Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-11-19
Population Of More Than
i5O,000,000, Formerly
Given 10 Drink, Become To-
tai AbStainerS,
GIGANTIC CHANGE IS
WORK OF ONE MAN
Apostle of Sobriety Tells Of
Lifelong Fight Made by Him
Against National Curse or
Strong Drink.
-, -o.nlAa ,ov.r.l s,sel.. ls.sso wal

Pctrograd, Nov. lS.-There is pro-
hlbition In Russia today. prohibition
which means that not drop OF vodka,
whlskey, brandy, gin or other strong
liquor is obtainable from one end TO
the other in territory populated by
$50. 600. .000 people and covering one
sixth of the habitable globe.
The story OF how strong drink has
been utterly banishcd from the Rus
sian empire was related to the Asso-
ciated Press by Michael Demetroyitch
Tchelshcff. the man directly respon-
eible for putting an end TO Russia's
vice, the vodka habit.
II should be said In the beginning
that the word prohibition In Russia
should be taken literally. IL means
that a vast population who consumed
1900, 100000 worth of vodka a year.
whose ordinary condition has been
described by Russians themselves as
ranging from a slight degree Of slim
ulaiion upward. has been lifted al
most IN one day from drunken in
ortness TO sobriety.
Not Difficult 10 Enforce.
Since the manufacture and sale Of
vodka is government monopoly in
Russia. II is not a difficult thing to
enforce prohibition.
From the day this step was taken,
drunkenness vanished in Russia. The
results are seen at once in the peas
antiy: already they are beginning to
look like a different race. The marks
of suffering, the pinched looks Of i'll :
ness aud improper nourishment have
gone from their faces. Their clothes
are cleaner, and both the men and
women appear more neatly and bet
ter dressed. The destitute character
Of the homes of the poor has been re-
placed with something like order and
thrift In Petrograd and Moscow the
effect OF these improved conditions is
fairly startling. Things are so differ
ent today that unattended women
may now pass at night through por-
iions of these cities where it was for
morly dangerous even for men. Mi
nor crimes and misdemeanors have al
most vanished.
Worker of the Miracle.
This miracle has been virtually ac-
complished by one man. He is MI
chael d. Tchelshcff. a peasant by
birth. originally Il house painter by
profession, then mayor Of the city Oh
Sainara. and now u millionaire. Phy-
sically he is a giant, standing over SIX
feet four inches and of powerful
build. Although he Is SO years OLD, ne
looks much younger. His movements
display the energy of youth, his eyes
are animated and his black hair is not
tngcd by gray.
Speaking Of what he had accom-
pished for the cause Of sobriety III
Russia, Mr.. Tchelisheff said:
II was reared in a small Russian
village. There were no schools OF
hospitals or any of the improvements
We are accustomed to in civilized
communities. | picked up an educa-
ton from old newspapers ana stray
books. One day l CHANGED upon
book in the hands of moJik whicii
treated OF the harmfulness OF alconoi.
1t stated among other things that
vodka was q poison. | was SO I'M
pressed with this, knowing that every
body drank vodka, that ! asked the
first physician | met if the statement
We're true. He said yes. Men DRANK
II. he explained, because momentarliy
It gave them pleasant sense Oh az
illness. | decided to take every OPP
portunitys to learn more about vodka'
All We're Drinking Men.
In the end of the eighties there
came famine in Russia, followed py
agrarian troubles. I saw crowds oi !
peasants demand from q local iahu-
lord all the grain and foodstufis ID
his granary. This puzzled me-
could not understand why honest men
We're induging in what seemed 10
be highway robbery But noted az
the time that every man who was
taking part In this incident was
drinking man, while their fellow VII
layers who were abstemious had SUI
ficient provisions in their own homes
Thus I observed the industrial effects
Of drinking.
At sanara decided to more than
passively disapprove of vodka. A.
this time was an alderman ana
many OF the tenants living In my
houses were workingmen. One night
a drunken father in one of my houses
killed his wife. This incident maue
such terrible impression on me that