Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-06-08
KNOCKER OUT DROPS.
PETER PLAYERS, THEIR DRUGS AND
THEIR WAY OF OPERATING.
They Not Only Haunt the Dives of New
York, but Also Seek Their Victims In the
Swell Places-Some Doubt as To the Drug
Peter Sawyer. the Pioneer.

York, but Also Seek Their Victims In the
Swell Places-Some Doubt as to the Drug
| Peter Sawyer. the Pioneer.
1t would be hard TO find lower class OF
| criminals In this city today than the cow
ardly frequenters of the Bowcry, who
| nightly secure victims through the mo
dunn of what is known In police parlance
| as "knocker out" The operators of this
| deadly drug represent the lowest order of
| criminals, also the most dangerous, ms it
| Is next to impossible TO break them up.
They are known to the police as Peter
| players" because the pioneer of the bust
ness in this country was old Peter Saw.
| yer, as desperate crook rs ever got in the
hands Of the police of this city.
The resorts of burglars, sneak thieves,
| pickpockets and confidence men have one
| by one been broken up by the authorities
| and the crooks scattered all over the coun-
| try, but tho Peter players still flourish
and will continue to do SO just as long as
choral hydrate is rs easy TO obtain as 1t is
| at present and intoxicated men will con-
| sent to drink with strangers. The resorts
Of Peter players" cannot be broken up,
| because they are the SWEETEST and most re-
| spectacle places In town. A crook will adj
minister the "knocker out" in respecta-
| BILE place as readily as he will in some
| Bowery dive and therein lies the danger.
They will administer the 'knocker out"
| ut the bar Of some respectable place and
then walk the victim TO n spot where they
| can rob him at leisure, or else they will Sc
cure private room in some swell cafe and
when the victim has fallen prey to the
drug relieve him Of his valuables and leave
him there. Fully half dozen Peter
players are arrested In this city every
month. On some the drug Is found, and
In these cases conviction is invariably Sc
cured, but most of them manage to destroy
the only evidence against themselves after
arrest. The drug Is always carried in
small vial of very thin glass, which is
usually placed In the vest pocket, where 10
can be got In an instant One slap at the
vest pocket will break the vial into hun
dred pieces and cause the evidence to sud-
denly disappear.
Just what drugs are used in the manu-
facture Of "knocker OUT has been mat
ter of discussion among medical men and
the authorities for long time. Samples
taken from the persons OF prisoners have
been handed over to chemists and druggists
time and again TO be analysed, but some
how or other no two Of the experts agree
as to what IL really Is. One reason for this
Is that the most expert of the Peter play
ers" mix In other light drugs with the
main ingredient Of "knocker out in order
to render the poison obscure. Few Of the
men who operate with knockers OUT
know just what they are handling What
they do know, however, is just how TO adj
minister the drug and just how much TO
give in order to bring about the desired re-
suit. Old Peter Sawyer, the first crook to
use "knocker out" used TO operate with
nothing more deadly than snuff He would
mix II In with the victims beer and then
patiently wait for results. The trouble
with this mixture, however was that 1t
was difficult to tell how much to give a
man. Mems stomachs are different, and
If man got too much it would make him
sick before he arrived at the sleepy stage
Vomiting would follow, and that of course
would destroy the effect of the mixture
Many people believe that genuine knock
er OUT is Majendie's solution Of morphine
but this is mistake The drug Is too dan
gerous and Is never used by Peter play
ers" Chloral hydrate Is the drug that is
used today by crooks, and although other
poisons are sometimes mixed In with 1t it
Is not TO weaken or strengthen the drug,
but simply TO prevent chemists from find
ing out what the main ingredients of the
mixture are.
The medicinal dose of choral hydrate
is from 10 to 80 grains while between 30
and 40 grains are used for knockout pur-
poses The drug is compounded in the
proportions of one grain to n drop, and
consequently it takes about a teaspoonful
to dose glass of beer
A form of administering "knocker out"
l. til
game went out was by ring with an adj
Unstable stone. The stone was worn inside
the hand, the plain band of the ring belt
ing the outside of the finger. a spring
would move the stone TO one side. Under
the stone the crooks would conceal a NOR
phine or opium pill, which they would
drop into glass of beer or whisky. This
game was not always successful however,
as the pill would not always dissolve, and
the drinkcr, If he didn't accidentally swal-
low it, would spit it out. Its discovery
was apt TO bring on fight, too, which Is
something the Peter player" always
wants to avoid
"Knocker out" men always travel in
pairs. They pick up victim on the street
II he Is drunk or in some resort If he is So
Der. The acquaintance Of drunken man
is easy to secure on the street, while So
Der man must be accosted in different
fashion. Brushing up against a drunken
man, then apologizing and then inviting
him to have n drink or accepting his invi
tation to drink Is one way Of securing
victim. A saloon is visited, private room
is suggested, and drinks are served. The
victims attention Is distracted for mo-
ment, and In that moment the drops of
"knocker out" are placed in his drink
He drinks, falls asleep and wakes up hours
later, sick and with n splitting headache
his money and jcwelry rs well as his com
panions gone II the place is a hangont
for Peter players, " he gets kicked out
when he complains to the bartender. II IL
Is respectable house. he gets plenty of
sympathy and possibly few dollars from
the proprietor, who does not want the rep
utation OF his place sullied by the making
public of the occurrence.
Sober men are worked in other ways.
Acquaintance are struck upwith them In
billiard rooms, hotels, theaters and swell