TEETOTAL RUSSIA.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 18 February 1915, Page 3

TEETOTAL RUSSIA.

THE DRASTIC REGULATIONS OF THE CZAIt. Interesting particuJare ot the drastic restrictions on the sale of liquor in Russia are contained in a. report from the British. Ambassador at I'etrograd. The municipal council of has restricted the sale 01 beer and wim; to forty-nine first-class hotels and restaurants, and it is rumoured that this number is shortly to be red-i ;eJ to 1 twenty. Light red and white wine (16 per cerc t strength) and champagne may be sold by wine merchants daily from 10 am. to 6 p.m., except on Saturdays and the eve of festivals, when the hours art , from 10 a.m. toi 2 p.m. On Sundays and feast days the sale of all intoxicants (except in the fortynine hotels and restaurants al>ove-inon-tionaed) is forbidden, and the sho'js remain closed throughout tiie day The sale of any drink is prohibited nfvar 11 p.m., at which hour all hotels and restaurants, without excepti'm not' close.

The sale of spirits is sibsol'ituly fmbidden. Vodka is unobtainrib'e, m d the existing Government monopoly for it* manufacture and sale is to cease

Illegal sale of beer, porter, wine, and spirits is punishable by a fine not exceeding £300 or three months' imprisonment, closure of the restaurant or ialoon, and perpetual disqualification to hold a license. Similar liability is incurred by the supply of drink to persons already in the- state of insobriety.

Numbers of beer saloons and thirdclass eating and drinking houses in bhc towns of Russia have been coinpulsorily closed by order of local public bodise, with the sanction of the Government and the number-of streets in which the opening of such establishments is prohibited has been increased.

The sale of all liquors has been forbidden in the vicinity of barracks, camps, military training areas, public market places, and of all categories of educational establishments.

xn places under martial law, or in a state of siege, or within the sphere of military operations, the sale of all intoxicants is absolutely forbidden.