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The Steel City.
B y A. Gwen Jones
December 15, 1943,
5.5- 5.20 p.m. Translated from the Welsh.
Rehearsal:4.O: p.m.
(From Cardiff)
When I hear on the radio the
names Kief, Charkov, Krivoi-rog and especially Stalino, the steel city, and
the news of the Russian success there, my mind would go back to over fifty
years, and living images would appear in front of my eyes. When I
heard that Stalino had been retaken by the Russians, I would think of the
Stalino I knew so well, for I had been living there as a young girl for
three years, but the place had another name then, that is Hughesovka, the
town was named as a form of honour its founder, a Welshman from Merthyr (Tydfil)
named John Hughes. John Hughes. was an engineer who caught the attention of
the Tzar Alexander, the second and the Russian Government, through his
technical skill when he was an superintendent at Millwall Docks, London.
The Russian Government was keen to expand its railways and to develop its
steel and coal works in their own country. I remember hearing often how Mr.
Hughes was invited to establish works in Russia; truly I remember well the
silver plaque the Tzar gave him as a present. Mr Hughes accepted the
invitation and he went around the country, he chose a~ place on the lonely-
planes of the Steppes, where only a shepherd and his dog could be seen. But
this place. was rich in coal and iron, and not far from Taganog and Mariupol
docks on the Azov sea. The iron mine at Krivoi-Rog was not far away
and they also became the property of the New Russian Company, The
Novorossiskoe-Rog, founded in 1869. I remember us visit Krivoi-Rog in 1892.
When I arrived in Hughesovka in
1889 the population had increased from zero to fifty thousand, with the mine
and steel works full of work. Stalino is now one of the main railway centres
of the Donetz Valley, but in 1889 the only railway to the south was
Tanganrog and Mariupol. The nearest station to the line to the north
through Charkov was Charsisky. We were a group of many countries and
languages-(Russian, Polish, German Belgium, Jewish, Tartars and Georgians
from Tiflis in the Caucasus
–Stalin’s
home.) and in their midst a small company of English and Welsh, John Hughes
brought the experienced workers with him from the Dowlais, Merthyr and the
Rhymney. At that time there were about seventy Welsh there, but I
heard there was more there at one time. I remember some of them,
-
Mr. Watkins who married
Miss Curtis from Rhymney, Mr Holland who had been a chemist in the works at
Dowlais, the James family and others. But the man I remember best was John
John from Dowlais. A Welshman of the best kind, a man you could
thoroughly trust. I would enjoy talking to him in Welsh. At that time the
workers were only paid once a month and the money from the wages would come
(pencil addition “on the train”) under guard from Taganrog.
John Hughes died in June 1 889, a few months before I arrived in Hughesovka
as a teacher to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hughes two young girls. Arthur
Hughes was the second of John Hughes’ four young sons; and his wife was Miss
Augusta James from Lanover, Sir Fynwy. Interesting to many Welshmen is
the fact that it was the bard Islwyn who married them. By the way,
indirectly through another great preacher, the Rev. Dr. Saunders, Swansea, I
received the chance to go to Russia.
I remember the slow long
journey through Europe with the family, staying a few days in Berlin, Warsaw
(where I lost my way and found myself in the Ghetto), then Kieff and Charkov
- living pictures of Kieff ,this Holy
and
ancient town would appear in
front of my eyes; crossing the wide Dnieper river, and admire the great tide
of churches with their golden turrets and domes shining in the blue sky.
There I saw a crowd of pilgrims that had walked along the road from far
Siberia. Then Charkov, with its wonderful university and its world
famous fairs. At last reaching the station at Charsisky completely
exhausted. There were vehicles to greet us and take us to Hughesovka.
I will never forget the feeling of overwhelming loneliness that filled me
whilst travelling over the drab, tree-less, never ending Steppes; it wasn’t
any wonder that the longing (hiraeth) for Wales almost totally conquered me.
But the interest in the
unfamiliar life around me and the natural eagerness to see everything new
helped me feel at home in Hughesovka. I was living in a large house,
in the centre of a large garden surrounded by a high wall for safety, and
there would be a night watchman to look after the place overnight, but you
couldn’t always depend on them.
Life there was not
uninteresting and not without variety. Letters and paper from home
would take eleven days to arrive and often they were censored. Some
books were not permitted to enter the country. Visitors of all
countries and languages would come, engineers and students from Moscow and
Petersburg (now Leningrad) and even from far Siberia. One time the
Province Governor of Ekaterinoslav, Dnepropetrovsk as it is now called, to
stay with us. He arrived at the house with great ceremony having been
escorted by a company of Cossacks on horse-back. Some of the visitors
had stories which were interesting and exciting to a young girl like myself.
This was the time the revolutionists were called Nihilists. I was told
that I knew a few of them and I remember well being warned for innocently
talking carelessly, as I was unaware of who would be amongst the visitors to
the house. The police were watching and were looking into everything
in great detail; and we had to be careful.
.
They were very strict in
looking at our passports. I have kept my old passport which had been
signed by Lord Sailsbury
-
the Prime Minister of the time.
We were able to enjoy ourselves in many ways. You knew that the
Russians were excellent musicians and singers. Once every week I would
hear music of a very high standard and often I would have the honour of
hearing the Polish Lady, Madame Yancharski playing the piano. She had
been a student of the Rubenstiens and Paderewski and was one of her friends.
I never forgot the excellent
singing at the Greek Church in Hughesovka. The recent news that Stalin
had recognised the patriarch of the Church in Russia brought reminders of
many of the services I attended, especially the service on the eve of
Easter. At this service, with its ceremony and the musical excellence
of the choir, especially the deep voices of the bass, made a great
impression on me. The scene inside the Church would fill one with a
spirit of worship. The Church was overflowing, everyone was standing
with candles in their hands, there aren’t any seats in a Greek Church.
At midnight, the Church’s clock would strike, and the priests would arrive
in their beautiful robes and singing “Christ has arisen”. All of the
congregation would be kneeling. They would cross themselves and
answer, “It’s true He has arisen!”; then the choir would sing a special hymn
for Easter; all the bells would ring and all the Church would be shinning in
beautiful light. There would be united rejoicing, where everybody
would greet each other with three kisses and they would shout merrily
“Christ’s arisen.” It was hard not to admire the strictness in which
they kept the fast of Lent, but as soon as the Easter festival was over they
would devote themselves to feasting to excess and the hospitals would be
full.
One of my prime pleasures was
hunting
-
of foxes and hares, there were
as many as you could ever wish for, only us girls were not permitted to join
in the hunt for wolves due to the danger involved. The Officers of the
Cossacks would often come out with us and they were such wonderful horsemen.
The hunting dogs had come from the Court Estate, Merthyr Tydfil, and since I
had been a pupil in the Court school, Merthyr, under the three Mrs.
Edwards’, I felt I had an interest in the dogs.
Neither will I forget skating
on the works lake, and a sledge journeys over the glittering snow, with the
troika bells, the three horses ringing melodiously in the clear air.
There was a small taste of adventure in sledding over the Steppes, as we
would sometimes be followed by a number of dogs, half-wolves, and it would
be up to Ivan, our driver, to use his whip to keep them back.
When I was living in Russia
there were only two classes of people. I was in a position to see the great
differences between the two. The standard of living around the Mujiks
-
the common people, was
very low and they weren’t unfamiliar with hunger and famine in some regions.
They lived in poor small houses of wood, of only one floor. They had
no conveniences to provide comfort and health, only a large stove which
almost filled the room. Often they would sleep on it at night.
Of course the workers houses in Hughesovka were far better. In every
house you would see an “Icon”, that is, a sacred picture and there is not
one house without its Samovar, a vessel for making tea. I used to like
the Mujikas, they were kind, unaffected, truly religious in a simple and
innocent way. They would face misfortune without grumbling -“Nitchevo”
they’d say shrugging their shoulders. They are patient and wise, full
of common sense and humour. But like all Russians they were very
superstitious.
On evenings when the weather
was fine, they would meet each other outside the village, they would then
rock on swings and sing and clap hands, and almost always eating sunflower
seeds. They were very fond of dancing and enjoyed the social life with
each other. I must say that everyone was fond of the local drink
“Kvass” and if they could get it the even stronger drink “vodka”.
On special holidays it was a
pleasure to look at the girls in their beautiful dresses, the embroidery on
them would be skilful and pretty, their hair would be beautifully platted
with ribbons and beads of all colours around their necks. I especially
remember one time we were crossing over the planes of the Steppes in a
sledge we heard some sorrowful singing in the distance breaking the silence
-it
was the people from the village about their fathers’ exploits. I could
never forget the spell/charm for a long time and my mind would fly back to
Wales with their minor, plaintive tones and again longing would rise in my
breast. At the time, this class were unable to read or write.
One of the many things that struck me the first time in the towns was the
“signs “on all the shops; they were pictures and not words, for example, on
the butchers shops you would see a picture of a cow or a sheep, and likewise
,on all the shops.
-
The reason of course
they were unable to read. A great change has come over the country for
one thing. On Sunday morning there would be a market, and one could see the
square surrounding the church, from six o’clock in the morning, full of the
country people with their produce. The prices for things were very
cheap, goose or turkey for a shilling and a chicken for sixpence. We’d
pay for them in Kopecks and Roubles of course.
In contrast the other class
were exceptionally cultured. They would live in their large houses on
their estates with a great number of workers and maids. They could
speak many languages and their reading immense. I was surprised more
than once that they knew so much about the prime English writers of the
time. The Russian author they mentioned the most was Pushkin, I heard
only a little from them about Tolstoy. French was their second
language and I heard almost more French than Russian. Russian was a hard
language to learn. As I’ve mentioned, they were very fond of music and
dancing and they were very fond of playing cards. They were careless
and
_______? people, but yet
extremely kind and a great deal of charm related to them.
Time does not allow me to
mention the many other interesting customs of the country; or the extreme
weather
-
the overpowering oppressive
heat of the summer, the severe cold and the deep snows of their winters.
I heard a young man from Rhymney lost his life in a sudden perilous snow
storm. The fiery heat of summer would bring with it many diseases like
dysentery. I nearly died from this disease but for the care of an American
doctor who was one of the doctors at the works hospital.
In 1892 cholera came to the
town and we the family had to flee the place because of the riots which was
caused by people, fear and ignorance. The riots were important enough
to be chronicled by the London papers. But even having to leave Russia
like this, in haste, I felt extremely sad in singing farewell to many
friends there. I had a wonderful kindness from many especially Mr. and
Mrs. Arthur Hughes; and I had come to love the country and its people, and
in these later days in rejoicing the Russians exceptional success.
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