“But it was impossible to save everything,” Gorky told me. “There were the soldiers and the peasants, who had never had a chance to see any of these beautiful things in the past. The people did not wish to destroy these things. They only threw away what seemed worthless to them. One priceless painting was found in a garbage can. But it was found and brought back by the people themselves. And now it is in the museum where every one may see it.” Gorky is head of the “World Literature Publishing House,” a vast institution organized by the Soviet Government to publish the best literary and scientific productions of all countries in popular editions for the Russian masses. A great staff of literary and professional men and women are enrolled in this work. Already about six hundred books have been edited and are ready for publication, although only thirty volumes had been printed when the work had to stop on account of the lack of paper. As soon as paper is available they hope to begin printing millions of volumes in editions which will be within the reach of all the Russian people. In addition to this work Gorky has been devoting much time to the preparation of a series of motion-picture scenarios, composed with scientific historical exactness, showing the history of man from the Stone Age down through the Middle Ages to the time of Louis XVI of France, and finally to the present day. This work was begun in July 1919, and when I talked with Gorky in September of the same year, he told me that they had already finished twenty-five scenarios. He described the extraordinary difficulties under which the work was going forward; the actors and actresses who were often undernourished, persevered over all obstacles, inspired by an enthusiasm which Gorky thought would have been impossible in any other country. The Soviet Government was aiding the production in every way. The best actors and actresses in the country had been enlisted in this work along with historians and scientists. The films were being sent into the remote towns and villages, and thousands of small theatres already were being built. The motion picture theatres in general in Petrograd were not showing the ordinary romances that we see in this country in films. The motion picture was used largely for educating the people and showing the development of industry, the proper care of children and the advantages of sanitary conditions. Russia is in great need of education so far as sanitation is concerned. In the large cities the sanitation is modern, but in smaller towns and in the villages the people have no idea of a sewage system.