Evening star., 1947-03-30

I
Why?" he asked. you've been
as well have been on q ship at sea
observation. We are twice remove
isolated from our world and we are
isolated from the Muscovite world.
Correspondents can and do spend
days at a time without setting foot
outside the hotel in which they live.
Some Of them manage to see some
thing OF the city, its theaters for ex-
ample and the gloomy nightclub
around the corner at Grand Hotel.
Delegates Fare Better.
A few have even managed to find
time to learn a little about Russia.
Most, however, are too busy. Their
life is largely spent in working and
sleeping, and in waiting for food and
elevators.
Members of our delegation have a
slightly broader horizon than the
press corps. They work on confer
ence matters in the ballroom and
billiard room of Spaso House, the
American Embassy residence. There
they spend most of their working
hours, returning to their hotel to
eat and sleep.
Delegates who attend the confer
ence sessions have a third stop in
their daily sound-at Filters Club or
the House Of Aviation Industries,
where the council meets.
But none Of the foreigners here for
the conference has any real connec-
tion with the life of the city. Mos
COW Hotel is our world. We aren't
We can come and go pref
ty much as we please; a tall doorman
in gold-braided uniform politely
opens the door for us when we want
to get out. It is duty, not design,
which isolates us.
of Limit for Russians.
Design helps, though. In the hotel
we see everybody but Russians. Un-
less they work. here Russians can't
get in. Mrs. Walter Bedell Smith,
our Ambassadors wife, arrived re-
Gently with fur hat on and made
the mistake OF asking the doorman
in Russian where the hairdresser's
salon was. He told her very firmly
the hotel was closed. In the life we
are living here, Moscow veterans
assure us, we get less idea Of what
life is normally like in Russia than
a guest at a wedding reception gets
of what normal life is like in the
house where he's received. Moscow
Hotel is the Soviet's finest and 1t
has been specially decked out In
splendid array. This is equally true
it seems Of the entire central area
Of the city, Shop windows along
the route between the hotel and
Spaso House, empty for years, now
are filled with attractive displays.
Moscow apparently has looked
so well.
A week after we arrived our rooms
stilled smelled of fresh paint.
Everything in the building seemed
new and shining. Every porter had
a new blue uniform, every maid
was crisply starched. Old-timers in
Moscow stared in wonder after the
hotel was reopened in preparation
for our arrival. They could hardly
recognize it.
And Bread So Dear.
Their wonder grew when they
saw the food being served in the
dining room and looked at the
menu. 1t wasn't so much the fine
gray Beluga cavair which i'm
pressed them-generous portions,
as much as man can comfortably
eat at one sitting, for 20 rubles-
what it costs a Russian to buy a
pack of rs medium priced unra-
toned cigarettes. What really made
their eyes pop was the heaping
portion Of bread served with each
meal and often left untouched.
They knew, as we could not, the
value of piece of bread in a
hungry land.
In a situation like this it is i'm
possible to be d gracious guest and
a truthful reporter at the same
time. Certainly those attending
this conference have never encoun-
tered a more determined politeness
more anxiousness to please-than
they do from the entire staff of this
hotel-world of theirs. But one can
not describe life here candidly with
out admitting this isn't a first-class
hotel by our standards.
Not So Comfortable.
Far from it. Beds are uncornfort-
able; half Of them are so short they
seem to have been made for chill
dren. Furnishings are cheap and
primitive. Service in the
dining room is incredibly slow; one
cannot take meals there regularly
without counting in advance on
spending at least three hours day
in the process. The menu should
be supplemented with vitamin pills.
One of the most interesting fea-
lures Of the place is the elevator
system. It is significant because it
is typical, and, therefore, worth
some study.
Three elevators. are in operation,
side by side. As in all hotels there
are buttons with which to summon
them, one by each Of the three
doors. You simply push the but
tons; there is no way Of indicating
whether you want to 60 up or down.
And since each elevator operates
independently of the others, you
must push all three buttons to make
sure. of being picked up by the first
car that passes.
On paper it sounds reasonable
R,-e&