Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XX. War sufferers
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
has this national assembly, formed by the Germans with
the help of the most Radical elements in the country,
rejected the workers of the first hour, the “old-world”
patriots? If M. Itchas ever sees these lines, I beg him
to consider them a very natural token of my esteem and
of my sympathy.
It was not only politics that brought my compatriots
to Stockholm. As the war went on and St. Petersburg
became more and more gloomy, Sweden received many
charming society people whose sole object in coming
was to have a change of surroundings and ideas, in fact
to go abroad, a habit which had become too deeply rooted
in Russian society to be permanently dispensed with.
These people, intelligent and agreeable for the most
part, brought with them a real St. Petersburg
atmosphere, a whole collection of gossip and stories, and
rumours true and false. Association with them caused
us to feel far nearer to Russia in Stockholm than we
should ordinarily have done. As other travellers,
belonging to other worlds and often very interesting,
came amongst us, I can truly say that at no other post
could one so well keep one’s finger on the pulse of
Russia as in Stockholm. Towards 1916, this pulse
began to denote high fever.
The picture of “Russia transported to Sweden”
would be incomplete if I left out another element—far
less sympathetic—that of the numerous traffickers and
adventurers that the war brought from the four corners
of Russia—more especially from one of her
corners—into the Swedish capital. The gradual rise in price of
all commodities and the great scarcity of some of them
induced all people having any aptitude for trade to begin
to buy and sell. Musicians bought leather and candles,
newspaper correspondents sold medicines and eggs,
dentists and hairdressers specialised in coffee and
knitting wool. As this buying and selling sometimes
bordered on contraband, unpleasant stories came to
light from time to time, generally followed by the
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
