The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-26
SIBERIAN RUSSIA
 FINDS GAYETY IN
 GINGER ALE GLASS
Vodka Prohibition Has Ad- vocates Among Classes
 and Masses.

vIadivostok Nov 26- sv1odka1ess Sladivostok has been realized in spite or the predictions that a seaport which is tile gateway to a rough from tier country could not be rendered non-aIcohoIic
 fThe imperial edict against alcohol ism has been. so thoroughly enforced tl1at but little hquorefs sold P Punish- n1ent of hootleggers is so. harsh that few mem care to engage in the forS bidden traffic, regardless of the siEa- n3ense profits it offers.
 Vodka is the one drink which per ssJns in all classes of society cherish in Siberia just as in European Rus sias Before the Czar's order against H4uor Vodka sold in Vladivostoks at about fifty kopecks or ss twenty five cents gaold a pint. Harbin,. which is located in Manch uFia, and consequent- I'd under Chinese control, is the near est place to Vladivostok where liz ouor is now sold and the liquor snug gied in from that point for secret sale 1TfVladfvostok brings as much as five rlibles, or about $2.5O gold a pint This price is prohibitive for most men of the hunb1er classes. Yet a few of them manage to get liquor and an oc- casfonal peasant is encountered stag gcring through the streets.
 There seems to. be little disposition on the DaTL eOI persons nlSA6T oP III the social scale to evade the prohIbi- ton for alcoholic drinks in the res taurants and music halls If the tip is heavy enough wine may be had in private dining rooms in some of. the cafes But the walters must be sure ot their customers and subject them to the third degree before producing the forbidden beverage
 The difnculty and expense of getting liquor are so great that pleasure low ing vladiyostok has apparently de- cided to get along without it and the cafes chantants and music halls are making merry on ginger ale, coffee, rSussian tea served without lemon The charges for these drinks are quite as high as for aIcohol in ordinary quor chiefly because it is costly can still feel that his money is being kept in circulation
 'sI haven't taken any liquor in three rraonths,'' the manager of one of the iInportant banks in Y1adfvostok re- marked to the correspondent of the. Associated Press @'I don't miss it now and feel rather guilty if I drank in violation of the imperial order. Most of my friends feel the same way. The folks in the banking busin ess have all seen the value of prohibition It has jumped saving accounts up at B rapid rate:'
 When asked IT the war Ordor against alcohol would be made per rnanent the bank manager said he thought suvh action quite probable. ssTI7e women of, Siberia are quite as keen to have permanent prohibition as the women of European, Russia he replied They aare urging it in every way possible. It means more food and comfort for them and their children. Women talk to me nearly every day about it. They have money now in spite of the higher cost of liv- ing brought about by this war;
 Before the war V1adivostok was one Of the gayest places in Asia Its cafes ran at full blast until or even. o'clock in the morning and dinners seldom got under way before mid night The miners, railway men, cat tIemen4 and fur hunters from eastern Siberia all centered at Vladivostok, and the sailors Joined them in large ,1urnbersz But the war has brought many changes Siberia has been drained Of men of military age. Now the shipping shas grown amazingly and there are seldom less than ten freight steamers in the harbor dis charging war supplies Consequently the floating population is large and the al1<night reve1s would probably go. on as usual were it not that liquor has vanished, the police require all places of amusement to close at one o'clock, and take wanderers in cus- fody who are not properly Accounted for at their lodgings by that time.
 So the dinner hour in the Siberian and tho orchegtra and performers in