The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-10-27

City or Relatives was that He Might be
Enabled to Obtain the Drug which had
Reduced Him from q High Standing to
that of Physical Wreck.
There was a sad sight at the police
| station last night. Dr. Fordyce was
prescribing medicine. or rather poison,
to a man, who was q human wreck from
| the morphine habit
The man was former business man
of Wichita, and a man Of giant intel
| lect, but for the last five years has been
| a resident of a neighboring city. His
rame is Ruben Bransan, and is we'll
known here.
In The early eighties he came to Wich-
tia fresh frcm Ann Ar5or, Mich, where
Ghe had graduated with high honorS.
He embarked in business on North Main
street and for a time did a thriving BUS
mess. His check was counted good at
the counting houses any day for thous-
ands of dollars He was not caught
in the boom. but today he is a wreck,
| not financially, bat physically.
DIR. Fordyce in speaking of the man,
| who was then confined in a cell at the
police station, and for whom he had
left a large supply of morphine TO keep
| the man quiet through the night. turn
ed to an Eagle representative who was
ataiding by, and humping the NOR
phine bottle, said:
THAT poor fellow IS 10 be pftied. He
has taken thousands of dollars worth
of this damnable drug which today is
cursing the American people more than
even whisky has done. This drug is
used more in Wichita than many have
e H.,
who have LEFT OF drinking Intoxicating
liquors, and have begun stimulating
themselves upon this drug, because IT
is not SO easily detected. There are
women who are rejoicing today because
their husbands and sons have stopped
| this use of the intoxicating cup, but they
little realize that the ones in whom they
are rejoicing have contracted a habit
that means ruin, both physically and
mentally.
This poor man here has used over
sixty grains of this drug in a day. He
! is an expert in the use Of the drug, but
you see what wreck he is at the pres
emit time l remember only short
time ago his relatives were in my Office
and were rejoicing that this man (call-
/ ing him by name had quite drinking.
! l knew at the time he was practiciElg a
much worse habit than that Of drink,
I but could not think of shattering their
hopes.
II often meet that man and talk to
| him about the use of the drug. At shat
I time me was using only about one grain
( per day. He had contracted the habit
while en- visit to friends in California,
and had visited am opium den and
smoked his first pipe. After that every
/ little pain or ache was an excuse for
! taking the drug. 1t was but a short
time until ne was not contersaed unless
he was smoking the stuff Then came
the hyprcdermic needle, and now the
wreck. l would rather take twenty
cases of alcoholism than one Of NOR
| phtneism.
Office Fisher was on duty and when
the physician had gone out leaving him
width the man, he turned to the reporter
and said:
II was just thinking while the doctor
was talking why Ut is that ministers do
not ory out more against the morphine
habit as they do with reference 10 liquor
There IS a Chinese jolt down on East
| Douglas avenue, where not only men
and boys go to hit the pipe, but women
as we'll. There are more persons being
! injured today in Wichita by morphine
than there ever was in Wichita when
everything was run open.
big spree and is put in the calabose,
the next morning he is fined and t.
leased, and is but little worse of the
wear, but it is not 50 with the morphine
fiend. The first will probably return 10
( his work and will not stop to hunt
! drink, burt THE latter loses no time until
/ he has the drug. He Will have II, and
! grows worse every day. We can pick
! out mem every day upon the streets who
were at one time addicted to the in
/ toXicating bowl. but where can you find
/ reformed morphine fiends?
There is not a day passes but what
| there are just such sights. as the man
| down stairs tonight brought 20 view.
| There is one thing which Is radically
! wrong and that is in.toXica'tjCn by drugs
, is held TO be respectable, while that of
whisky is hooked upon as diSgraceful.
/ Go TO church tomorrow and YOU viii
see setting in the pews. looking per-
| fectly sam0tinCDiouS and righteous the
| man who is Intoxicated with morphine
! and who would raise his hand in holy
| horror if a man should take a seat be-
side him whose breath smelled of Il
| quor The minister Will shout against
| the gfltad palaces OF hell where the vile
| nqlls.r IS dealt out. but he won't have
! word to say against the respectable
J drTInkaTd in the pew. and who Is tpr
! time able to hide his intemPersnce from
view. want TO see the time when the
| American people VIII rise up in their
| manhood and throw of the Chinese
yoke that 1t fest binding the lives and
hopes Of the peopie-
! There goes that man and WI nave
70 give him the needle and ret him shoot
| some more Of mis- cursed stun IN his
| carcass. can remember when he was
che of the best athletics IN the city"
He gave the man the syringe and
| with trembling hands he prepared the
J mixture with great skill and raising his
| coat sleeve found a fresh spot and shot
| enough Of tele poison into his system 20
| have killed The biegsEt OK that was ever
/ offered upcn tiee Wichita livestock mar
/ k-t. In j Sh0-t time he was quiet and
! cared nothing for rs surroundings,
| Whether silver vas TemOletlzsd or not,
w-hssheC prohibition won or failed;
| whether Wtcls1-a would become a city
/ or Nike Topeka. a whi,ened SepulChTe
/ of hypocrisy; whether his family and
1 relatives live or did. all the trouble ne
/ and was TO be assu-ed he could O5<ain
4 the drug No manhood. liberty. self
pride or NNrsraston. lie was slave OF
/ U1he worst type
QUITE BOOM IN LAND