water-pipes and sanitary arrangements are
kept going during the winter months. But
the past winter has seen such an absence
of fuel of every sort that the pipes in most
of the big houses have been completely
frozen during almost the whole of the winter
—and as many of these large residences are
now inhabited by three or four famines where
formerly there was only one, it can easily be
imagined what a desperate plight people find
themselves in with the sanitary arrangements
out of order, and with no means of removing
refuse. The consequence was that the backyards
become heaps of refuse which froze
where they lay.
It was fear of the consequences of what the thaw would entail which compelled the Moscow Soviet to issue the order that every citizen should, when the thaw came, take his or her part in the removal of this accumulated rubbish.
There are tens of thousands of other houses in which there is precious little sanitary accommodation at any time. As a matter of fact, the great mass of Russians do not understand how to use sanitary conveniences : many have never seen a water closet or even earth closets, and as in many parts of France, the very crudest arrangements are considered sufficient. In Russia sanitary conveniences are even more crude than in the working class
