to sell their cattle. More than 3,000 of the Kirghese
have become sedentary by the side of the Russian
inhabitants. The houses of the Russians, as in Siberia,
are built of logs, quickly put up, and by incendiaries
still more speedily destroyed. The number of fires in
the province during 1880 amounted to 47, destroying
151 buildings of the value of £10,293.*
The industries of Akmolinsk in 1880 were represented
by 139 factories, employing 1,408 workmen, and
yielding products to the value of ,£203,096, namely :—
Factories. Workmen. Value of Products.
Mineral . . . 33 466 £ 3 1 >036
Vegetable . . 11 146 ¿ 19 ,18 0
Animal. 95 796 ¿7152,879
The factories in Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, in
1879, were: distilleries for making vodka; grinding and
preparation of flour, bricks, leather, glue, oil, soap,
copper; preparing sheep-skins, wool, beer and mead,
wax and tallow candles, and melting tallow.
Business was transacted for £357)! 89 at the three
principal fairs of Constantinovsky, Petrovsky, and Tain-
chinsky.f Business done in 1879 at 12 fairs in the
Akmolinsk province amounted to £ S 32>895-
* These fires occurred in spring, 5; summer, 14; autumn, 12; winter,
16; and from the following causes: lightning, 1 ; badly-constructed
stoves, 8 ; carelessness, 17 ; unknown, 19.
Constantinovsky. Petrovsky. Tainchinsky.
£ £ £ £ 1 £
Cattle . . . . - - 2,75° 2,100 47.333 32.415
Cattle products (hides, hair, feet,
- skins, etc.) . 66,427 66,427 6.35° 6.350 — oe S H
European goods or settlers’ produce
(utensils, flour, candles, soap, etc.)
Asiatic ' goods (khalats, quilts,
silk and cotton materials,
saddlery and dried fruits) '.
47.72S 16,540 l8,I28 8,549 8,520 2,960
13.5°° 3-737 -- — 5.650 1,728
Totals 127,652 86,704 27, 228 16,999 61,503 ! 37» io3
Total . . . ¿357.189.
The corn and forests of Western Siberia are largely
used for the distillation of ardent spirits, which forms a
prominent industry. The general report includes the
statistics affecting Akmolinsk, though it should be
observed that from the paucity of corn grown in
Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, their part in the manufacture
of spirits is much less than in the neighbouring
provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk. In 18 7 9 -8 0 there
were— distilleries working in the provinces of Tobolsk,
I I ; Tomsk, 15 ; Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, 2 ; in
all, 28, and using a total of 3 3 ,3 8 6 tons of corn. From
this were manufactured 2 ,7 7 4 ,4 7 6 gallons of pure spirit,
or 6 ,9 3 6 ,1 9 0 gallons of vodka, reduced to 40 per cent,
of spirit,* some of which is exported to European
Russia. The price of corn purchased by the distillers
varied, according to locality, from 2s. to 35. gd. percwt.,
and was computed at £ 9 2 ,6 5 5 for the whole of Western
Siberia. Vodka sold from the cellars, without duty, at
from 5d. to \od. per gallon, the total production of the
distilleries being reckoned at £ 2 2 5 ,9 0 0 .
Besides distilleries, there are in Western Siberia 25
beer and mead breweries, producing, however, only
I I >375 gallons of beer, and 5 ,2 0 0 gallons of mead, of
the united value of £ 2 4 ,4 7 0 .
The Government receipts for duty have been
constantly rising of late years— those of 1 8 7 9 , as compared
with 18 7 6 , showing an increase of 30 per cent.
* Of vodka, the province of Akmolinsk produced 164,482 gallons, and
Semipolatinsk 259,200 ; and some idea of the relative sizes of the
distilleries in Western Siberia may be formed by observing that
Upwards of 650,000 gallons were made by 1 distillery
487.500 ,, ,, i „
325.000 ,, „ 3 distilleries
162.500 ,, ,, 12 ,,
39.000 ,, ,, 11 ,,