The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-04-01
Three Tslamds Added to

l hRG9 lSl&MQlS A0GG0 GO
 Uncle Sa1n's DoEmimioms 7T7HE formal ceremonies were com- U pleted at the state department yesterday by which the Danish West Indies became the property of the United States. Considering the high price of real estate nowadays the $25, 1000 ,O0O paid for these islands to the government of Denmark is con sidered reasonable enough, although America might have acquired them much cheaper if there had not been slight delay of about fifty years in consummating the sale.
 St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix are the three islands bought by Uncle Sam. The largest is St. Croix, with an area of eighty-four square miles. St. Thomas has thirty-three and St. John twenty-one square miles. Con- M to Porto Rico, which has an
 of 3606 square miles, the latest
 sitions are hardly more than lasssels of land, with a relatively population. Their chief im-
 nee, of course, is due to their
 egic value.
 ,,4th a group of four islands in this part of the world, the United States will be in a better position to carry on naval operations and the safety of the Panama canal will be enhanced Great Britain owns fifteen of the West Indian islands, with total of about 12,0OO square miles.
 Georgia Reseive Umder
 New 'sBome-Dry" Law N which recently went into effect, N EORGIA'S new prohibition law, which recently went into effect, was was devised to make that state as dry as the desert of Sahara. However, thoughtful Georgians are speculating as to whether or not it can be en- forced without causing a reaction of public sentiment against prohibition. The leading newspapers of the state are by no means unanimous in up- holding the "bone-dry' law.
 The Savannah Press says:
 No state ill the union is any dry CT than Georgia today. We are liv- ing under scorching anti-liquor act that makes 1t a misdemeanor almost to have breath carrying suggestion of cloves. It Is against the law to have bottle of liquor in your house, to have 1t anywhere on the premises and to order 1t from any point outside the state. You are not supposed to ship 1t in and if any comes your way you are not supposed to receive 1t. The of- ficers of the law have the right to enter your home. your bedroom or your parlor and seize and carry away any liquor that may be found therein.
 The law is so drastic that to en- force 1t would probably put about half the male adult population in jail And the female adult popula- ton would likely go there, too. be- cause the woman in the house Is as guilty as the man when it comes to finding booze In the cupboard or beer in the refrigerator
 All of this probably means that Georgia has reached the apex of the prohibition craze. There are thousands of Georgians who are prohibitionists at heart and who want the general traffic in liquor stopped But they do not want the rights of those who desire to order liquor from other states infringed upon The prohibition agitation in Georgia is far from being at an end. The action of the special ses- sion of the legislature in making Georgia so dry that a fish trying to swim from the headwaters of the Chattahoochee river to the gulf would have to carry his own pri- vate supply of water is to be re- sented by a great many people who were stanch supporters of the bill which has now been dis placed. It is going to bring new courage to the genuine enemies of prohibition. The men who believe