CZECHOSLOVAKIA 



141 



Photograph by Dr. V. Sixta and Son 



MEN FROM VOLOVEC. RUTHENIA (PODKARPATSKA RUS), CZECHOSLOVAKIA 



By dint of hard work the peasant coaxes the soil to production's limit; but when this does 

 not suffice to satisfy the incredibly small needs of his large family, he sets out as an itinerant, 

 now selling linens in the cities of the plain, now seeking odd jobs as tinker and glazier in 

 all the countries of Europe. 



ference of the intelligentsia of Slovakia; 

 not the care-free holiday of roistering 

 farmers and their red-faced wives, but 

 the endless speeches of cultured leaders. 



GREETINGS FROM MANY WHO FORMERLY 

 DWELT IN AMERICA 



But there were enough reasons for 

 feeling at home. The restaurant-keeper 

 at the junction station wore an American 

 suit that spoke new-world clothing dealer 

 from lapel and pocket flap. The first 

 sight that met my eyes as I entered the 

 Slovak Museum was the Stars and Stripes 

 on the main stairway, and the second was 

 the picture of the college professor with 

 whom I was traveling. 



I sought to buy some Slovak sweets, 

 only to be offered a box of American 

 chocolates, just arrived. A Slovak pianist 

 from Chicago introduced himself, and 

 several other men came up to tell of their 

 life in "the States.'' 



I went to a furniture factory and was 

 shown around by the foreman, who had 



spent several years in America, and to a 

 paper factory, where a most attractive 

 Slovak boy, only one month back from 

 the baseball diamonds, hockey fields, and 

 gridirons of America, showed me around 

 with the aid of another lad, perhaps two 

 years younger, who looked with open 

 envy at the twin-starred service pin on 

 the sweater of his chum. 



Half a dozen American Y. W. C. A. 

 girls added a decided charm to the event, 

 and I shared my room with two workers 

 for the Y..M. C. A., which is doing a 

 magnificent work for the soldiers and 

 civilians of Czechoslovakia. 



SLOVAK MUSIC. DRAMA, AND POETRY 



Disappointing as the gathering was for 

 what it was not, it was highly satisfying 

 for what it was — a meeting of those who 

 are trying to raise Slovakia to a higher 

 plane without robbing it of the peculiar 

 culture which entitles it to an honored 

 place among peoples possessing a love 

 and understanding of art. 



