Show STARVING RUSSIANS RUSSIANS' DEVOUR RAW BEANS BEAN'S Member of Shipping Finn Finds Pop Ragged hanged Dirt Dirty and in Great Cleat Need of the Necessities Necessities ties tics of Life Lifer r A member of or a Rotterdam shipping shipping ship ship- ping ping firm who made the trip to Pe 1 recently in one of his company's com com- com company's pany's fre freighters gives an interestIng interest interest- Ing account of his experiences He lie says Our cOur ship hip which wl ich is tons tuns carried a cargo of dr dry white beaus beans from Holland and canned pork and beans from France Contracts for these shipments had been made with Krassin in London and payment made In gold We found the Petrograd harbor in good condition and our ship drawing eighteen feet reet of water was able to draw up beside the quays to unload We were boarded by a Russian Russian Russian Rus Rus- sian pilot at Kronstadt but were required required re re- re- re to pay no pilot or harbor tees fees ees of of any kind I was Informed however however how how- ever that harbor charges would soon be Introduced and that fees would be 20 per cent above prewar prewar pre pre- war charges Immediately after docking four tour soviet soldiers and twenty police In Instituted Instituted instituted In- In a search of our ship They examined the ship thoroughly for weapons taking away the few revolvers revolvers revolvers re re- re- re we possessed The soldiers were shabbily dressed wearing frayed frayed fray fray- ed d tattered garments covered with patches patched They were were young oung pleasant looking boys one wearing a coat that had been much too long for hi him 1 the frayed edge showing where it had been cut to fit 1 What Wha t most struck us in Petrograd Petrograd Petrograd Petro Petro- grad was the absolutely famished appearance of the population walkIng walking walking walk walk- ing about in rags Our own appearance appearance appearance appear appear- ance when we entered the street streetcars cars or appeared anywhere In public aroused the envy and wonder of the I people who regarded our everyday working clothes as marvelous ries An insight Into the the absolute famished condition of the people we Had find before we had left our ship Hundreds of workers came down to the dock to unload our cargo and no sooner was the hold hold thrown open tha than they swarmed aboard and before before be be- fore they began unloading hurried themselves upon the bean bags and I g gorged themselves upon the raw dr dry bean Then they the ca canned med goods which they opened with the first first- means first means that came to hand hand hand- nails nalls pieces of Iron hatchets and crowbars eating crowbars eating greedily and then away possible I stowing away as many many- many cans cans as ble in their po pockets I These latter the they had to give ghe up I at the end of the day to a huge Russian soldier quite t the e largest in individual individual individual in- in that I have ever seen who guarded the dock entrance When the workers had all streamed out more than GOO cans lay before the I guard But this did not prevent the workers from repeating the performance perform perform- ance each day following perform perform-I The goods we unloaded wore ware placed In freight cars on sidings destined for Moscow nut Dut each night we saw dark forms sneaking in und and out among the cars and it is a certain certain certain tain surmise that not all of our cargo I will gill reach its destinn destination Uon After several days wo we re permission to o O freely freel about the city but Jut we always retained d the Impression lui- lui that we were being being- carefully o observed served and spied upon The claim that the stores are open Is not true We found not a single shop restaurant restaurant restaurant rant or cafe although we were told that there were were were-a a few illegal restaurants restaurants restaurants rants which we did not attempt to visit There Thero were a few fow peddlers on the streets whose chief commodity consisted of of and several open markets overcrowded where a all l business was done upon a barter I basis Most 1 of the trade hero here was Vas Vashi in hi old clothes and bread The street streetcars streetcars c cars rs are free but all are so overcrowded overcrowded overcrowded over over- crowded that one is fortunate if he can can obtain a foothold We ate and slept on shipboard and were undisturbed except by the thousands of files flics that swarmed over us Petrograd Is suffering from a plague of flies files The harbor workers whom wo met all told us that that the soviet system could not last Only the chief officials were communists all alff others others' rs disavowing wh g any connection o n n with the Bolshevists s |