Harvard Sculling Coach Tells of Recent Expeditions in Russia--Explains Soviet Method of Controlling Liquor

"It is easier to get a drink in New York than in Moscow." Stewart French '29, sculling coach at the Weld Boat- house, declared in an interview regarding some of his experiences in Russia. French returned recently from a visit to that country and expects to go there again in the near future.

"The Soviet government is making every effort to discourage drinking," he said, "with the result that the country is coming rapidly to temperance." Instead of prohibition, the government takes the much simpler method of raising the price of vodka, and because of the peculiar economic system this method is effective.

There is practically no drinking among women but they smoke profusely. Although surprisingly good Russian cigarettes can be purchased with foreign money, the Russians themselves cannot get good tobacco with their rubles and are delighted to obtain American cigarettes. Their unusual fondness for Camels makes it seem at first that here is a people whose choice among the brands of American cigarettes is based on something more substantial than advertising slogans and endorsements from Hollywood. French discovered, however, that it is really the picture of the camel, not any inherent superiority, which fascinates them.

Speaking of the opportunities for Americans to get jobs in Russia, French said that since the depression the Amtorg Corporation, which handles American employment for the Soviet, has been besieged with applications. A few years ago, it was customary for the Russian government to pay the passages of American engineers and others, and to give them part of their salaries in dollars. At the present time salaries are paid wholly in rubles, which are of greatly decreased value outside of the country and yet even under these conditions the number of Americans willing to pay their own passages is far in excess of the demand.

One of the prospective occupations which is greatly overworked in Russia is the teaching of English. Travellers in the Soviet think that because of the increasing study of English, an American who is able to make himself understood in Russia can obtain a position for the asking.