A Social Study of the Russian German 29 
Dwelling number 815: three rooms; two families of eleven people; first 
includes three small children, the grandmother and a boarder; the second 
includes one small child and a boarder. 
Dwelling number 1029: four rooms; one family of eleven; five children 
from four to twelve years; four male boarders. 
The evils of overcrowding are both physical and moral, and 
so far as the people can mitigate them, they are reduced. Ordi- 
narily, the chief physical harm is unsanitariness which arises from 
lack of cleanliness, of air, of sewage facilities, and of pure water. 
Of the first, there is no absolute criterion. The housewife who 
scoured her broomhandle was formerly the standard of this 
virtue, but it is quite probable that the modern housewife would 
object to the sparing use of water by which she achieved un- 
deniably good results. The Russian German prides himself on 
the cleanliness of his housekeeper and the highest compliment he 
can pay his wife is to attribute to her this characteristic. One of 
the chief reasons he objects to being called a “ Russian” is ex- 
plained by the common expression which the German colonist 
contemptuously applies to his enemy, 7. e., “as dirty as a Rus- 
-sian.”’?? The most overcrowded homes in the settlements show 
remarkable results produced through order, system, and hard 
work. Whether the furniture be little or much, it is arranged 
with care and precision. The bed is the especial pride of the 
housewife. Piled high with feathers, with immense pillows at 
the head, and sheets bordered with handmade lace, this article 
of furniture is the object of scrupulous care. Sunny days find 
fences and lines filled with bed clothes undergoing their frequent 
airings. 
Saturdays are as sacredly devoted to cleanliness as Sundays 
are to godliness and no home misses a thorough overhauling.** 
It would be as disgraceful a thing for a woman to neglect scrub- 
bing her house and her children on that day as it would be to have 
her husband’s Sunday shirt buttonless and his boots unblacked. 
A group of little girls called at their teacher’s home one Sunday 
23JTn the Lincoln settlements, the phrase is transposed to “a5 dirty as 
the Irish,” and is a popular one among the children. 
24Tt is the custom in the German colonies in Russia for the people to 
sweep the streets every Saturday in preparation for the following day. 
155 
