Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1962)
Russians Appear To Be Creatures and Captives of History, Morgan Notes (Editor's note: Howard Morgut. former Oregon utilities commissioner and now on the Federal Power commission, recently ac companied Secretary o! ih Interior Stewart Udall and other members oi the Fed oral Power commission on a trip into Russia. This is the iourth in a series oi articles in which Morgan discusses some ol his im pressions of Russia.) By HOWARD MORGAN On a small square facing directly on Gorky street - one of the rnai.i thoroughfares - is a huge granite and bronze equestrian statue of Prince Yuri Dolgoruki, the founder of Moscow, in full battle arm or. It is a beautiful place of sculpture, dominating the whole area, and I supposed it to be pre-revolutionary, but when I asked about it I was told it was erected in 1954 to celebrate the 800th anni versary of the city. To me the idea of a com munist government, faced with all the postwar problems of 1954, erecting a statue glor ifying a prince of the 12th century was astounding. But not to the Russians. The whole world knows the extent to which they look forward to what they consider to be their bright and promising fu ture. But among the many sur prises to a visitor is their ha bit of looking backward to ward their past. To a consid erable degree they are the creatures and captives of his tory, as well as the makers of it. Reminded of Plato One Is reminded of Plato: "Every king springs from a race of slaves, and every slave had kings among his ances tors." We were given a very un usual honor - one normally reserved for heads of state and visitors of similar prom inence. We were invited to go through the sparsely furnish ed flat of living quarters, per sonal library and office occu pied by Lenin in the Kremlin after the Revolution. Its modesty, compared to the grandeur and opulence of of the Czar's apartments and reception halls only a few yards away, was a silent les son in Russian history. At least two of the high Russian officials who accompanied us were as excited over this vis It as small boys. They explained that al- : though their ministry meets as often as twice a-week in an adjoining wing they had nev-1 er before been able to visit j Lenin's flat, which is preserv- ! ed exactly as it was at his death. They could not possi-, bly have been more pleased. Applies to Cities What I have said about Moscow, except for the Krem lin and the subways, applies generally to the other cities we saw. They do not seem to have such a high proportion of very old buildings and their program of new build ing is not so vast, although 1 some of the completely re- , built cities destroyed by i World War II, like Volgograd, 1 must have had construction programs in operation a few years ago which compare in ' size with what is now going on in Moscow. But everywhere new apart ments are going up. replacing the picturesque old wooden houses with carved window and door frames, and every where the tower cranes are to be seen at work. As a general rule the apartments are of prefabricated design, built of pre-stressed concrete slabs made at a central factory and trucked to the site. Whole walls of rooms, with window spaces in place, are lifted in to position, reinforcing steel Is welded into place and the joints mortared. Stairs and even whole bathrooms and kitchens go in the same way. Inferior Workmanship The workmanship on this sort of project is greatly in ferior to the workmanship on, say, the installation of a hy droelectric generator, but it is adequate. The over-all meth od makes for cheap, fast and easy construction, and the na tional total of living-space be ing built is astronomical, as is the amount already built and in use. There is a monotony and a drabness about the living quarters being built, of which I am sure the Russians are conscious, but the new facil ities are obviously better than what preceded them and the people seem to look forward with hope and confidence to something better still. One can be fairly sure that a pop ulation whose endurance has not only carried them through the events of the past SO years but has enabled them to build a giant industrial com plex in an amazingly short time are not likely to falter now. They give every indication of satisfaction with the scope of their accomplishments and of hopeful expectation for the future. In many ways the Russian people were more interesting than anything else we saw. It is not easy to describe them, foj they are of all varieties 71 shapes, sizes, occupations l and appearance just as Amer icans are. 1 Muscovites seem taciturn, Ibusy, and in a hurry, as you would expect in a city that size. The sidewalks during rush hour literally flow riv ers of humanity but there is no crowding and jostling as, for example, there is in New York. They seem to have a I quiet dignity and reserve and tare, so far as I saw, uniform ly thoughtful of each other and of Americans, who are easily spotted, both by their dress which is better, and by their walk, which is slower Americans, especially those accustomed to the tempo of Washington, find it necessary to step up their walking speed by about half in order not to be constantly underfoot. The people in Moscow are used to foreigners but even they fre quently stop Americans for a few friendly words or a few thoughtful questions. In the remoter regions like Siberia, an American is like ly to be mobbed by passers by, laughing, shaking hands, offering him trinkets or well- used fountain pens as gifts and. if they speak English, asking questions about peace and friendship between the two countries. Everywhere one notices how many people carry books and how many new and used book stores there are. The de mand for books, we were told, is so great that the more de sirable varieties are traded in a black market as well as in the stores. SECTION D MEDFORDf PAGES 1 to 8 Tribune MEDKORD., OREGON. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1962 One sees lines of people here and there in Moscow waiting to buy various kinds of merchandise, usually not necessities of life but more often some new model or fashion, say, in ladies' hand bags or the like. I would guess that the great unsatisfied de mands are for more know ledge and information, espe cially of the outside world, and for variety and novelty. The only line of people I saw waiting to buy what I would consider necessary or staple merchandise was in Moscow and involved ordi nary razor blades, indicating some inefficiency in distribu tion, considering the state of ing space and the price of economy, rather than inabil-1 public transportation of all ity to produce. I saw no lines of purchasers in the smaller towns, but my observations in this respect were too limited to have much value in form ing judgments, either about life in Moscow or in the oth er cities. The goods in the stores are of adequate but not of good quality, and the prices are surprisingly high-higher than ours on a monetary exchange basis, and far higher on the basis of the hours of labor ne cessary to earn the price. So far as I could tell, this is true of everything in Russia except the cost (rent) of liv- kinds. Both of these latter are real bargains, and they are the only ones I found in Russia. Food is reasonably priced (except for meat) but is not cheap. Knowledge of Language Incidentally for those plan ning to visit Russia, some pri or knowledge of the language is a great help. Common ex pressions and a sketchy vo cabulary may be picked up readily through language teaching phonograph records available in America. Russians are always pleased by attempts of foreigners to speak Russian and are cordial and helpful to those who try, It is also wise to learn the characters and pronunciation of the Cyrillic alphabet. It on ly takes a short while and is very helpful. Many Russian words, espe cially those found in street signs, name-plates, stores, etc. are of French, German. La tin or even Anglo-Saxon ori gin and can be recognized by Americans who arc able to de cipher and pronounce them. But this is hard to do if you don't know, for example, that "C" is always pronounced as an "S," and "H" is always an "N," a backward "N" is pro nounced "EE" and a back w a r d "R" is pronounced YAH." Thus an hour or so spent studying the characters of the alphabet pays unexpecU edly big dividends. School Reorganization Repeal Has Opposition Roseburg-d'PD-A resolution opposing a November ballot measure which would repeal school district reorganization was adopted Friday by the Oregon Congress of Parents and Teachers. The delegates, winding up their annual convention, picked Eugene as the 1963 meeting site. There were 872 voting dele gates at this year'a convention. PENNEY'S tk EXTRA HOURS MONDAY. BIG BUYS FOR YOU . . . PARK FREE , . . WITH EACH $2 PURCHASE MVERS FABRIC and LABOR INCLUDED! CUSTOM DRAPERY SPECIAL! ft: (Sf-i lt3: . I COUNT ON PENNEY'S fo make r pinch drop vo vour 1. ;? If I " plecrt for eries ; :i .c measure less than uMM ? i ; rM r you ve paiaitfri the fabric alone 5 Wit: SPECIAL BUY! yard INCLUDES FABRIC AND LABOR ' "l- il;'.'A A BRING YOUR MEASUREMENTS . . . we'll make your draperies ... all you pay it the by-lhe-yard pricel Magnificent collectionl Beautifully designed prints florals, moderns, provin cials! latest solid colors! Rich texturesl All fine quality! Some one-of-a-kind ... to, come early to got first pick! 60" or under in longlh 35c yd. Additional sateen lined 2.88 yard. MING olon yeut window rraoiuramtntt window width, length I .A i in i tedtofoM ndteel r tailing er lellMr eprea Ui widlh I e window 4 IntMing freae Remember . . . now you can charge it at Penney's. Consult our expert decorator con sultants . . . Yola Nill and Louise Johnson. ..SHOP 9:30 A.M. till 9 P.M.! AND YOUR ENTIRE HOME GOES ON SALE ! MONDAY 9:30 A.M. Use Your Charge Card! SPECIAL PURCHASE ffcobutows LAM-FUR SWEATERS DYED TO MATCH WOOL FLANNEL SKIRTS 2 for H Celebrate with Penney's . . . play the elegant match game with just one $10 bill! Look at if you ipent a mlnll Pick your wool, angora rabbit'i hair 'n nylon bland of color iweatara In dressmaker and clastic shirt, cardigan and collar styles. Sheath seat-lined butter toft skirt, matches or contrasts In the tame red, brown, aqua, black or green. Sweaters . , . 34 to "42, Skirls ... 8 to 18. Fabulous One-Time Buy! 3-Piece Tailored Suit Dress $(3) FABRIC IMPORTED FROM ITALY! TAILORED FOR YOU HERE! Compare this fabulous buyl Only a fine Italian hand could come up with this fa.bulout fabric. Only American know-how could fathion thete 3-piece catual elegances. Open and button style jackets, slim skirls plus a orsey blouse, gray, camel, green, 8 to 16 and 14!4 to 22ft. Penney's Mezzanine Floor 4" fabric ' from Italy SPECIAL! Nylon Ensemble LID COVER CONTOUR OBLONO MAT 88c I88 288 Febulout luxurioutl 100 nylon plush pile! Minimum caret Machine washable. Decorator's delight! Pink, green, yellow, while and fawn. Make up your own ensemble for a low, low price. Bathroom decor.
