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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,
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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