New Britain herald., 1926-02-27
ESTHONIA LAND OF
 MANY DISTlLLERIES
Potato Crop Encourages Making
 Of Liquor in Quantities

OI Liquor lD QUa0lllleS
 WasIug on, p, C. Feb, 91 Pi-, one ot tho mos' recent treaties tt
 be signed hy the United States with
 a foreign country was with the Rc- public of Esthonia, one of ihn younr nations which resulted from thc 1 World War Ii provides that amity
 shall exist between the two countries 1 and mranGcs for the maintenance of i commercial relations.
 "EShonia is usually Jumped by l Americans with its sister republic of ] latvia and I.ithuania as slices of old ! Russia inhabited by pretty much the
 sam" people, says n bulletin from the Washington, D, C.. headquarters of tda National Geographic Society. "Rur zach has m Individuality of it's owu anl a decidedly non Russian in i divilHlity. The Esthonians have nothing in common racially with the l peoples 10 tho south, but arc close i CoUeIns of the Films, northward across the Gulf in Finland,
 Gulf stream and Potatoes. ! "Tlough situated in northern, Es- thooia is tempered by the far-farinG GUi( Str'am and is an important agricultural country Another thing Of American oriein--the potato has made its deep mark on Esthonia, nni it has even been called flippant- ly, the Potato Rcpnblic.' As q sourc" of alcohol the potato has boon most important economically 10 th" coun- try, Every large estate has its own di'.illerr and before tho World War Gr"a' quantities of the potent liquid Wcrn exported.
 "Russa was reluctant 70 have Es- thoGia set up house ktnping on i,s own account. The country, about as large as New Hampshire and Yer mont combined. blocks a consider ah)r section of western Russia wh'r"os it formed before natural outlet for the larger country. The 1 Es'honian railways hayo already played an important part in moving produce 10 and from Russia; and if conditions become stabilized in the latter country, Esthonia should rngu- larly collect 2 tidy sum as q transit agent.
 Oppressed For Centuries
 "The Esthonians. like other sub morC'd peoples Of Europe have a tragic history. After they settled in their present country and en- ioy"d independence for few cnn- "IrIca, they were conquered by German knights who took ali the land and made the E,sthonans scrfs. Seldom have people been sub iccted 10 such pitiless oppression. The German barons' (they came to be called Bait baronsD had the power of life and death over their s"rfs and openly bought and sold thnm as late as the days of the American revolution. After Esthon- ia passed 70 Russia in 17l0 tho Rus siaas left the Balts pretty much in control for century and half. Serfdom passed, but the Esthonians "vrn at the time of the World War, were for the IT ost part a nation of lown-troddcn peasants,
 "Violent adjustments were h. cvitablc. After the Russian r"yoln- ton. inc Boshcvik coup, and the proclamation of Esthonian ind"pen- drnco, the new republic set about what it's leaders described as right ing tho wrongs Of roo years The Esthonians, making up 92 per cen; Of the popr,ation, seized the great estates of the Balts (who constitute one and one half per cent Of the popualion) and parcelod them out amonS peasant rroprictors. Tho conntry's agriculture was thus placed on an entirely new footing, hut tha yIoat recent satisfies seem 10 show that production is holding It's own.
 Spires Record History
 "Rnvcl. known to the Esthon- ians as Tallin, is Esthonias great est port and city. It has existed for 700 years. With Helsingsfor3 across the gulf, it formed Tsarist Russia's gateway and first line of naval defense 10 Petrograd; but to Esthonia, it's commercial possibi,i- ties seem brightest.
 AS first seen from shipboard Ecvals skyline is an epitome Of the forces that have been at work upon F,sthonia. On hill which risrs above the town is a citadel vail reminiscent or thn Germans who took tho Auntry by the sword. On this height too are the homes Of many of tho Bait uoblcs who have descended from the Ger man invaders. From the same hill a clump of Gothic stoeples pierces thr sky, recalling the Swedish in vasion and the Lutheran religion which most of the Esthonians pro- fcss. Within the circle Of sharp spires are thc queerly shaped, rildod domcs of an orthodox Rus sian church, speaking of the efforts a' Classification which never bore much fruit. In the lower town are tho homes of the Esthontans 'No stratum from which the peo- r'o have literally risen 10 take over 'he affairs of their country,
 Tn addition 10 its agricultural ac'naliucs, Esthonia has numerous L.--l,...,rinl | ,-o.r,lili,i,r AlrnaL,. cnn1n