The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1888-05-05
A young LIFE WRECKED.
How Frank Wellner Was Dragged
Down to the Depths OF Misery by
0ntuTn


[Chicago Times.]
Two young men were walking down
the Bowery in New York one day
One of them was scarcely more than
a boy. The other was older in years
snJ experience. They passed Chin
ese laundry and the young man re-
marked:
That's an opium joint, isn't it1"
YES" his companion replied,
"Have you ever hit the pipel" "No.n
"Then you have missed something.
Come down stairs and try it."
The boy had heard good many
weird stories about opium pipe fends
and there was a piece OF. the sensa-
tional about the proposed adventure.
He stepped down and tried one of the
long bamboo reeds through which the
drug is smoked. He slept heavily; be
dreamt delicious dreams; he thought
he was in paradise and awOke head
achy and penitent.
He was penitent all the next day,
but along towards night he began to
think Of his sensations, his leap into
tho atmosphere ofsoft lights and
hazy figures with more pleasure and
even the thought of his waking dull
ness was less painful than it had been
that morning. The boy suddenly re-
fiected: Its getting the better of me
already. | mustn't go there tonight"
and he didn't go-nOt that night.
But he went later on and again and
again, and slowly the dreams began to
fade away and gradully the fumes of
cooking opium affected him less and
less. lie tried whisky and found it
did him little good. Then he went to
laudanum, still drinking liquor in
greater aud greater quantities. The
laudanum gave him relief, but its
course was like the opium-it satis-
fed him ut first, but eventually only
made his appetite worse, aud the more
lie took of II the more lie wanted.
Then he adopted tae last resort of the
"fenl." Finding the drug smoked
or eaten was slow and unsatisfactory
in its results, lie took Ia the hypoder-
mic syringe. And the other day the
result came when. wild-eycd and dis
traught in mind, lac sought refuge in
Justice Kersten's court from imagin-
ary conspirators wL0, he thought in
his undetermined brain, were banded
together To take his life. His mother
stood beside him and soothed him
when he rayed madiy at the plan to
assassinate him. Twenty three years
old and an opium victim
This was the story of young F. l..
Wellner, who sat behind the grated
window in the rooms of the county Jail
devoted 10 the insane yesterday and
restlessly shifted about to ease his
wretched body. He is IN opium mad
man, his body is covered with sores
from the incisions made by the syringe,
and he has the delirium tremens.
And these are not his only misfortunes.
lie has been married three times.
Twenty-three years old and an opium
victim!
Twsuty-threc years old and three
times married.
lie was married the first time when
he was II years old-a year before he
took to frequenting the dens of New
York. His wife divorced from him.
lie married again, and divorced a
second time. Then he turned around
and remarked his first wife, who now
lives in New York with her child.
His mother is the wife of Harry
Thomas, the we'll known singer. Well
ner was a telegraph operator and
stenographer, and good one. He
earned $500 month and spent $3.50
of it for whisky. The rest went for
the necessities of life-.morphine and
laudanum, and for few luxuries like
food and clothes When he was ar
rested he was taking five doses of five
grains each day.
A citizen of Chicago bet $50 with