runken
inertia to sobriety.

On that day when the mobilization of the Russian Army began, special
policemen visited every public place where vodka is sold, locked up the
supply of the liquor, and placed on the shop the imperial seal. Since
the manufacture and sale of vodka is a Government monopoly in Russia, it
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 peasantry; already they are beginning to
look like a different race. The marks of suffering, the pinched looks of
illness and improper nourishment have gone from their faces. There has
been also a remarkable change in the appearance of their clothes. Their
clothes are cleaner, and both the men and women appear more neatly and
better dressed. The destitute character of the homes of the poor has
been replaced with something like order and thrift.

In Petrograd and Moscow the effect of these improved conditions is
fairly startling. On holidays in these two cities inebriates always
filled the police stations and often lay about on the sidewalks and even
in the streets. Things are so different today that unattended women may
now pass at night through portions of these cities where it was formerly
dangerous even for men. Minor crimes and misdemeanors have almost
vanished.

Tchelisheff, the man who virtually accomplished this miracle, was a
peasant by birth, originally a house painter by profession, then Mayor
of the city of Samara, and now a millionaire. Physically he is a giant,
standing over 6 feet 4 inches in his stocking feet, and of powerful
build. Although he is 55 years old, he looks much younger. His movements
display the energy of youth, his eyes are animated, and his black hair
is not tinged by gray.

In Petrograd Mr. Tchelisheff is generally found in a luxurious suite of
rooms in one of the best hotels. He goes about clad in a blue blouse
with a tasseled girdle, and baggy black breeches tucked into heavy
boots. He offers his visitors tea from a samovar and fruit from the
Crimea. Speaking of what he had accomplished for the cause of sobriety
in Russia, Mr. Tchelisheff said:

"I was reared in a small Russian village. There were no schools or
hospitals, or any of the improvements we are accustomed to in civilized
communities. I picked up an education from old newspapers and stray
books. One day I chanced upon a book in the hands of a moujik, which
treated