ARRESTED IN RUSSIA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 February 1940, Page 5

ARRESTED IN RUSSIA

v NEW ZEALAND TOURIST’S EXPERIENCE. SELLING A SOUVENIR. Complying with a request to sell a souvenir to a Russian in a street at Leningrad, Mr F. Spalding, Napier, formerly of Hawera, and a son of Mrs M. J. Spalding, Hawera, was arrested by an. armed constable, and was released only on giving an undertaking that’ he would not attempt to sell articles to inhabitants of the city. Mr Spalding, who was a member of the crew of the Franconia during a North Cape-Baltic cruise from New York, spent live months abroad before returning to the Dominion recently. Tiring of a Russian film, which was being shown at the International Club, Leningrad. Mr Spalding and a friend left the club with the intention of walking about the city. No sooner had they appeared on the street than they were the centre a babbling crowd, each person endeavouring to secure parts of their clothing and several grasping money in their hands. NEARLY A RIOT. "I had a fountain, pen which I bought at the New York Fair for Is, and one Russian offered me 20 roubles, or approximately El, for it,” said. Mr Spalding during an interview. “I sold it to him and there was nearly a riot over its possession. My friend was offered 500 roubles, nearly £2O, for his suit. However, we managed to shake a few of them off and got along the street a bit further, but we were again surrounded, and this time things did riot look so good. One man tried to pull off my tie and another was trying to snatch a pendant from my lapel. One of them wanted to buy a world fair souvenir, when suddenly a policeman appeared out of the blue and arrested me. He carried a gun and he grabbed me by the arm and we set off down a side street. "He was gabbling at me all the time "and neither of us could understand the other. Then a second policeman m rived and took my other arm, and so the little procession went down the street with a large crowd following behind. Considerable gesticulating and gabbling followed, but I could not understand what they were saying until it dawned upon me that I was not allowed to sell anything. When I showed that I understood I was allowed tn go. but they had no sooner gone than the crowd was milling about again. I boarded a tramcar and found my way back to the club, and was I glad to be there again?” RUSSIA’S SLUM AREA. Not even the poorest conditions existing in England could be compared with the conditions ruling in Leningrad, which he thought must be the shim area of Russia, said iMr Spalding. Visitors were not al- | lowed to wander about on their own and there were no shops, hotels, or theatres to visit, the place being a tumbling mass of buildings. The only shops were those from which the population drew its food rations and clothing by the chit system. None of the women wore stockings or attractive clothes, all of their clothes were supplied by the Government. No one was apparently allowed to be better off than his fellow. Money was changed ever so often so that it could not be hoarded or saved.

"Most of the people appeared ignorant and dirty and would not acknowledge a salutation,” he said. “They dared not for fear of punishment. It was an amazing sight to see women working on the wharves, with picks and shovels, removing salt in wheelbarrows and carrying out other such arduous labours while, guards with guns paced round the docks. "There were no newspapers to be seen, except for a billlboard sheet pasted in some accessible spot,’” Mr Spalding continued. "Practically the only things purchasable were snaps of .Moscow, and these were obtainable from the ship side. On one occasion members of the crow threw some apples to some workers on the wharf, but under the vigilant eyes of the guards they made no move lo take them or acknowledge the gift. "People do not buy loaves of bread: they get it in chunks," he added. "They can be seen carrying black bread unwrapped through the streets. 1 could not spend the money I got for the pen and I could not. change it back into dollars, so it was valueless.”