by buying food in the open markets or from the peasants in the country.
The following is the regular monthly "puyok" for manual workers, scaled according to the kind of work they do, and stated decimally in pounds:
| Extra Strong. | ||||
| Normal. | No.1 | No. 2 | No.3 | |
| Bread | 30. | 45. | 60. | 60. |
| Meat and fish | 4. | 7.50 | 7.50 | 15. |
| Fats | .50 | .75 | 1. | .75 |
| Sugar | .50 | .50 | 1. | 1.50 |
| Vegetables | 20. | 20. | 30. | 30. |
| Sale | 1. | 1. | 1. | 1. |
| Coffee | .25 | .25 | .25 | .25 |
Just now, because of the severe food shortage, the workers are receiving considerably less food from the Government than even this modest scale calls for. It is marvelous, nevertheless, how healthful the people keep. For this much credit is due, no doubt, to the black bread which is the foundation of the national diet. If the Russians were eating the denatured white bread that Americans poison themselves with, they would have died out long ago. The women seem to prosper even better than the men upon the restricted diet. They look wonderfully rugged and rosy-cheeked, whereas the men seem rather thin and pale. During my four months' stay I did not see one Russian who might be considered even moderately stout. To be fat in Russia during these days of food shortage is to openly bear a badge of unsocial hoggishness. Once I saw this spirit neatly expressed: a robust foreign delegate was making a speech about unemployment and stated that in his country women and children were starving. "No wonder," piped up a Russian kid used to the rationing system, "with fat guys like you eating up everything in sight."
One thing that strikes the foreign visitor in Russian cities is the comparatively well-dressed appearance of the people. As a rule their shoes are sound, and their clothes clean, neat, and trim looking. How this can be in the face of the practical stoppage of the garment industries, at least so far as the making of civilian clothes is concerned, is a mystery to all newcomers. A manager of a big garment shop told me that last
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