is special class of em-
ployes in the hotel to which we can
always turn. This Is a group OF
perhaps 80 women, most of them
between 30 and 40 years old, almost
all Of whom speak excellent Eng
lish. For practical purposes they
appear to be running the hotel, and
they're held in awe by the rest Of
the staff.
Helpful Aides.
There's no central desk in the
hotel such as we are ac-
customed to in western hotels. In
stead, in the lobby downstairs, where
two great marble statues Of Stain,
one with Lenin and one alone, are
lighted day and night, these women
sit behind individual desks, dealing
with various aspects Of the hotel
administration.
In addition, one of them is as.
signed to each floor as sort Of inter-
prefer and general liaison officer
between ourselves and other in
habitants of this world of ours. The
one on our floor is a pleasant young
person who says she wishes she were
a ballet artist. She makes our tele-
phone calls, smooths out complex
tiles of our daily routine and has
become quite friendly with many
of us.
Many of these women apparently
have been imported for this job
from Leningrad. Inevitable rumor,
of course, is that they are secret
police agents. So far as know, no
one has yet summoned nerve to
ask one of them If this is true.
Rumors Of that kind are a dime q
dozen on our life here. When we
first arrived, as has been reported,
we were seriously told we should be
careful what we said in our rooms
as every sound in the place was
likely be overheard or recorded.
Some of us now suspect this was
convenient fiction enabling dele
CATION officials to sidestep incon-
venient questions by representatives
Of the press.
Counter-Espionage.
If conversation gets onto an
awkward subject, it's always easy
now for delegate to shake his
head, put finger. to his lips, look
cautiously over his shoulder and
say, II can't talk about that here"
Personally dent know. I thought
I did the other day. I found, in the
wall behind the head Of my bed,
a small wooden panel perforated
with six holes. 1t looked like
triple lightplug, but when tried 1t
the lamp didn't light. Shaking with
I broke six razor blades
taking out screws which held the
panel in place. Finally 1t came
loose. Behind 1t was a dark hole in
the wall about 3 inches in diameter