The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-06
RUSSIA DRYEST
OF DRY NATIONS
Prohibition Rigidly Enforced
Throughout the Domains
Of the Gar.
LITTLE INTEREST IN WAR
spe@ai Correspondence 20 TIE sur.

sre~ai Co--espondenos 20 TIE sur.
PrrroGRAp. May Ib.-ot course the
war mas seriously interrupted tho sohed-
ule OF the great Transsiherinn railway
but by this timc nearly oil tho large
bodies OF troops have been moved INTO
Russia from siberian STATIONS. Onoo q
week an express leaves viadivostok and
Ia supposed TO have a oiear way 70
PetroErnd I took Tho train Mt Hardin,
one day west OF the Pacific terminus.
and arrived IN PetroHrad eight days
later, only four hours behind schedule
Rather remarkable under tho circumr
stances and a real tribute TO mo ren-
way administration.
Prohibition. so fer az vodNa and
spirits are concerned. 10 a real and sub
stant.al fact in the Cars domains. A
nip would be invaluable in warSfng of
the bleak weather and q hot toddy
In moderation forttfiss one for the
frieid walk at the stations, wherc one
must take advantage Of tho exerc,ss
after being chained TO a seat for hours:
but neither IN purchs seabls srcspt on
"a doctor's oertthate-And unfortunately
there ia no Doctor available. Until the
Car issues another ulaase let travellers
take notice and be repaired accordingly
IN tho stations liquor OF various k!nds
and even VODKA still stand on tho shelves
but TIE bottles are attached and scaled.
Apparently the Government agent I'D
not hsvo dino TO take them away. INa
and II KIND OF ginger water tako tho
place or the liquur. which OF course IL
better for the people and the
country Tho astonishing feature OF Il
all comes with the realization OF how
quickly ana quietly tho people have ad-
justed themselves to the change. a
people notoriously addicted to tntemper-
ance, especially among tho lower classes.
Being u State monopoly the VODKA sttu-
alton could be controlled comparatively
easily IN n country where outocrat.o
machinery IN established, but there are
stories that vodka Is being flnoitly made
and sold Increasingly. II no none came
70 my notice.
Japanese Control FarmerA.
n country we traverscd wns for the
most part rolling. well wa.ered, fairly
wooded n ideal for farming Though
there was Fill a light covering OF snow.
the fields showed evidence OF being thor
oughly cultivated. Tho miserable dwell
II arc IN strong contrast 70 IN. neat
ness OF the fields. attest!rg tha labor
which always brings abundant crops in
this fertile district. II Is not difficult 10
hppIOC4ab why DoD1 tNS ftutSlanS ana
the Japanese are seeking 10 GUS. tho pa
tent labortous n~on-Inilitary Chinasa
Both are squeezing him heavily. The
japanese have the better grip through
their elaborate and skil!ully Devised
financial system, which sooner or later
controls mo farmer. Russia knew what
she was doing when she attempted 20
make Manchuria her own. hut sh" failed
20 reckon with tho European influence
working with Japan in 1904.
Hardin In splendidly situated a, q river
Junction IN ore OF the most valuable
parts OF NEnchur'a. II commando a
strategic commercia, and military post
ton a thoroughly Russian city IN a
Chinese province II is growing rapidly
and already possesses many mills and
rianuracto-;eS During the sea sons buy
srs come from al over n. world, M,
principally one ~. Japanese.
Tho war might have be~n transferred
70 Patagonia or Australia for all thai
IInrb,n seemed TO care n was v~rv
d!ftcult 10 obtain any news, ana no
ono was at all !nterest-d-conversaeor
/ quickly changed TO other euAj~cts AL
tho available news had come IN the
psp-rs from P~etrogrnd $50 old that =
was rtale) or IN mcagre tel-grsms.
They were very much out OF touch and
d.d not care, The ruole was d-pr~c,-
sted that fact stood out far moro IN
portant than the war itself or tho issu~s
at stata
Prisoners suffer From or
Near IrNutsh VIZ raw soma train,
loaded with Austrian and GarmAn pr.s-
onsrs They we-o IN ordinary % cars
n--sd with bunks In which w~4 straw
Tho cars vero labelled Eight horses or
forty msnA" Soma of tho earn hat
sneN stoves ae h-ast snaA secvW pipes
pierced tho rocf II mSn arc ndo0uatAly
clothed and hsvs plenty Of fuel they
might manage 10 exist m suoh oar.
for a considerable tourney. I INV Rue
sian eole!e-s IN the "a me oars st othsr
places But the prisoners were no.
rloth~d to- mo siberian wfrter ana they
endured much suffering.
A. tho train proceeded weSewaIo mp
~Prosch'rg Russia I locked e~1pectantiy
Slt va!riy FOR so-ao awakerins interest,"
m tha war, AZ Orusk NEAR the Ursl
Mountains, whioh divide siberia ron
chant ana an attorney who took The
tra'n to Petrograd. They WIRE very
anxtouH to talk about tho war nov
rot thsy ~crc going 20 the oapttai,
out they said they gnve n very little
thought at home Thoy Furnished typi-
cal e1anSples OF TIM tndttr-ren0s OF
even mo cultured ohasa 30 ths national
policy.
Governmental Rnaire ere mArripuhst~t
by a co.srie OF powerful DohS>s and a
Jew strong officials who have rt-n n
influence. There Is not much To n
gained by the ordinary individual "
hothe~ng about such matters, One thing
's be~ominE more md more ~cartR,n-
me war IN no way represents the WI
II .he Russian people. Perhaps q
would he more accurate 10 sniy tho wa
"a not = popular movement Dcgnatior
rar not sufficiently spread among tho
nn%sss 20 develop a national will.