Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-05-29
THE DEADLY OPIUM HABIT.
where il is Prevalent and what Curiou
Effects il has Upon Patients.
Tassr.V H.

Fr'f"N FFeS fTery.
| have always had horror of opiateS of
all kinds They are 80 seductive and so
still in their operations. They steal through
the blood like a wolf on the trail, and they
seize upon the heart with their white GangS
til! It is still forever
Up the Laramie there i, a cluster Of
ranches n the base of the We lininc Bow
near the north end Of Sheep Mountain and
in sight Of the s!it,cring, eternal frost of the
Snowy Range These ranches are the
homes of Young men from Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania aud Ohio. and now there are
several younger sons of Old England with
herds of horses steers and sheep, worth mil
lions of dollars. These Young men are not
the kind Of whom the metropolitan ass
writes as saving "yOubetvOurlife.' and call
ing everybody 'pardner" They are, many
Of them, college graduates, who can brand n
wild Maverick or furnish the easy gestures
for Strauss waltz.
They wear human clothes, talk in the
United States language and have a bank
account. This spring they may be wearing
chaparajOS and swinging quirt through the
thin air, and in july they may be at Long
Branch or colOring mcerSchaum among
the Alps.
Well a young man whom We will call
Curtis lived at one of these ranches years
ago and though a quiet, miud-your-own-
business fellow. who had absolutely no en-
emies among his companions, he had the
misfortune to incur the wrath of tramp
Sheep-herder, who waylaid Curtis one after
noon, and shot him dead. as he sat in his
buggy. Curtis wasn't armed. He didn I
dream of trouble till he drove home from
town, and as he passed through the gate Of
a corral saw the hairy face Of the herler
and at the same moment the flash of Win
chester rifle. That was all.
A rancher came into town and telegraphcd
Curtis father, and then halfdOzen citizens
went out to help capture the hertler, who
had fled to the sage brush OF the foot hills
They didn't get back till near daybreak. but
they brought the hcricr with them. saw
him in the gray Of the morning living in
coarse gray blanket on the floor of the en-
gine house. lie was dead asked, aS a
reporter how he came 10 his death, AMI they
tod m,-opiwn' said did understand
YOU to say .'rupium? They said no. II was
omum The murderer hal taken poison
when he found tina; escape was impossible.
wa, present at the inquest 80 that
couli report the cast. Their" was very lit
lie testimony. but all The evidence seemed
a. point - ih. fact hat life was extinct and
verdict of lrath bv his own hand was rem
derud. Il wa> the first opium work had
ever seen aud it reused my curiosity Death
bv opium it seems. leaves dark purple
ring around the neck dill not know thi,
before. People who lie Of opium also tie
their hands together betoJe they die. Til,
/, ON of the ccccnrriciticS Of opium poison
inc that have never Se"u.laid down in the
books. bCqueath it to medical science
Whenever | run up against a new
scientific discovery | Just hand it right over
to the public without cost.
Ever since the above incident | have
been very apprehenSiye about people who
seem to be likely to form the opium habit.
1t is one of the most deadly Of narcotics
especially in a new country. High up in
the pure mountain atmosphere this man
could not secure enough air to prolOng life
and he expired In a land where clear,
crisp air and delightful scenery are abund-
ant he turned his back upon them both
and passed away. Is it not sad to contem-
plotp2