Show QUEER STORIES OF NEW RUSSIA elementary mentality of the masses demonstrated by amusing examples FISH MADE FREE BY TROOPS how pretty woman with dogs and red ribbon turned hostility to enthusiasm man with red umbrella becomes personage paris political happenings have succeeded one another so rapidly in russia that french correspondents there have lind had little time to do more than occupy themselves with them and descriptive articles from those jour have been few regarding the effect of the revolution on the mass of the people and its results in the provinces and among the peasants one or two articles however have appeared which throw some light on the mentality of the russians regarded as so different from that ol of other europeans at robert de flers associate editor of the figaro fegaro and now attached to the headquarters start staff of the doumanian Rou manian army has had months of study of the russian troops serving in conjunction with those of roumania Rouman ln here are some anecdotes from his latest article there Is a fine lake hille somewhere in the south of russia which Is connected by a channel with a smaller lake v tt here huge carp are raised the channel was barred by nets to prevent tile the carp from passing into the larger lake und and as food does not reach the troops in the district too plentifully nor in groat great variety the officers were glad to vary their mess with the fish one day some hundreds of soldiers were gathered in a meeting one of those meetings which have become a regu regular lar institution in the russian ar army my this year plunged in deep discussion 4 suddenly there was a rush toward the lakes and with cries of sloboda SI Is Sl sloboda Ll liberty bertyl Li liberty bertyl I 1 the men began to pull out the bAir barriers lers and nets and destroy them the officers wished to prevent the destruction but the soldiers took little notice zif their reprimands beyond crying sloboda I 1 sloboda for the fish I 1 A noncommissioned officer explained the matter fish are gods creatures as men are like them they have the right to liberty but men can talk and so have made the revolution while fish are dumb tind and can never make theirs it Is therefore our duty to aid them because it Is contrary to nature to pen them up in order to capture them and easily kill them A Perso nage and know it it A middle class ry a mail mad who occupied a modest Dosi position tion in one of the tax collecting offices and who was imbued with the narrow bureaucratic reactionary spirit found in that class chanced to go out ane one day with a red umbrella under ills his inn arm A group of manifest ants going to a meeting begged him to open his umbrella ile he willingly complied compiled and at once found that his bright umbrella red being the revolutions color matle made him a personage women throw threw him film flowers children were lifted up for him to kiss and lie was at once made president of the meeting when that was over lie he m as conducted in triumph to a binquet and there too lie made on an eloquent speech having discovered himself tin nu orator without having ever suspected it finally he was conducted to his home at a kite hour by several thousands of his free if not enlightened fellow citizens from that day after inscribing his name on the revolutionary committee lie has never gone out without his red umbrella always open F for or months every material from silk to tile the commonest cloth colored red has been sought for and made into cockades cockaded coc kades flags streamers etc the sm smallest allet fragment of red serves as an excuse for a manifestation here Is a story of a squad of russian sold lero a pretty woman a pet dog and a bowknot of red ribbon the pretty woman wits was walking up lip and down the platform of a little station crowded with soldiers the men whose opportunities of seeing a pretty woman hod had been limited for many a month gazed ja in admiration and were prepared to make a manifestation in her honor but suddenly their feelings showed a change and cries of discontent began to be heard A group of soldiers went up tip to the woman and severely up upbraided braided her because a bow of red ribbon was fastened over the car of her pomeranian dog such a use of the symbol of revolution was shocking they said as it showed a wish to ridicule the great movement the soldiers shouted shrieked and jumped about excitedly to the utter astonishment of the pretty woman and of the pom but the woman extricated herself from an embarrassing position with tile lie guile of a true daughter of eve she took the ribbon from her dogs head and placed it in her own hair once more the crowd changed its tone and it was amid enthusiastic cheering 6 that she and the dog took the train a little later A certain general was suspected by his men of being only lukewarm toward the new movement so a delegation of soldiers waited on him to ask him his real opinions ill tell you just what I 1 am he said to them and you can tell it to every one I 1 look upon my men as my children and so have no reason not to tell them the whole truth I 1 am a anarchist after that I 1 a am m sure you wont want any further details the men went away delighted they declared to the regiment that had sent them the general Is 19 absolutely all right ile he la Is so flo tremendously revolutionary that we even remember the name that he said logic of freedom two soldiers had happened to speak to a general and one had used the term your excellency as was the custom before the revolution the other soldier afterward rebuked his companion for such a lapse from new principles you said excelle excellency neyl 1 well of course I 1 said excellency 11 but dont you know that now you say excellency and why we say excellency and more what why because we nave have made the revolution and now we are all free the first soldier was silent for a minutes and then remarked but since we are all free we are free to say excellency it if we like to the other soldier in turn reflected for a minute and then declared true after all the moment we are free we can do what we like its that abat you see so difficult to understand but as flints really so I 1 am going to say excellency myself then he added but all the same it wont be the same thing as before ludovic nadeau has found time to send to the temps some anecdotes about events in petrograd Petro grad after the great revolution in the early days of the revolution a s strange looking street sell made his appearance on the prospect As lie he wore a scarlet cap a crowd soon gathered he wits was offering pamphlets at 50 kopecks kopecka apiece and could hardly hand them out quick enough the natural inference would be that the work treated of the revolution but as a matter of fact it was a history ni story of buddhism bought doubtless tor for a nominal sum slim us as a publishers remainder one soldier as he carried awny hla ls bargain was heard to say 1 I cant read but lots of comrades in the barracks can before the revolution people bathed naked in the neva but outside tile town now they are bathing entirely stripped within the town and wall walk about on the bridges and quays between the french frenchi and british embassies the men of 1793 were christened sans culot fre without trousers tile lie men of 1917 arc am sans calegon ca lecon without drawers the petrograd Petro irad grad soldiers anxious to instruct themselves and occupy the leisure that the revolution has given them are great visitors to the museums their anxiety to investigate everything leads them to puss pass their hands bonds over the pictures and caress cares the statuary often marking markene it with will their nails notices have been put no ging comrades to touch the founder and curator of the ethnographic no museum recounts that him bl staff caretakers cleaners clearie rs efa hog has petitioned the hf government for the jhb sup still pres slon on of his hii office on the ground that a curator Is useless in a museum that he be does docs nothing costs money and Is of no service as they who carry the keys wield tile hie feather brooms and clean the floors are tile the real curators how to be a civil engineer in a manufactory the workmen in a t body waited ou on the civil engineers to toll tell thern them that the old order having passed away there must be no more slavery Uve everyone must work in turn so you will kindly some of you go 90 down into the mines and others fire the cri engines gines and who will do our work asked the engineers some soine of us will take turns in your offices but what will you do there the same as you sit around sharpen pencils and cigarettes on sunday july 8 M denu saw a crowd moving along the prospect carrying banners halt half blue half yellow till all right said eald a middle class citizen to him film revolutionary red seems to ta be going out of date when the column had approached pro ached it proved to be composed almost entirely of soldiers enough to form two or three regiments their banners for the inscription lon long live the government which seemed to show that it was a patriotic manifestation but others had bad long live the ukraine 1 long live independent little russia Is 1 long live the independent Ul ukraine froine the soldiers De longed to the petits grad garrison awl and were cre natives of little russia manifesting their desire to be enrolled as soon as possible in the purely ukrainian army that Is being formed in the south no one interfered with their separatist demonstration some soldiers whose bearing was anything but vi artial were taking up too much room in a tramway to please the female c conductor on ductor who rated them vigorously with all the extraordinary authoritativeness which women in russia ans always display toward men you soldiers I 1 go on I 1 you only have soldiers clothes alii its a shame to treat a poor wounded man like this murmured one of them you wounded retorted the conductor if you are wounded it must be in the left nostril and by a cork from a bott bottle lel these illustrations of russian temperament pe are declared to indicate tile the difficult task kerensky confronts to direct such a people and to keep them steadily in the path that he would have them follow |