Problems with Character Sets (cp1251) on PHP4 and mysql 4.1.18

[Nick]

I have problems with cyrillic character sets in the the mysql databases (smth this ???????????).
I have found how to fix this problem. It is a sending of additional query.

function mysql_connection ()
{
Global $host,$user,$pass;

if(!$dbc=@mysql_connect("$host","$user","$pass")){

mysql_query("SET NAMES cp1251");

return $dbc;
}


But sometimes it does not work (if connecting was lost or was much queries to database). My hosting has _ENV["LANG"] en_US.UTF-8 and mysql 4.1.18, PHP4.
1) Do you know another way how I can work with Cyrillic Character Sets (cp1251) without sending of additional query?
2) Is there way to set the configuration for work mysql with cp1251 from .htaccess because I have not access to php.ini and my.ini files on hosting?