DANTE'S EXPERIENCE IN RUSSIA.

WHEN Dante was performing at the Casino Theatre, Buenos Aires, towards the end of 1928, he was approached by a German syndicate with a view to making an eight weeks tour of Russia. At that time the Conjurer was working with the Howard Thurston Road Show, and he was offered a thousand dollars a week, together with the salaries of his twelve assistants and the cost of moving his twelve tons of sceneries and baggage.

The offer was too good to refuse, and Dante took the whole company across to Germany in order to sign up the contract. Four days further travelling brought him to Moscow. He was met at the station by a well dressed and extremely courteous official who addressed him in perfect English. After the usual exchange of formalities, the man drew Dante to one side and spoke to him in a low voice.

"Mr. Dante," he said, "I need hardly say that I hope your engagement with us will be a great success. I believe it will be. However, Russia is not America, and although you will not be restricted in any way, I must ask you to overlook one or two small matters of personal comfort which may disturb you.

"You will find the food different from that which you eat in your own country. It takes getting used to. As regards accommodation--yourself, your family, and your assistants will have the best we can offer. We prefer to treat you as Russians rather than foreigners."

Dante thanked the stranger for his courtesy, and proceeded to the address that had been given him. He located the house after some difficulty, and was immediately shown the rooms which had been set aside for his disposal. They were spacious and scrupulously clean, but owing to the musty atmosphere and the decaying condition of the walls and ceiling, they did not altogether meet with the conjurer's approval.

As it happened, Dante only stayed there a few days. The stage manager of the first theatre at which the company had been engaged proved to be a Russian dancer who had met the conjurer some years previously in America. He seemed delighted to renew the acquaintance, and insisted that Dante and his family should use a suite of rooms which was built into the theatre.

Dante was quick to take advantage of the other's kindness. The rooms were excellently furnished, and there was to be no charge for rent. But you rarely get something for nothing in this world. A few days after they had taken up residence, the flat was broken into, and Miss Dante and a young girl assistant were robbed of jewellery worth £100, to say nothing of a number of valuable dresses.

The theatre itself was spacious and well kept. The decorations were extremely artistic, and the dressing rooms lacked nothing in the way of up-to-date accommodation.

I do not propose to set down a long account of Dante's adventures on his tour. Rather do I intend to chronicle his views on the condition of affairs that prevail to-day in Russia. It must be borne in mind that the conjurer had a wonderful opportunity to study first hand the condition of the country, for, outside professional hours, he was left pretty much to his own devices, and was untroubled by official surveillance of any kind.

The story of Dante's first night reception seems worth while recording, however. The conjurer was somewhat troubled by the fact that he could not speak Russian, and consequently wondered how it would be possible for him to get his patter "over."

"Don't worry," the manager assured him. Just talk English. Some of the better class people will understand you. In any case, I will provide an interpreter, who can explain things as the show proceeds."

Apparently magicians are a novelty in Russia. On the opening night, the interpreter made a long and rambling speech in which he assured the audience that they were about to witness tricks, not miracles. The tricks, he said, were performed by natural means, and were the outcome of a new and wonderful science which was not yet properly understood.

Dante's performance caused a huge sensation, And such was his success that his stay in Moscow and Leningrad was prolonged for a further twelve weeks.

In this spare time Dante mixed as much as possible with the people. He frequented the squares and market places, the shops and the railway stations. He conversed with those who could speak English, and endeavoured to find out the inner thoughts and ideas of the Russian mind. It is interesting to note that during the many weeks he spent in the country of the Soviets, Dante did not hear one hostile word against England.

There are no signs of extreme poverty in Russia, says Dante. Perhaps this is because everyone is compelled to work, even married women. The latter usually take on such tasks as laundering or selling newspapers, and are not compelled to do more than four hours a day.

The ordinary male labourers do eight hours a day, and are the slowest workers in the world. They work six days a week including Sundays, for Russia knows no Sabbath. Religion is at a discount. The people are told that the Bible is a collection of fairy stories which have no bearing on man's after life. However, there still remain thousands of Russians who do their praying in secret.

The streets and houses are clean and well kept. The Government allots one room to a family of four people, but it is possible to obtain better living conditions than this if one has the help of official influence. In winter the rooms are well heated.

The people seem healthy and fairly well dressed. Theoretically there are no class distinctions in Russia. In practice there is, a sort of social scale headed by Government officials, who earn considerable salaries. At the other extreme there are the navvies and similar types of manual workers.

The better class people buy at the Government shops--everything in Russia is controlled by the Government--whilst their poorer brethren resort to the markets which close at noon. The shops are woefully understocked, and no person is allowed to purchase more than a certain specified amount.

The shops are closed by officials who fasten the doors with a Government padlock, complete with cord and seal. At the opening hour on the following day the cord is cut and the padlocks unfastened.

Meat and bread is only sold by ticket as in England during the war. Horse flesh seems to be the staple diet in Russia to-day, whilst the bread is black and sticky as though it had been made from glue.

The Russians have no traffic problems to contend with. This is because cars are considered an essential part of the old bureaucratic system, and are few and far between. Those that are seen are usually connected with Government business.

There are no women's fashions, for all members of the fair sex are dressed alike in coarse clothes cut on more modest lines than our own. At revues and plays, the audiences are asked to take no notice of the pretty frocks and costumes displayed on the stage. As soon as the shows are finished, the members of the cast change back to their everyday uniforms, and proceed straight to their homes. There is no such thing as "hanging round the stage door."

In Russia divorce is ridiculously easy for either sex. One has only to sign a document and pay a small fee in order to gain matrimonial freedom. Marriage is just as simple. This system has the effect of reducing the number of illegitimate children in Russia to a minimum. There is no sign of prostitution or free love. One is apt to think that the marriage and divorce laws have had much to do with the abolition of these two evils.

The children seem healthy and happy and play together, just as in other countries. Remarkable as it may seem, the Russians seem devoted to their offspring, and give them every care and attention.

One day Dante called at a shop and asked to purchase a Bible. He was told that the sale of all Bibles was prohibited, but, for some reason which he never properly understood, was referred to another address.

He followed the directions that were given him, and was surprised to find that he had arrived at a birth control clinic. Many different and complicated appliances were for sale at a fixed price, but the storekeeper had instructions to supply any of his goods free of charge if the customer was too poor to pay the official sum.

The museums provide the Soviet Government with their finest form of propaganda. These buildings are filled with the exhibits purporting to have come from the prisons of Russia under the Czar's régime. Chains, locks, irons, bolts, and all manner of cruel torture machines are to be found there. In addition the museums are supplied with lecturers, most of them cripples. These unfortunate people tell of their sufferings as prisoners in the old days. One cannot say how far their stories are true.

Many of the chorus girls with whom Dante came in contact begged to be told how they could make their way to Europe or the United States. He had been told beforehand that such inquiries might be made, and warned that it would be extremely unwise to divulge any information. Consequently he kept a discreet silence.

Dante's tour did not end as happily as it might have done. He was told to present himself at the Russian offices of the German syndicate in order to receive the money which was due to him. To his utter astonishment, he was informed that he could only be allowed one hundred American dollars for himself, and the same amount for every member of his cast. It was explained that they were short of American money at the time, but he was handed a note authorising further payment when he returned to Germany.

The whole of the company were searched on leaving the country in order to prevent them smuggling valuables across the border. Last and not least, Dante's baggage which should have been sent on direct, took twenty-five days to reach Berlin. This delay lost him two weeks' work for which he was never compensated.