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Lo ore T cannot evem have it in wy Russian: home. Still itis a fitting tine For a Conferences
on the business which brings us here and itiis ; fun to have the gathering of the clan from
- fatalities with thet 1914 Ford omer the Serbian hille and is now ass't carpentry instructy
to conditions. Much joy to-.all over the inereased. ration numbers possible. Rackstraw. ta
getting on famously in their terrible district, despite her great handicap! Watte is up to.
hunt further oninterpreter as well as to confer. Theira is a better district & on the red:
way. Balls is very pessimistic about their section and it must be fearful in most ways, ie
‘Conditions and straight dealing may not be improving at any speed but they do seem to be oo
have copy ready for Monday morning Visited the house now fitted up for the men, (this Len
Till sent along for he must be quite fagged with travel and I am fearful he will get to
uses the mattress on the floor to give me her bed, bless her heart, She is a Godsend to tie
uy MONDAY, Sth JAN. Telegrams & letters all day, also mich discussion of details in work, es
Watts & Rosinsky going strong despite working all night. Nancy getting out. menus, ete. but =
leaves | all ‘packing Sait bedtime despite the 5. 00 AM. start tomorrow by sledge. I am Pear-
_Jth JaNUArY. tone. Qari otaab. shay dats’ How T! a is be te aponding | it han ext
each section, It is just my usual grasping | disposition thet makes me wantto ‘be in ‘both gla.
places, Last night T had just one real. letter, a fine one from Enid Grant who-has escaped
for the same Mission on Orphanages at e camp made of old barracks on the hills above Sere- =
jevo. She says it is 0.K. except for the fatal point that thendear little orphan lads are
too young as yet to learn carpentry! Christmas cards from Ruth Fry, Prestons at home, and —
funny ones to us all from Moscow, Conference all day. Most of the units are getting about
to visit their volosts and kitchens as we hope to some day. Ours seems a fair average as 0
gaining more ground in their local cooperation. The similarity to a Kinderhilfe cont, de |
atrong in spots and there is a long session ahead on instruetions, forms, ete. The ones
ordered in Samara a month ago are on the way but seem unable to come off it to us 60 now
we are promised all the needed printing within the week by a Buzuluk printer if we will
ter a royal Christmas dinner) and then we strolled about the town in the wonderful ee:
light, same megic moon which was here weeks ago & which we have not seen since and with —
the softly gleaming church domes, the belle and the lights in the little low houses, —.
is rebbed of bts daytime grimness and disorder and neglect and becomes a fairy place, :
SUNDAY, 8th JAN. Hecker has come and gone! Telephoned just as we were beginning to confer ©
again, asking Watts to come down and talk over our work with him during the train stop. W:
We all gasped as we were plenning on his assistance herefor at least a month or two & mos.
impatient at his delay in arriving, but he tells us he is independent F not subject to our |
plans though he wants to help where he can & feels he can by the publicity end in addition
$o his ow schemes with The Russian Educational Couneil,. Since his time in: this diatrict —
comprised a breakfast at the unit and the rest of the time on trains east of the district 2
locating the baggage that went astray, we fail to see what grounds he has for hid publiciy
work and since I read him the telegram in Berlin and had his full. egreement to come as a a
regular member of theunit, and his great enthisiasm over doing whatever job we wished, we
take exeeption to his course, We understand fully they onee in he has found the field ‘of
service that really Pits him, but as it id not the thing we must concentrate on at present
it is hard to see how he eaula continue with usg He definitely goes on & out of the unit.
Two of the men went down with the letters, Heckers suitcase and a useless interpreter, all
to be returned to Moscow. Train had just stelmed out but the mail and baggage was at the
office near the station. I am fearfully sorry Hecker missed his suitcase B the extra food
Moscow and go down with the typhus he eo dreads. Mary Pattison's death is bad enough there —
and now Dr. Farrar is dead too, It is good to have our letters anyway but it seems none PM a.
me were among them but I had a grand bit of sugar coeted nuts from Margery Rackstraws Chri
mas packet & with all the letters & Christmas things Conference is delayed till P.M. and
we scratch off a few more letters to go by the evening train which is exlected, now the
jem to the east is broken. More Conferenee and an evening committee on inetouet sions, ete: |
They seem lomg but pretty elear and complete and will help much. Had my first Russian ok
bath in the evening with Till and Neney. Creat fun or will be next time and the vapor bath
really is very nice but I went a divers helmet and outside connection for air. The next ae
round was typing of letters and telecrams but Till soon dragged me off to bed. Resented a
but knew Watts & Rosinsky needed the quiet te do the translation of our instructions, ete
ready for thr printer in the morning and Frank Watts had already gone to bed inthe corner =
because the table was still inuse(I use the piano myself as it seems to be the only table |
that is not cleared periodically for presentation of food.) My bed here is a variation _—
as it ie springs and no mattress instead of my home one in S., mattress on boards. Tid
this place! Found it was 2.00 A.M, when I turned iy do-Ak wah weil she took me by the ear.
7”
meee etre cue
Se SS
ee 2
BH a Ee
ful of se ion so soon and hate making ou
me or need me, so I wired S. to send up household goods & since trains are uncertain and I
camnot delay here nor longer leave her assistance a burden here, have 3 sledgee promised 6
peeie: It was wonderful, that dawn in the clear, cold as our tiny ponies climbed up to the
‘to help cross the river, once because I lost ny oreo on top of the luggage and with my
handwoven & embroidered linen(after the fashion of the lahd ) round my nec to keep the big.
neck. It did help too for that wind could find every joint in ones armor and my first trig
On the Russian steppes is not one of numixed : lensure, despite its beauty end the joy of
Por us with unheard of speed for by the time\we got into the house two women in bare Peet
.Aot, entirely SO by the time we were thawed and had sobten out our food. The family o8ld—
‘to many layérs of clothing and went on leaving bread and tea to oay for our entertainment.
auch ‘Getitons ‘ut she Tai listen. ea: aouiGae oe
from any of us on that Score and Totzkoe needs someone badly 0 since Hecker cannot take
it for her or with her, I'll have to assist her all I can though she probably wont want
for the morning. I'm sick to get back to my own work but~-it will probably wait for me.
WORBRNY cx tik cEANUARE ARR ex Much discussion in the evening over the feeding of grow fok
Polk as Druzhitsky pleads for feeding small portions to many people rather than even our
supposed minimum for existence to the fewer people. Chased Nancy off to pack at last Gott
sei Bank!
TUBSDAY. 10th JANUARY,1922, Sledges ready at appointed time but Nancy can ‘ont habe the
Russian and we started.about an hour later but were well awey from the town befor the sun
hills, crossed the river dnd came out on the plains beyond. I rolled off only twice once
feet in e driving sack there was no catching myself. Nancy & I linked up better thereafter
The procession plodded on with rarely a trot or halt, on and on forever through a dead cod
cold stliness or a bleak breeze sifting snow in our Paces and stirring the few patches of ,
trees. There was rarely a sign of people or houses, just our wee caravan, the food sledge —
ahead in full view, Eleana(Naney's devoted slave Jon the next sledge with their luggage, &
Nancy & I on the ‘ant atop the rest of the stuff. The drivers were afoot most of the time.
and the roads were fine and hard, often so slippery or bumpy that we bobbed around like sa
small boats on a choppy sea. Two of the drivers are mere lads and now employed regulerly n
by the Mission and they took good care of us, driving carefully and seeing to it that our
huge shkepsiin cosets kept out the wind. They. even came back and tied a beautiful towel of
collar up properly as I was facing the wind. By and by this same lad who'd eyed Nancy a bb
bit doubtfully too, was fishing under his coat & came smiling to tie Wa Bruna Nancy's oF
the open after 3 solid days of talk, telegrams and typing. We halted for en hours rest but
thanks to late start, it was after 2,00 when we reached the town. That house made ready frie
were just finishing the serubbing and wiping of the big floor and the samovar was almost
us the Quaker kitchen was just across the strest but as it was not feeding time we did not -
g9 over, Finding we were on our way to Totzkoe they asked wistfully when someone was comigz |
to them. They brought us a cup of thick sour milk that is much prized in Russia and while
T usually do not like such things, that was delicious. We finally rolled ourselves baci in
The last stretch was only 17 of our’ 50 verst tript about 35 miles) but it was a lonesome >
eerie wandering after dark though the clouded moon helped greatly and the bushes sef up to
mark the trail after snows. After an interminable while we came to Totzkoe. It may be smal
but it is miles long and we had to go to the Ispalcom to find what house they had taken fr
for us. Rs we halted, out came André and Mukha arvived just before us from Sorochins'saya
with the household sauipaent, Oh, but it was good to see them. We were achast to find that
the only word received was that an American representative was coming and one warm room we .
was ready andthey had already inatalled the boys there and put up their é@ drivers thinking -
we were delayed till morning, Found 2 rooms across the big square and finally got to bed,
Nancy on the trunks, E, on some boxes, me on the table(2tables nearly the same height ) B
and our drivers in the next room with: some of the Family. |
WEDNESDAY, 11th Jan, Miriams letter looks urgent 80 we planned to go over plans with the
loeal committee and leave Mukha to help settle the house, ete. while I get back that nigh*
with André and the few medicines as it is but, 4 hours bo. S. but it did not work. Station
Aversts from the village & by the time we had inspected possible warehouses, and decided
on residence, office ,etc. and met & talked with various possible helpers the day was over
and no wise person travels by ne ght, so we had some food and got to bed. First half the ,
day was a nightmare but it seems working out well and I believe N. is. really interested no
now and happy about it more than she would be to come and teke over work we have started.
THURSDAY, 12th JAN. Find the boys took our drivers places on the floor next door rather
than retain their beautiful bed across the way. Aridr@ told me why on the way home. Mutha
had found the company too lively the night befor & took to the floor & when their hostess
next morning pro vested at finding him there, he tald her vine had traveled 80 ae ne Oe
= ercee Bee RMSE S a
Soon OS oe
SS
ea SE ca ae Eee tn aes
ooh out of the habit of rbevine in eae, Hl never 3 mentioned At to me in "the ‘aie wane say
when I asked him to arrange with her for stay )
the drivers are told to harness their ponieg is a demand for a pound of bread. As they had
PND EAT ET ee
hour or two, It was more of the endless step
- gaunt woman and a “child up on a shelf so our
talk in the office until I blew up, and I waited on and tried to converse a bit in sign 1
language and my few words of Russian. @ govt kitcheris i the place but the woman was so
hungry and she coughed. Divide my lukch with her and her 2 hungry children and got my feet
kissed, confound it} Bad enough to have peop
this day takes the lead! Hands & feet all in the same day is too much and much as I've al»
_ ways shunned the hand-kissing even as a mark of appreciation | of ones b-@-a-t-iful charactr
it was a welcome change from “thid shock. Pres
tawny camel and driven by one of the wisenen. They got our goods on, planted me. be debe te
step of the way. Any down grades are dangerous on these icy roads and one takes them at so
_ horseeend live 40 years and eat only R@If a
_ { Pood about 35 pounds) This because horses eat all night. & camels only sleep! He als gets
a half pood of wonderful wool off the camel in the spring. It seems to be only fashion thet iA
do the day I left. They say they tried it one night & it was too cold but T'm told unoffi-
@Gespit needs here, his infected hend, etc. and I'm not liking the outlook much with Mukha
in a week!
is i SSA IR AIR I ie Ne Lia MN RL I I YA
ing another night but he just quietly didnot
Io 90 we are ready torstart but the reply when
do it. It is market day in the tow and at
been eating breakfast for the last hour, this was vetoed and after much procrastination Ww
started HOME! I sank back with a sigh of great relief and just didn 't even think Por an
me, a brighter aun and a stronger wind and I oe
appreciated the stop in Nickolievka, over in our own territory where these drivers live & |
where we were to get fresh horses for the last 10 versts, No one home at the Soviet but a a
r things came in, the drivers went off home and — :
order for horses, This only after interminable
André went to the Chairman's home with his
ple come on their kmees begging & woeping but.
ssently came André & the Chairman, a kindky, sr_
sérbous red-bearded man who told me he had gotten their first food the day vefor, had all ©
the kitehen ready but the big kettle for cogoa and would begin in a day or two, would I
please be sure to see it next time I came near. Then came our sledge, drawn by & great tay
the 2 men and off we went. The camels are so slow and noisy, I was a bit dashed when told Coe
we were to have one but as it was not far, why were Then with such a picture “ar an query ff
£ was entranced and the camel after his first howl to Heaven ( small wander too for he fel.
on his ‘mec om an icy spot at starting) he mever said a word and trotted nearly every ste
speed, We nearly spilled and narrowly missed crashing into a woman spilled from a eet
in front of us. Our enchanting Wiseman of the East tells us camels cost half as much as.
a pood of hay a dey where horses eat a whole one
keeps the horse at the highed price for they, have not used camels much in these parts and ~
resent change-~and camels! No wonder for they are terrible road-hogs. It is the cuetom eo
the country to keep all the road you can for goodness knows where you will go to in the 52
sort snow at the sidea and at that same you can picture the camel walking unconcernedly :
through all roads and caravans of honies er cattle as if they were not there.
Nome again and Kenworthy so much better, stronger, shaved and sitting up in bed cocky ag
you please, Miriam gone for 2 or 3 days on first round of visits to volosts to the south -
east, Norosky alone and much disturbed over telegram that an agent must be in Samara by te
the Woh to receive food, It's well I did push | on. Ivan our deathmask of a watchman of 2
weeks ago looks a real live boy with a smile like the rising Sut» Not one of the wretches
has moved out of the kitchen to the house across the street as I ‘4 arranged they were to o
cially it was spooks! Scary lot of children these! When the Morrises come %.take the big ~
room there it will be their move again with some one to laugh at spooks, for: that kitchen
is too thick, thanks. After dinner went over things in detail with N. though we all had a
sketchy one on my arrival. He must get off at once for Buzuluk, Semara & perhaps Moscow,
gone & no certainty of Morrbses getting here next week either and me due back in Totzkoe nm
FRIDAY, JAN, 1 1922, Those wakeful hours were useful for with a candle, pencil & serap of
peper today's campaign was planned & went through all but the slip at the end when the sno
- plow got Liboul oh to Buzuluk without warning enough for N, to get there. It is New Years' Ce
Eve & much giggling of girls at the door in the evening. This new ennoyance was exasveraty
but then I learned it is New¥ears Eve cae and the custom at the time for girls to run on
as at home on Hallowe'en. They ask the men their names whenever they see one & the first |
to tell his is to be that girl's husband. Ivan and André are goners all right. Miriam ae
back at midnight and after her 2 really interesting days to break the strain here, feels s
as bitten end _ crawly and as glad to be home ie as f did last night » We are luck ky fogs oo
to really stay together this way,
SATURDAY, 144th JAN. Orders, correspondence, ete. polished off by midnight ae night for
Ws going so even if New Years is not especially a holiday, I am taking it andloafing to
the top notch. My got out food Por the last. yolost yesterday to leawe things Leer. as OMB ie
Coa ho ok ade but aibh the “Coll. oe foe a ‘widen to run the work ‘the ye a
sends 2 million, what would you?’ Feed them & let them freeze or feed a bit less & have Rim
Pires? Now food is all gone and no more due -
‘tonight & tomorrow, Woe unto the Merry Konovs
_ go over such serious points, counting onnthe helplessness of the children to pull us into
and the result was really delightful. Though
_ the fascination of those varied faces as they
finish, a watchman from the station came in®
BR ha
Soa ey Wirtan 2 prided "s ieee 80 “the
went for a walk over to the river, my first view of uy*home town" by daylight except th
| pee. route to. the warehouse & station & the round. of the Homes & kitchens ead dhe bills ma
| river look very good for a change + Bitter cold and ae ‘clear with many people. coming:
Mill Monday so ~-we do orders Sat, % fill then
lov if he waits agein till the last minute %o
action, regular or otherwise! He is 21, Looks 16, works 15 hours a dey and just now is a
joke for he is trailed by children whenever he appears for it is publie information that :
they are opening another Home and about a thousand kids are on tiptoe for the places, sles
sleeping sheds & begging food from door to door until it opens. Equipment is allto get, ba
beds, bedding, clothes, everything and we are doing what we can from old sacks for mattres
and using what the bateo provide, the next move: being a sewing room to make over adult clo |
thing for the kids. Adults will vel A living job by thie work so it works both ways.
André's accordion is home again so we draw along breath and sit back to hear him play. os
Soon he has everyone trying polka steps and Ite just got to learn one of these wild Cosseke
jig dances. Noros'cy. does a bit of them and André could teack me better if he did not have /
to be the monkey andthe organ both. They had a gay evening at Christmas while I was awmy
as everybody dances, but Douca is broken hearted over some domestid difficulties sae WEE fe
not tonight. Betrov who goes to Samara with ‘XN. is too shy to start, but trots off to get ts
his guitar to play and sing for us, collects our neighbor from next door with his nendolin
the instruments were short on strings, the es
6 about them made up for it, not to mention _—-©T
y played and sang. To make a proper dramatic
Lo say @ post-train was mapentes ina few min-
80 there was a rapid finish se a andthey — Bro off, | ea
hours! First necessary to build e a ‘eek in. ‘che
ins of a cane one. 6 orders went outtt from the
e kids are O.K. again. Mise Swithinbenk and =
voices, the melodies themselves & the storeis
uly
‘to town for tomorrows market.
MONDAY, 16th, Holidays most demoralizing tap I've bed 2 now and an thicker hedaed then usu
al, Luckilythe rest had their 2 days while I wes gone and are clear now, Crowds of busines
mostly appeals for further food. Many prosperous groups have now quite exhausted’ their sto
stores and ere indespair unless we can help. Hermonites here waiting word of food due them
Sewing room plans sketched to start this week 10 workers to receive rations and use their
entire time making over the piles of grownup ¢lothing in the bales to fill the need of th>
childrens homes. Wired Nancy to come here for a day if possible as I cannot well leave &
conference here better anyway if she can do it. Glorious sundogs out.”
TUESDAY, 17th JAN. Volost to the north sends deleg ates for the hard pressed communes.
Great pow-wow over the proper distribution of adult. rations. House-ke sping humps along for
Dovea has no memory but she is a dear and a wonderful cook.
WEDNESDAY, 18th JAN. ‘Another quarter heard from as Russians from the Mennonite volost
say there are 40% Russians there, worse off than Mennonites and getting nothing, can we 1
help them so tomorrow we have a abesion with the volost chairman still in tawn & the com-
plainant over arrangements possible to reach them on the basis of the rest of our area as ;
our food must be used and as the Mennonites are evidently the government they are the ones |
to look to it, Oh, how we misa the absentees for Mr. Drucker, the bookkeeper has to do all |
interpreting and with these consultation with volost committees & executives, things are
Piled up till there is searcely standing room in this office. Judging from the people we
get here the volosts are choosing their best to do the wark, Children are piling up here
in appalling fashion as the new statisties show nearly twice as many children as grown ups
and the answer is that all from the country are brought to relatives here or are deserted
on the streets on the chance of their being taken into the Homes or else they stray in
themselves with the crowds that always collect at the stations in hopes of bargaining for
food from Tashkent as the trains come through. Workers getting too weak even to bury the
dead from the streets so ihdeeg ais groups are formed and we have been inyited to oe any
time we wish some exercis ki wenn
5
Beulah Hurley Waring journal
Continued from mc1225_01_06_15. Written while Waring was in Russia as a relief worker, dated 1922-01-04 - 1922-01-18. Typed account of relief news and activities, including fellow workers, traveling, distribution of food.
Waring, Beulah Hurley, 1886-1988
1922-01-04
5 pages
reformatted digital
The collection of Beulah Hurley Waring and Alston Waring, New Hope, PA --http://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/__1225
mc1225_02_01_04