In history books we have read that most German colonists were not allowed to cart salt from Elton Lake to Pokrovsk, and that anyhow the pay was negligible for this state controlled monopoly. But in another book (Beratz?) I came across the fact that some (probably very few) German settlers were allowed to engage in cartage, but only if they had large families and these family members could till the allocated land while the man/men were away...so there were exceptions. What is now more interesting, however, is that I found a "History of Samara" where one learns that at least some of the hauliers/carters became exceptionally wealthy by breeding bulls/steers and draft-horses for carting, and Pokrovsk could provide 7000 pairs of bulls/steers and 600 pairs of draft horses. Some carters were so rich that they adorned the horns of the bullocks with gold. Once they were no longer needed for the government service, they trans-located Malorussians were converted into State-peasants (State-serfs).... Vera Beljakova-Miller

This is the first time I've seen the term, "Malorussians." Who does this refer to? arl Allan R. Lenhardt 240 East Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70806 (225) 344-1424 (225) 223-3121 (cell) Life is God's novel. Let him write it. Isaac Beshevis Singer in Voices for Life (1975) -----Original Message----- From: ger-volga-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:ger-volga-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Vera Beljakova Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 4:18 PM To: ger-volga-l@rootsweb.com; steven.schreiber@gmail.com Subject: [GV] Salt trakt / carting In history books we have read that most German colonists were not allowed to cart salt from Elton Lake to Pokrovsk, and that anyhow the pay was negligible for this state controlled monopoly. But in another book (Beratz?) I came across the fact that some (probably very few) German settlers were allowed to engage in cartage, but only if they had large families and these family members could till the allocated land while the man/men were away...so there were exceptions. What is now more interesting, however, is that I found a "History of Samara" where one learns that at least some of the hauliers/carters became exceptionally wealthy by breeding bulls/steers and draft-horses for carting, and Pokrovsk could provide 7000 pairs of bulls/steers and 600 pairs of draft horses. Some carters were so rich that they adorned the horns of the bullocks with gold. Once they were no longer needed for the government service, they trans-located Malorussians were converted into State-peasants (State-serfs).... Vera Beljakova-Miller ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message