Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-06-04

This Russian UietD OF Wash !
ington and the Vienna con-
ference tDdS published Mdy25
in the Soviet newspaper,
Prada. The tUriter tDdS a
member OF q delegation OF
Russian fletDSpdpernIen tDho
spent several days here last
month during a United States
tour under an exchange pro-
gram. The article is pub
LiShed in its entirety as trans
lated By the Soviet Embassy.
BY VICTOR v. MAYEvSKY
The weather in Washington
is very changeable. We arrived
by plane one very cloudy and
unpleasant evening. The next
morning was sunny, the after
noon-hot and humid as in
Indonesia. BY the evening the
sky was cloudy again and it
had started to rain. On the
third day the weather changed
again and it had started to
again and it was windy; al
though the sun was shining, it
was cool. Then the wind died
down and it warmed up.
It is not always possible to
draw parallels between the
natural and political climates.
But in Washington it is diff
cult to avoid such a compare
son. In the three days spent
in the United States capital
the delegation of Soviet news
men met with the sincere
warmth Of hospitality and the
frowning clouds of bias, the
cold shoulder Of stiff-necked
courtesy and the freshness of
common sense.
Washington is unlike the
other American cities and
towns we saw. Washington is
half made UP Of provincial,
dirty shopping and business
areas and the other half
a wonderful park populated by
Government officials and
bronze statues. The very his
tory Of the United States is
expressed in granite, bronze
and marble in the streets and
squares of this verdant Wash
ington.
On Paying Respect
A huge obeliSk, the Wash
ington Monument, towers over
a grassy hill encircled by ma
Piles. The white marble Jeffer-
son Memorial is reflected in
the quiet water of the Tidal
Basin, and here are the grace
full columns of the Lincoln
Observation-Disclosures Par
thenon. We visited these sacred
places with great excitement
and paid our respects to these
great American Presidents.
From early morning till late
evening thousands of tourists
from all over America and
many other countries come to
see where George. Washington
lived and worked, crowd around
the Capitol where the United
States Congress sits, and stand
outside the railing around the
White House.
But the city pursues its usual
activities: Cars are everywhere,
communicating the delic at eI
greenery with noxious gases; in
she quiet Government buildings
the officials operate noiselessly;
bulldoZers are raZing old dwell
ings; Negro boys are taking
sunbaths on the pavement in
front of the Christopher Co.
lumbuS fountain memorials
1t is not the first year that
life in Washington has been
following an even course. How
ever, in the past few days there
is something new in the at
mosphere, something which
oldtimers say hasn't been there
for quite a long time.
The political barometer is
fluctuating.
Washington is talking Of the
forthcoming talks between
CHI airman Khrushchev and
President Kennedy. The word
Vienna" is used very often in
conversations behind the walls
of Government buildings, in
the streets near the monu-
ments and in the newspapers.
The newspaper columnistS, I'M
able to restrain themselves
from showing off their erudi-
ton, seek parallels between the
Vienna Congress Of 1915 and
the forthcoming Vienna meet
ing. Q
In the center Of the Capital
are advertisements Of the vi
emma Restaurant. Surely Wash
ingtonians pass these adver-
tisements without paying any
more attention to them than to
others. But now our driver
smilingly points to one of these
and reads 1t aloud: Vienna
Restaurant. Good food"
Vienna No. / Topic
In the past few days we have
been having quite a few meet
ings with Americans from diff
ferent walks of life-newsmen,
politicians, diplomats and stu