Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-17
KRAsNOvODsK. Turkestan,

KRASNOVODSK. Turkestan,
June a. 1910.
We left Baku on the steamer Schobe-
left at O'Clock in the evening and ar
rived at Krasnovodsk, the
Adobe western terminus of the
u.. great Central Asia rail-
way, at II o'clock the
next morning. after a delightful voyage
without feeling any'of the annoyances
which have given the Caspian sea bad
reputation among seasick people.
When we approached the dock we saw
what looked very familiar-a town Of one
story whitewashed adobe houses. with
wide, dusty streets. precisely like those
along the line Of the Santa Fee and the
Southern Pacific railways in New Mexico
and Arizona. If a Tombstone miner
should drop down here In the night he
would feel perfectly at home in the morn
ing, especially after the breeze comes up
about IL o'clock and what he is accus-
toned to call real estate activity be-
gins in the dusty streets. krasnovodsk
also resembles the mining towns on the
nitrate coast of Chile, especially where
the gloomy barren MOUNTAINS come down
to battle their feet in the water.
AS far as you can see in every direction
there Is nothing but rock and sand. There
Is not green thing within miles and
miles of the place except a few struggling
cottonwood trees that have been planted
In little park and are kept alive by
constant irrigation. The water supply is
furnished by companies which condense
the contents Of the Caspian into vapor as
the people in Picking are said to distill
whisky from Illinois corn, extract the
salt and sell the purged water by the
quart and gallon from house to house as
milk is sold in the towns Of America.
Two or three hundred feet above the
town. in a little crack in the mountain
side, is a group of three iron tanks, put
there as a safety reservoir and kept filled
with water to be used in case a fire
should break out upon the docks. Lines
of hose are stretched through the differ
ent warehouses, but so far they have
never been needed There has been no
damage of consequence from fire since
the town was built.
Most of the houses are one story, with
thick walls surrounding patios. in the
Spanish style, which expert
Vivid ence has demonstrated are the
r-, coolest and most comfortable
exteriors Of the houses are painted blue,
green. red. yellow and other bright COL
ors, in order to make tie place look as
cheerful as F-slDle, and two or three
government buildings have been raised
to two stories.
There is no hotel, but stranded travel
ers who have no friends to entertain
them can find lodgings in what are called
numerals" a name applied throughout
all this country to places where lodgings
are let. Several respectable-looking res
taurants supply meals, but altogether the
best place is the railway station, where
excellent luncheons and dinners are
served.
Unlike corresponding towns in America.
there are no saloons, gambling houses,
dancehouses or other disreputable re-
sorts. Krasnovodsk is strictly a dry
town." The soldiers, sailors. railway en-
ployes and dock whollopers, who furnish
the greater part of the population, are
entirely protected from the temptations
to which we permit the working classes
in our frontier towns to be exposed And,
what Is still more remarkable, Turke-
stan is a prohibition country.
The Russian imperial government is
prohibition government, and except in
Bokhara, which Is nominally an indie
pendent khanate still. central Asia Is
dry in more senses than one. Travel
erS can Duy wines ana Vooka at the res
taurants in the railway stations. They
can get it at the hotels and the clubs,
but It is not sold in third-class railway
restaurants nor anywhere else within
reach of the laboring classes and the ma
tives. The autocratic power is applied
to good purpose in preventing the natives
of central Asia from being corrupted and
debased by liquor as the North American
Indian has been.
= Il
The Turkomans, the Sarts and other
native races have not been allowed to
acquire European vices.
"Christian In Japan and China the
- most disreputable re-
auoA IeAS' sorts are found in what
is called "The Christian Quarter" be-
cause the heather will not tolerate
4hou The on1v p1ace in Yokohama