The Northwestern standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1885-1886, 1885-12-19
OPIUM In CIGARETTES.


A. VA u Al LIZ u LINZ
Terrible Experience Of a Boy Of Fourteen
A remarkable instance of Juvenile de
| pravity was brought to the notice Of
Justice Kilbretb at Jefferson Market
| Police Court during the past week in
| the person Of James Clarke, aged four
teen years, whose place of residence
was on West Thirty ninth street. The
| boy lived with his mother until a few
weeks ago, when she died, leaving the
| lad alone with his married sister, Mrs
Alice O'Brien, as his guardian. Clarke
the married sister soon found out after
| the mothers death. was a confirmed
cigarette smoker The women chided
! the lad and cautioned him to stop the
practice, and even went so far as to
| take from him any money by which he
might procure the cigarettes. This
plan she found useless for upon inquiry
! Of some of the neighbors it was learned
| that young Clarke had succeeded new
erthe less in getting the cigarettes and
smoking them alone in the apartments
| which he and his mother had occupied
He then gave up attending school to de
vote his time to his daily course of CT
gazette smoking, and it was through
! this last custom that the sister discov-
cred he had taken the feather pillows
L z hi, = fFfl
and mattresses from his dead mothers
house and sold them for a trife in or
der to secure means Of gratifying the
cravings of his Unsuitable appetite.
| At last, finding her young brother had
| become perfect slave to the cigarette,
| the sister determined on having him
| placed where his remarkable weakness
could be cured. With this purpose she
| went to Agent Henry A. Stocking, Of
1 the Society for the Prevention Of CRU
city to Children. and through the eli.
forts of that official secured a warrant
| for the lad s arrest. Officer Mccormack
of the Twentieth Precinct, early next
morning went to West Thirty ninth
street with warrant to get the boy
| When confronted with the charge OF
having taken his mothers bedding and
sold it to get more cigarettes, young
| Clarke began to cry and admitted the
charge was true. The lads eyes were
greatly swollen and the pupils dilated
while his nervous system appeared
considerably impaired. Even on the
way to Court little Clarke's weakness
asserted itself, and Officer Mccormack
was appealed to by the boy pitiously to
procure him cigarette.
A prominent member of the medical
profession aud a chemist Of known re-
pute was questioned as to the case, and
he attributed the craving aud symp-
toms as described to the presence OF
opium in the cigarettes. THAT many
of The cigarettes upon the market con-
tain some extract Of opium in a tine
tured or light FORM said the gentle
man, 'sgoes beyond question, for at al
most any place of public entertain
ment where smoking is allowed the
well-known smell of the drug is at once
distinguishable In these low dives
and concert halls the very atmosphere
is. heavy with the ,fsssas OF the arE Z
from the cigarettes smoked there
| Gases like that of this boy ara more and
more frequent each day, and 1 WOult
also add the same habit is noted among
females. With these it first reveals it
self in the eyes and complexion. The
skin becomes ashley and salloW, while
the eyes grow dull and dilated. Yor
see these symptoms are Identical with
| those Of the opium habit. | had case
of q boy not long ago like this lads you
mention. But he was of wealthy par.
ents. This little fellow first contracted
the habit through companions atschool
| When his mother discovered that he
was smoking she took the precautlon
Of sending servant to and from school
with him each day. found the boys
system badly shattered. ] was at first
surprised to hear him tell me how be
had tried to smoke cigars to get off his
cigarette practice and could not. Like
your boy who has been locked up, he
only felt the pleasure in the paper
rolled article. ! got some OF these ci-
garettes. and found in two lots differ
emit qualities Of paper that each contain
ed arsenic and a faint trace of opium in
diluted form"
Officer Mccormack i'll narrating his
experience with young Clarke, said:
THE boy seems to be a cigarette 6end.
On the way to the Court he actually
begged me for God IS sake to buy him a
cigarette. He could not get along with
out one. He acknowledged selling his
mothers bed things to get cigarettes,
and in the neighberhood he was never
known to be without one in his mouth.
! have, myself, noticed lately boys con-
stantly smoking the thing, and the
candy stores around some of the pub
lie schools to supply the demand, have
begun making them a SPECIAL part OF
their stock. 7 Said an inveterate
smoker, who was asked his opinion on
the boys case: II was always a smoker
of cigarettes until here about two
months ago I began to experience the
exact symptoms and effects that that
boy Clarke did Then my presence
among some people was complained of
as obnoxious. When ] questioned on