Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-02-17
DRY Up SAVANNAH
FIRST, COLLEAGUES
TW|T Mr.. UPSHAW
Atlanta Journal News Bureau,
408 Evans Building.
BY THEODORE TILLER


Georgia, is expected to take the
floor within the next day or two
and reply to a story appearing in
the New York Tribune Tuesday
morning describing Savannah as a
wide open" town where liquor is
easily obtainable. The Georgia
member was much aroused when
he read the story, which grows out
of the recent visit to Savannah of
a congressional committee to meet
the soldiers returning from the
Rhine. Representative Upshaw,
who is advised in the Tribune ar
ticle to start on Savannah if he
would stop the United States from
drinking, informed one of the news
paper correspondents here that ne
regarded the story in the New York
paper as scandalous, and he in
| tended to reply to it.
Meanwhile, it is significant that
the house files of the Tribune have
been clipped and this story is miss
| ing. The disclosure, which is CIV
| ing Representative Upshaw consid-
cradle worry, is said to be based
on information. furnished by house
members who went to Savannah
last week and found no trouble in
| locating booze.
| The story, a Washington dispatch
| is under the headlines "UpshaW
state mecca Of arid, colleagues say:
Dry Georgia congressman twltted
| by associates who find Savannah
flowing with hard liquors" reads
as follows:
Savannah "Nide Open
GEORGIA, the home state of Rep
resentative Upshaw, the dry leader
who is fighting bootlegging activI-
ties in and around the capitol, gave
many chuckles to house members
today. Gossip started by members
Just returned to Washington from
a trip to Savannah, to welcome the
returning Rhine troops was not
! comforting either to Mr.. UpshaW
or to the other drys. Savannah
would be a good place for the Geor-
sia member of the house to begin
his work, they say, Citing tnelr
observations and experiences whlie
doing honor to the last OF the A
E. F., that city, judging from their
anecdotes. is nothing short OF .Wlde
omen and. incidentally, is contribut-
ing the newest and most picturesque
IN the endless methods OF law
evasion. Savannah of the shine
narlors' is the way it was halled
| TODAY by the patriotic lawmakers
who journeyed southwark a week
ago.
"The shine parlors amount viz
tually to a municipal institution and
in some parts of the city are so nu-
merous that five were found in six
blocks by actual count, 1t was
stated. The description given was:
"To all appearances they are
harmless soda water dispensarles'
with the exception that there is in
Variably a negro lounging against
the front door, his hands behind
| him. He is always there during bust
| ness hours and always has his hands
behind him, for upon the mainte'
nance of that position depends the
continued existence Of the place.
"'IIe keeps his fingers on pln-Hke
signal button, which connects cleo
| trically with the soft drink bar in
side. If an approaching customer is
| known, he mods good day and that
| is all. If he is unknown or If there
is a descent of enforcement officers,
! he merely presses the pin. There is
! never more than a gallon Of evidence
| in the place at one time. 1t is kept
under the counter and next to 1t is
large open can of strong dislnfect-
| ant, Ranged in view are bottles OF
| assorted soft drinks.
! In Case of Raid
| 1.-the known customer enters,
picks up one or more bottles. as he
| desires, and requests moonshine
! I.o11or. The soft drink is emptled
from them and they are filled from
the gallon container. If there is
raid, the shine is put with one deft
movement into the disinfectant and
there is no evidence. 1t works Tor
complete success from the shine
| barkeeps standpoint. One of these
places was raided nine times in three
| weeks and nothing could be found
except soft drinks and disinfectant.'
This liquor was quoted as selling
from % cents d pint upward. 1t
varies greatly in quality, of course.
| but as a general rule. it is superior
| to the Virginia moonshine, which is
! brought into Washington, it was de-
| clared.
System Is Tested
"In addition, there is an almost
unlimited amount of the higher
grades of imported intoxicants to be
had, it was said. The prices for
variety of Scotch WHISTLES were
| quoted to house members at from
| $45 q case up. One member of the
party, purely to test the reliability
of the Offers told a native Savan-
lnahian Just one hour before his train
| left for the return trip to Washing
| ton, he said, that he would like to
| get a case. He related his expert
ence as follows:
owe drove in a taxicab for about
| five blocks from the hotel. We stop
| ped at a downtown corner. There
were the usual number of persons
on the street. A man lounged
against an iron fence. There was a
gunny sack at his feet. My Savan!
nah friend, who had previously
'phoned him. called to him. He pick
ed up the sack, opened it and one by
! one counted out the twelve bottles
! in full view of the passersby, some
of whom merely smiled at the sight.
His price was $3.50 for the case.
| Further experiments he added,
showed that a drink of good liquor
could be got at hotel bars and other
| places in the city, sold over the bar
for so cents a drink. 1t was de-
clared that prohibition speech de-
| livered by Representative UpshaW,
who went on the congressional spe-
cial, at banquet on the visitors
first night in the southern port, was
coldly received"
|