Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-03

was treated Tor three months. and two weeks
ago be returned 20 Washington entirely, freed
from desire for those beautiful dreams with
blacklist he'll beyond them.
KLKsroMASlAos
The fashionable world. in other cities AZ least.
has been quite frequently startled by the semi
public announcement that some member Of the
400 was detected in the act of stealing goods
and knicknacks, sometimes Of no earthly value
20 the thief, In large stores where the party
was known as customer or not, as the case
might be- II the victim Of the act happened 10
be popular in his or her set. the stealing was
generally set down As an unfortunStee exposures 81
kleptomania, and the public at large rarely be-
came the wiser.
To lie and steal seem characteristics Of opium
nends, for they can no more help such Attions
than they can help breathing. Any l00-foot
steeple becomes Eiffel tower under the
drugs influence On one occasion a lady who
desired his services lived with her husband At =
fashionable hotel, and one morning the doctor
was summoned thither and ushered into the
presence OF handsome woman something over
forty years of age. who was reclining luNuri-
ously on sofa. The French maid. who called
for the doctor, explained that her mistress all
ment was mystery. At times she was oxhil-
arased. lovisl and good-natu-ed. and al others
so morose and unreasonable that her friends
suspected her Of insipient insanity. The doc
tor made several calls. carefully questioned the
patient and left prescriptions. but somehow
there was no improvement and the physician
came away after each visit more puzzled than
before.
He suspected very early in the case that the
woman was addicted 20 the use Of drngs. in
spite OF the patients assertions that she never
used an oriate of any kind. Careful pumping
of the French maid revealed the fact that her
mistress was in the habit of sending messenger
boys from the hotel 10 drug stores and thew
With H..
ing small tablets. She was accustomed TO tax
ing these several times a day. the maid de-
clared. and at night repeated the dose Just be-
fore retiring. two or three extra tablets being
frequently placed under her pillow. The maid
managed to secure two of the bottles with their
contents, for the doctor. and then the game was
his. The tablets were Immediately found TO be
morphine, and the labels on the phials revealed
the druggists Acting upon their fears Of legal
prosecution for selling the drugs in such man
ner the doctor eNacted promise from each to
furnish the woman with no further quantities
OF the poison, and in that way cut off her sup
plies.
That afternoon he called as usual upon the
patient and quietly informed her that he had
at last correctly diagnosed her ailment. To her
query OF Indeed. what is It?" the doctor re-
Piled, You are taking morphine"
II have never taken n grain of morphine in
my lie, was the indignant response. and when
the physician had related how be circumvented
her plans TO keep supplies of the deadly drug
she informed HIM of his discharge on the
spot. But was imperturbsble as a pig on
ice, said the medico in relating the story. and
assured the patient that intended doing moth
ing Of the sort. would consul: with her hus-
band and see what he said about it, The result
was that the lady consented to be placed under
restraint in her room. We gradually reduced
her daily doses of morphine and by the time
summer set IN she was completely cured"
HOW 1T HAPPENED
1t transpired afterward that this particular
devotee of the morphine habit was introduced
to the effects Of the drug by another promi-
nent physician of Washington She had called
the latter's medical services into requisition
while suffering from a slight attack OF intes-
final collie, and to relieve the pain the doctor
used an injection of morphine. A second call
for the same trouble met with the same pre-
scription, and in very short time the woman
was a slave to the drug. During the early
stages OF the habit morphine eaters are wonder
fully shrewd ana cunning, and are able TO con-
ceal from their friends the fact that they are
consuming the narcotic every day. II is pretty
dlthcult to deceive an honest physician who il
called in as the contraction of the pupils of the
eye Is almost an indubitable sign, and the doctor
afterward learned why this symptom of NOR
phlne using was absent in the lady's case. She
had read of the infallible rule in diagnosis
adopted by physicians and cut of the possi-
bilty Of discovery Of her slavery by using BELLA
donna, which is well known as an application
bound to enlarge the pupils of the eye. All
this she frankly confessed after a cure was well
advanced.
HOW THE DRUG rs PROCURED.
"But where on earth do these fiends get their
regular supplies Of morphine from, doctor. es-
pecially when the law requires that druggists
can deal it out only on a prescription from a
reputable physician, just like any other poisou?"
The question was asked by The STAR man,
and the physicians answer was: From drug
gists. of course and by the simplest Of means
possible. The less careful class of doctors do
not carry morphine around with them, and
whenever II is an absolute necessity TO give the
drug for extreme cases of pain they give pre-
scriptions. Then it is just as easy for the user
to have the same prescription flied again and
again at the same drug store or a duplicate OF
II at another. OF course the expense runs Up
to considerable sums by and by, but ten to one
the druggist doesn tcare a rap about the law of
the matter, and sells anything he can so long as
the purchaser is able TO nav. Under the cir
cumstances there is, therefore. little ground for
wonderment where the raaniac gets his stock in
trade for dreams and ensuing hell on earth.
There are dozens of drug stores to be worked
by the trick. and just contemplate my parody
OF a familiar old quotation, Morphine doth
make liars of us all, and think il will be seen
where they would otherwise refuse to give a
caller one grain of the drug.
No, sir. added the doctor in conclusion of
his epic. 1.-THE more think of il and the more
see OF its deadly effects every day in nv prac-
tice the more l am convinced that there should
be a law which would prohibit the sale OF NOR
phine to anybody but physicians. There might
be some unprincipled rascals in the medical
profession who would sell the drug TO regular
users, but those cases would be comparatively
few as a whole, and one big element among the
social evils of the day would be eradica.ed.
We have a populous jail here in Washington,
and it may seem an odd assertion TO made that
more of the crime there represented is due 20
morphine than TO whisky, but am ready to
make that assertion and stand by it, too. The
victim of morphine is not 50 demonstrative in
public as his brother unfortunate with the rum
bottle. and that is practically the only differ
ence. We prohibit the sale of liquor after
midnight every day and altogether on Sunday.
The promiscuoas sale of morphine is forbidden
legally at all times. We generally prod up any
violators of the excise regulations and all that
Washington needs is entire stringency as far as
the druggists are concerned. and it will mean
the release from bondage for many hundreds Of
slaves in this very city,
Tried for Shooting n Moonshiner.
In he init I