GLIMPSES OF SIBERIA, THE RUSSIAN "WILD EAST' 



535 



Russians in Siberia are enthusiastic 

 about American clothes, particularly 

 American shoes. They want American 

 automobiles and American machinery of 

 all kinds, and they delight in American 

 "movies." 



The Russian Church had a hard time 

 during the revolution. Most of the priests 

 had to go into hiding, though this was 

 not so nearly universal in Siberia as in 

 European Russia. Many of the people 

 looked upon the established Church as 

 the twin brother of the civil tyranny. 

 They did not hate religion, but they 

 hated the privilege and ease of the clergy, 

 and the tribute of money and labor they 

 had to pay to the Church. 



When the revolution struck the Church, 

 the real men among the priests passed 

 through the fire. They gained some 

 knowledge of the needs of the people and 

 many of them are doing a noble: work 

 now. The Church had an astonishing 

 calendar of holy days, "prazneeks." 

 Even the godless still keep these. When 

 a Russian celebrates a prazneek he cele- 

 brates ! He would not dream of work- 

 ing, but gives himself up to a good time. 



The religious prazneek is the only form 

 of sport the Siberian knows. A few 

 people play tennis and almost everybody 

 swims and swims well, but otherwise they 

 do not seem to have any interest in ath- 

 letics or exercise. They are as naive as 

 children, but brave — the women as brave 

 as the men and as strong. 



GENTLENESS AND STRENGTH DISTINGUISH 

 THE SIBERIAN 



The outstanding characteristics of the 

 Siberian Russian are his physical strength 

 and stamina and his gentleness of nature. 

 Most people will be surprised at the sec- 

 ond part of that statement, on account of 

 what has been published about the Bol- 

 shevist cruelties. It is true that the peas- 

 ant went from the extreme of an absolute 

 monarchy to the most fantastic socialism 

 the world has known. Nevertheless he 

 is gentle and forgiving by nature. 



Of course, Siberia did not taste the 

 full bitterness of red Bolshevism. The 

 extreme elements were present, but they 

 never had full swing. Red Bolshevism 

 in Siberia never was more than "pink," 

 and that pink is becoming paler every 



day. They call themselves "Social Demo- 

 crats" in Siberia, and while they have a 

 working understanding with Soviet Rus- 

 sia, their tendency is to work out their 

 civil salvation on their own lines inde- 

 pendent of Petrograd and Moscow. The 

 Siberians wonder why the powers do not 

 approach them with a trade agreement 

 of some kind. 



The allied armies failed because they 

 hurt the Siberian's pride by their very 

 presence. 



THE SOUL OF SIBERIA 



Because of faulty sanitation, Siberia is 

 ravaged by typhus and cholera. I once 

 visited a hospital in one small city where 

 there were two thousand cases of typhus, 

 while in the freight yards there were 

 three thousand additional cases, and not 

 a doctor or nurse. The hospital dispen- 

 sary boasted of a few small bags of herbs 

 and that was all. All the doctors except 

 .two and nearly all the nurses had been 

 stricken with the plague. 



One ward in which two hundred per- 

 sons were ill had one nurse in attendance. 

 When the commandant took me through 

 we found this little nurse in a heap on 

 the floor, crying. I asked her why she 

 was crying, thinking she was stricken 

 also. She replied that she was quite well, 

 though very tired, but her heart was ach- 

 ing for those two hundred sick men be- 

 cause she could not get around to all of 

 them to bring them their medicines or 

 nourishment, and they were too sick to 

 help themselves. Then, as she broke into 

 an agonizing sob, she cried, "Oh, why 

 didn't the good God give me twenty 

 bodies for this heart that would do so 

 much !" 



Her name was Tania and she was only 

 seventeen. All the members of her family 

 had been destroyed, but hers was the soul 

 of Siberia, for there are many like Tania 

 in Russia's "Wild East." 



So one is not surprised that some 500 

 men out of an expedition of onlv 7.500 

 Americans married Siberian women. 



IN A SIBERIAN PRISON CAMP 



While in this plague-stricken city I 

 visited the prison camp of 6,000 German, 

 Austrian, and Hungarian prisoners of 

 war. It was my pleasant duty to bring 

 them flour and medical supplies. For 



