Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-07-24
How = wcstcrncr Died From Opium.


have always had ,:orror OF "piates
of all kinds. They are so seductive
and SO still in their operations. They
steal through the blood like wolf on
the trail, and they seize upon the heart
at last with their white tangs tlll IL IS
still forever
Up the Laramie there IS cluster OF
ranches ut the base of the Medicine
Bow. near the north end OF Sheep
Mountain and in sight of the glitteung,
eternal frost of the snoWyrangc. These
ranches are the homes OF young men
from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and
Ohio. and now there arc several
t'vounoer sons of Old England with
herds oil horses, steers and sheep, worth
millions OF dollars. These young mea
are not the kind OF whom the metropo-
Titan ass writes rs saying 'youbetcher-
life" and calling everybody ''pard-
ner. - They are many Of them college
graduates. and can brand wild Mare
rick or furnish the easy gestures for
Strauss waltz.
They wear human clothes, talk IN
the United States language aud haze
bank account. This spring they may
be wearing chaparajos and swinging
uurt through the thin air, and in July
they may be at Long Branch or color
ing meorschaum pipe among the
Alps.
Well, n young man whom we VIII
call Curtis lived at one Of these ranch
os years ago. and though n quiet
mind-YOur-own business fellow, VINO
had absolutely no enemies among ms
companions, lac had the misfortune to
incur the wrath OF tramp shepherd
or, who waylaid Curtis one afternoon
and shot him dead as he sat in his bug
ry. Curtis wasn't armed. he didn't
dream of trouble till he drove home
from town. and as he passed through
the gate OF q corral saw the hairy face
Of the herdcr, and ut The same moment
the flash Of a Winchester rifle. That
was all
A rancher came into town and tele-
graphed to Curtis father and then
half dozen citizens went ont TO help
capture the herder, who had fled to the
sage brush of the foothills.
They didn't get back tilltoward day
break. but they brought the herder
with Them I saw him in the gray of
the morning lying in n coarse gray
blanket on the floor of the engine
house. lie was dead.
asked, rs reporter how he came
to his death and they told me-opium!
] said. did / understand you to say"ro-
pium2' They said no, 10 was opium.
The murderer had taken poison when
he found that escape was impossible.
was present no the inquest SO that (
could report the ease. There was but
very little testimony, but all the evil
dcnce seemed to point TO the fact that
life was extinct and q verdict OF death
by his own hand was rendered.
IL was the first opium work | had
ever seen and it aroused my curiosity.
Death by opium, it seems, leaves a dark
purple ring around She neck did no.
know this before People who die by
opium also te their hands together be-
fore they die This is one of the ccccn-
tricitios OF opium poisoning that | have
never seen laid down in the books. !
bequeath il 10 medical science When
ever | run up against % new scientific
discovery ! just hand il right over to
the public without cost
Ever since the above incident have
been very apprchensiye about people
who seem to be likely toform the opium
habit 10 is one of the mos deadly of
narcotics, especially in a new country.
High up in the pure mountain atmos-
phere this man could not secure enough
air TO prolong lie and he expired. In
a land where clear, crisp mir and de-
iighful scenery are abundant. he
turned his back upon them both and
passed away Is ii not sad TO con-
template? -BU Ayc IN Detroit Free
Press
-z-----