A HARD LIFE

Wairarapa Age, 22 December 1919, Page 2

A HARD LIFE

WOMEN'S LOT IN PETROGRAD. A Russian offioer who escaped from Petrograd recently writes In The Times regarding the position Of women there. The most striking difference between Petrograd and London to-day is, ,he states, that twothirds of the inhabitatnts of Petrograd are women; and, what is more, every woman is compelled in one way or another to aid the work of the Soviets. Tho life of a woman in Petrograd—as may be well imag'ned-—is very hard indeed. Of course, there is no such thing as a servant these days, and the women, before they go to the Soviet offices or factories, have to clean their apartments the best way they can.. This is by no means an easy matter owing to tho lack of soap and other washing material. After cleaning the house the average woman locks up her rooms, and taking her children with her, goes off to work, Quito tho most trying part of woman's life in Petrograd is the effort to keep herself and her children sufficiently clad to preserve a semblance of decency. As I have already ex. plained, all shops are closed, and it ia only possible to procure wearing ap parel, etc., from tho Soviet stores. And this is anything but an easy matter. The Poverty Committee in charge of each house is furnished with a given number of permits for clothing, the proportion being 10 for men, 10 for women, and 5 for children. As two-thirds of tho inhabitants are women, th:3 in itself makes the allocation of permits for women very difficult. .The womenfolk have showu amazing ingenuity and adaptability in convert : ng almost any material into a semblance of a dress, but their real difficulty is in contriving to make such things as stockings and undierwear last. ' I have heard, by the way, that certain pro-Bolsheviks in this country claimed as one of the virtues of Bolshevism that loose. women are no longer to be found on the Petrograd streets. This is only partly true, for what has really happened is that those women have been, as it wert, promoted into high places in Soviet offices. A common sight is chauffeurs, soldiers, and sailors wearing very expensive and heavy fur ooata. Loose women, too, will.be seen wearing an extraordinary mixture of shabby clothing, a rakish hat, and priceless sables and ermine. These furs aro, of course, the proceeds of thefts. The Commissaries and the Red soldiers and sailors all show a ■ weakness for jewels. I have seen a Commissary whoso fingers were an absolute blaze of firp, and so pleased was ho with himself that while he talked he was incessantly stroking his beard and moustache, in order to I mako the jewels sparkle the more.