The Dawson journal. (Dawson, Ga.) 1878-18??, 1883-02-15

This klndhearted, wealthy young
lady, kept the victim of opium
fastened in handsomely furnish.
ed room in her house for three
months, and had strong hopes Of
etfecting permanent cure when
one day, the young widow was
found in helpless condition Oh
the floor of her apartment. The
family physician pronounced tbs
cause Of the mysterious illness to
be solely morphine. How she
succeeded in obtaining the drug
will never be known as she refus-
ed to tell, but it is supposed some
Of the colored servants, to whom
she was very kind, moved to com
passion by her earnest entreaties,
secretly procured the opium in
one of its many forms for her.
After several exhibitions of this
kind, and many broken reforma-
ton promises on the part of the
now wretched woman, the husband
of the kindly disposed woman
turned the once beautiful blonde
belle out of the house, and she had
no where to seek shelter except
the resorts of the depraved of her
sex. 70 one of these places she
went, and after brief soiourn
there, on account of her loss of
beauty and attractiveness she was
again turned into the street.
Nothing now remained, for the
man and woman forsaken creature
but charitable home, and after
being almost starved for the lack
of food and almost frozen by be-
ing without shelter, on the 25th
day of last month-when it seem
ed as if all the world was filled
with holiday joys and mirth held
high carnival even in the remotest
corners Of the earth-she was adj
mltted to an institution of this
kind. The once lovely face had
now so changed that there was
not even the shadow of resem-
blance between its now hideous
distortions and contractions. and
the lily and roses commingled, and
the beaming blue eyes which
charmed all beholders only ten
brief years ago. And the stately,
graceful figure, once so envied by
every woman who saw it, had now
shrunk into miserable burlesuue
upon what it once had been. A
few days ago the sorrowful and
eventful life was brought to a
close by the advent of the king of
terrors. A few hours before her
death she feebly wrote the follow
ing sorrowful note which shows
that she was only too glad to es-
cape from the woes of her life and
the anguish of her existence:
HER LAST WORDS OF ANGUISH.
81 have not only ruined my life,
but [ have ruined that Of my low
ing husband, and am truly his
murderer; just as much SO as if I
had personally dealt him a death
blow; had killed him with my own
hand. l am going TO die in a very
few hours, and am thankful to
God that the end to my wretched,
weary existence has come at last.
My only hope now is that [ will
meet my dear husband in the next
world, whatever that may be for
me. Opium ruined me, and by
destroying me killed him. After
acquiring the fatal appetite for
that damnable drug | could never
resist its terrible seductions.
Great God how [ have suffered,
how | have wildly fought, but all
in vain-all in vain. See what l
am, how | die, and what [ might
be and my dear loving husband
might be too, had it not been for
that awful appetite.
| do not fear the hell ministers
talk about in the next world-the
world [ very soon shall be in-for
even in its worst aspect it cannot
be more terrible hell than I have
suffered here for five years past.
Oh if this is made public, if it
should happen to get into the pa
pers, girls, women, you of my
own sex who read it, | beseech
you never touch opium in any one
of its many seductive forms. No
matter what your family doctor
may say, never, never think"
HERE THE NOTE