The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-12-01
PROHIBITION WORKS
WONDERS IN RUSSIA
VAST EMPIRE ''DRY'' FROM ONE
END TO OTHER, AND THE Eff
FECTS ARE STARTLING.
NOT DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE

Peasants Look Like Different Race
Punched Faces Are Disappearing
and Homes of Poor Present Some
thing Like Order and Thrift.
PETROGRAD.- and com
plete prohibition is in force today
throughout the entire Russian en-
pire and not drop of vodka, whis
key, brandy, gin or any other strong
drink is obtainable from one end tc
the other of an area populated by
$50, 100000 people and comprising
one-sixtn of the habitable globe.
In every foot of Russian territory
the word prohibition is taken liter
ally. 1t does not mean partially
successful attempt to curtail liquor
consumption resulting in drinking in
secret places, abuse of medical IL
censes and general evasion and sub.
terfuges. 1t does mean that a vast
population who consumed $1,000.
900, 900 worth of vodka year, whose
ordinary condition has been describ-
ed by Russians themselves ranging
from a slight degree of stimulation
upward, has been lifted almost in one
to sobriety.
Not Difficult to Enforce.
On that day when the mobilization
began policemen visited every public
place where vodka was sold, locked
up the supply of the liquor, which is
almost pure alcohol, and placed on
the shop the imperial seal. Since the
manufacture and sale of vodka is a
government monopoly it is not diff
cult to enforce prohibition, and from
the day the shops were closed drunk
enness vanished.
The results already are seen In the
peasantry. They are beginning tC
look like a different race. Marks Of
suffering, the pinched looks of illness
and improper nourishment have gone
from their faces. Their clothes are
cleaner and both men and women
appear more neatly and better dress.
ed. Homes of the poor formerly
destitute, now present something like
order and thrift.
In Petrograd and Moscow the ef-
feet is fairly startling. On holidays
inebriates always filed the police
station and often lay about in the
streets. Today unattended women
may pass at night through portions
of these cities where it formerly was
dangerous for men. Minor crimes
and misdemeanors have almost van
ished.
One Man Responsible.
The miracle virtually has been &C.
complished by one maj. He is Mi
chael D. Tchelisheff, a peasant by
birth, originally house painter by
profession, then mayor of the city OF
Samara. and now millionaire. Phys
ically he is a giant, standing over
feet four inches. Although So years
old his movements display the en-,
ergy of youth his eyes are animated
and his black hair is not tinged by
gray
In Petrograd Mr.. Tchelisheff goes
about clad in a blue blouse with a
tasseled girdle and baggy black
breeches tucked in heavy boots. He
offers his visitors tea and fruit.
Speaking to a representative of the
Associated Press of what he had ac-
complished for sobriety in Russia
Mr.. Tschelischeff said
81 was reared in a small Russian
village without schools. picked VI
an education from old newspapers
and stray books. One day 1 CHANGED
upon a book which treated of alco-
hol. 1t stated that vodka was pois-
on. I was so impressed, knowing
that everybody drank vodka, that
asked the first physician I met if the
statement was true. He said yes.
decided to take every opportunity to
discover more about the use OF
vodka.
cat the end of the eighties there
came a famine in Russia followed by
agrarian troubles. l saw a crowd OF
peasants demand from landlord all
the grain and foodstuffs in his gran
airy and I noted that every man who
was taking part in this incident was a
drinking man while their abstemious
acknowledges had sufficient provi-
sions in their own homes.
cat Samara I decided to do more
than passively disapprove of vodka.
At this time I was an alderman.
Many tenants in my houses were
working men. One night a drunken
father in one of my houses killed his
wife. Then 1 decided to fight vodka
with all my strength.
"On supposition that the govern
ment was selling vodka for revenue
calculated the revenue received from
its consumption in Samara. I then
introduced a bill in the city council
providing that the city give this sum