31,000,000 in 1916. Thus, during the two weeks in question, the excess of imports over exports amounted to 27,600,000 roubles, as compared with 5,500,000 roubles in 1915. The excess of imports over exports along the Siberian seaboard was 5,400,000 roubles as against ,100,000 roubles in 1915.
***
The Russian peasants prove to be quite enterprising in the present crisis which makes means of transportation very difficult. The railroads are insufficient even for the transportation of military supplies and the prime necessities of life; when it comes to transportation of freight, the conditions are still less favorable. In some localities, the peasants decided to return to the old system of cart transportation, and their efforts in this direction have been quite successful. In the government of Penza, for example, a "caravan" of wagons, loaded with fish, traversed the way from Uralsk to Novo-Troitsk, a distance of seven hundred miles, in sixteen days. Upon arriving at their destination, the peasants sold their load together with the wagons and horses, and made a considerable profit on the whole transaction.
***
The lack of organization on the Russian railroads is well illustrated by the following incident. The Minister of Railroads had occasion to travel last February from Petrograd to Cherkassy. At night, the Minister's private car had to be attached to a new train, at the junction of Bachmach. Here, through a peculiar mistake, the car was attached to a wrong train, and the Minister found himself in the morning in Kiev, instead of Cherkassy. When he was informed of the mistake, the Minister took the matter good-naturedly, and remarked that he no longer wondered why it often happens that goods consigned to Moscow are delivered to Kharkov or Kursk.
***
A company has recently been organized in Russia for the purpose of utilizing the invention of S. L. Franfort, an industrial chemist, who has found a way of producing artificial saltpeter. It is expected that the invention will be found extremely useful in the production of fertilizers, which are used in tremendous quantities, especially on the sugar-beet plantations of south-western Russia. Lately, owing to the War, the importation of saltpeter has been reduced greatly, especially from Chile. It is hoped that Franfort's invention will make the fertilizer industry in Russia independent of the importation of the basic material.
***
The Bourse Committee of the city of Chita, Siberia, is investigating the reports concerning deposits of gold, silver, diamonds, iron, copper, rock crystal, etc. The investigation will begin with the gold beds in the taigas of Mariinsk, in the region of Eastern Zabaykalye.
***
The investigation conducted by the Ministry of the Interior concerning the extent of German land ownership in Russia, has so far given the following results: In the Transcaspian territory, the Germans own 22,500 acres; in the Semipalatinsk territory, 181,000 acres; in the government of Stavropol, 172,000 acres; in Turgaisk, 201,000 acres; in Tombolsk, 17,760 acres; in Orenburg, over 288,000 acres; in Tomsk, 668,000 acres; in the government of Irkutsk, 12,300 acres. The investigation has not, as yet, covered southern Russia, where most of the German-owned lands are located.
