...
Under the old r?gime a famous convent-school for the daughters of
the Russian nobility, patronised by the Tsarina herself, the
Institute had been taken over by the revolutionary organisations of
workers and soldiers. Within were more than a hundred huge rooms,
white and bare, on their doors enamelled plaques still informing the
passerby that within was "Ladies' Class-room Number 4" or "Teachers'
Bureau"; but over these hung crudely-lettered signs, evidence of the
vitality of the new order: "Central Committee of the Petrograd
Soviet" and _"Tsay-ee-kah"_ and "Bureau of Foreign Affairs"; "Union
of Socialist Soldiers," "Central Committee of the All-Russian Trade
Unions," "Factory-Shop Committees," "Central Army Committee"; and
the central offices and caucus-rooms of the political parties....
The long, vaulted corridors, lit by rare electric lights, were
thronged with hurrying shapes of soldiers and workmen, some bent
under the weight of huge bundles of newspapers, proclamations,
printed propaganda of all sorts. The sound of their heavy boots made
a deep and incessant thunder on the wooden floor.... Signs were posted
up everywhere: "Comrades! For the sake of your health, preserve
cleanliness!" Long tables stood at the head of the stairs on every
floor, and on the landings, heaped with pamphlets and the literature
of the different political parties, for sale.
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