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Show BIGGEST DRY TOWN r t SIX MONTHS OF PROHIBITION AT WORCESTER, MASS. A City of 140,000 Population Where No Strong Drink Is Sold Results Re-sults as Viewed from Both Sides. Worcester, Mass. Worcester is considerably con-siderably more than "nine miles from a lomon." In fact, the nearest lemon, not in the modern slung sense, but In that of Sydney Smith, Is a dozen miles away at the llrst wet town reached by tho electric cars. A town of 110,000 Inhabitants can live without excellent art of any kind, as forty or 11 ft y such in the United States demonstrate, hut can such a town live and nourish without tho sulu of strong drink? This Is the question that Worcester has been trying to solve In practlco for tho last six months, and the city's third distinction distinc-tion and tho ono Just now attracting most attention lies In the fact that sho is the largest dry town on earth. Worcester Is the second city of Massachusetts, Mas-sachusetts, the third of New Kngland. When It went dry by a majority of about 1,000 In a total vote of 2.000 In December last the town had 128 ordinary ordi-nary licensed drinking places. There were 17 Inn-holders with Hrst-cl.iHs licenses, li-censes, for which they paid $2,000 a year; 75 common victuallers licensed at $100 n year; 32 wholesalers licensed nt $2,000 a year; two brewers at $11,000 a year, 14 druggists at ono dollar dol-lar a year, three alcohol dealers at ono dollar a year and II special clubs at $100 a year. The ISO llconsed liquor sellers of all classes paid $220,000 a year Into the treasury. When the dry law went Into effect tho sain or liquor was in theory discontinued dis-continued In Worcester, excopt that tiie breweries went on making beer to bo sold to the outside world, and eight druggists were licensed to soil strong drink for medicinal purposes. Willi the closing of these places ahout 1,000 persons were thrown out of business. After six months' trial or local prohibition pro-hibition Worcester is about to volo again on the question or wet or dry for I ho next year. For several years tho town has been pretty close to going go-ing dry at times. Tho wets had It threo or Tour years ago by a majuilly of only about 100. Then they won by nearly a thousand, and so It Undiluted ! until the town went dry. Tho possibility that a narrow majority ma-jority vote may put the liquor dealers out of hutdness at any time hus tended perhaps to throw the control or retail liquor selling In Massachusetts towns Into tho hands or tho brewers. Few men or small capital could risk tho possibility of being drlvon out of business busi-ness on a few mouths' notice. J In Worcester, ns In other towns, j many saloons wore owned In the whole or in pint by the brewers and run by their agents. Now tho brewers two still In business as such, and they have u continuing Interest In keeping tho town wet. So have their agents, dependents, business friends and tho like. All of these such retailers and others oth-ers as have suffered or hulleve Hint Ihoy have suffered loss of trade hy reason of tho town's going dry, believers believ-ers In personal liberty, a good ninny of tho foreign population to whom pro l lbltlon is a doctino running counter to nM experience and the chronically thirsty who are personally Inconvenienced Inconven-ienced hy present conditions nml such politicians ns found open saloons con venleut places from which to Influence voters, are hopeful that the town may swing hack to the wet column In December. De-cember. The most active dries nro some of the faculty at Clark university, most of the local clergy, ninny zealous women wom-en and other reformers of various kinds. They look for support from votors who have found personal gain or moral advniilngu in Hie change from wet to dry, business men who havo prospered or believe they havo prospered pros-pered ror tlm Bame cause, employers or labor who Unci their employes more effective than they wero In wet seasons, sea-sons, perhaps from tho express companies com-panies which carry liquor Into n dry town and the railway companies which carry tho thirsty to neighboring wet towns. One o, the savings banks of Worces-tetr Worces-tetr furnishes nn Interesting comparison compari-son of deposits In tho quarter ended October 1, 100S, under dry conditions, and that ended October 1, 1908, under wet conditions. The deposits In tho dry quarter were $20.ri22.2GI.50, In tho wet ahout $5,100 more, but the fact that the hard times Intervened ho-twoen ho-twoen the two quarters seems to show that the change from wet to dry is at least not unfavorable to saving. |