Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-20 | Page 35 | Russians are Eager for Bread and Rest

RUSSIANS ARE EAGER FOR BREAD1D REST Straw Enters Largely Into the Production of the "Staff of Life.0 ALLOWANCE IS SMALL Public, However, Is Meeting Meet-ing the Conditions With Admirable Patience. MOSCOW. Sept. 15. (Correspondence-r the Associated Press"). The average Russian wants bread and rest from th turmoil through which he has been passing pass-ing for the last four years, and he believes be-lieves he will eventually find these two blessings. He doesn't know exactly how, but he's hopeful. The Russian public is struggling aloo with great patience, making the most of its very limited food supply, making over its much-worn clothing, polishing it shabby shoes and getting all the amuse -ment it can out of life by attending the theaters and visiting the summer grar-dens. grar-dens. Moscow's bread allowance is one-quarter of a pound daily for each person If he gets it. And the quality of the bread varies so greatly that there is much -betting and jesting daily as to what sort of bread the food committees will sup' ply the following day. Much Straw Used. Straw enters largely into the composition composi-tion of the bread supplied to Moscow, Petrograd and other cities far from the grain-producing centers. Sometimes the straw is chopped so finely it cannot be detected. On other days it is so coarse and abundant in the loaf that straws an inch long may be found. A recent cartoon in the Moscow No-voe No-voe Vreyina showed an old man plaiting a straw hat. Two urchins wearing straw hats were playing at his feet, and a loaf of bread from which long straws were protruding lay on the table. A neighbor who stood beside the weaver inquired: "How do you find the bread these days ?' ' The reply was: "We can't eat it, but it makes excellent straw hats." The dearth of alcoholic drinks afforded the subject for a cartoon which gave Moscow a hearty laugh. A customer holding a bottle of perfume in his hand stood before an apothecary, to whom he complained: "I don't like the odor of this eau de cologne." Not Much to Smell. "Gracious, one doesn't smell it nowadays!" nowa-days!" tho druggist exclaimed. "One drinks it!" Under the greatly restricted diet en-" forced by the food shortage, persona in all walks of life have lost flesh to such an extent that really fat men and women wo-men are seldom seen. The chief worlc of tailors and dressmakers nowadays is taking in. of garments to adjust them to reducecPTigures. At a recent music hall performance an enormous fat man who was shown to a seat near the stage broke his chair into pieces when he sat down. The accident made such a noise that the attention of the entire audience was drawn to the unhappy un-happy man. who was extricated from the wreckage by two ushers. The audience i roso and cheered vehemently. The fat man acknowledged the applause good-naturedly good-naturedly and took no offense at shouted inquiries of "How do you do it on & quarter of a pound of bread a day?"