Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-09-05
LIVING ON PolSONS.
ttrychnine Fiend Is the Latest and Stran.
gest Victim TO the Drugs.


A new kind of patient can shortly be
looked for mt the gold cure establishment,
the victim Of the strychnine habit. We
have had the cocaine fiend. the morphine
flend, the slave OF the hashecsh drug and
the wrctched mortals whom only n regular
diet of opium could keep alive.
The strangest victim to drugs of an cx-
ccssivcly stimulating nature, however, is
the strychninc ficnd. Strychninc is known
to medical science as deadly poison, but
when under medical direction it acts as u
powerful! tonic, greatly stimulating the
heart's action 30 powerful is it in its
operation that only the most inflnitcSimal
proportion is allowed in a tonic prcscrip-
ton. Yet il has been seized upon by the
physical wrecks Of civilization rs n means
of stimulating the ilickering spark Of life,
and strychninc Jag can be added to
the hilarious moments that nerve smash
ing drugs afford.
The discovery of the strychninc ficnd
was made by II religious worker in Il large
city, whose mission takes him nightly into
the society of women 10 whom excitement
of some kind is essential to the forgctful
ness Of LIES dark side This missionary
recently found, early one morning the
the pavement She was taken tn one Of
the institutions In connection with which
the missionary worked, and a doctor sent
for 1t was clearly u ease of jag" OF some
kind or other. The usual remedies were
applied, hut the dcnthlikc pall'y of the pa
tents face and the queer action of the
heart alarmed the doctor, and he ordered
her clothing To he searched to obtain a clcw
m, tf
consciousness.
In the wOnan's pocket was found n
small bottle containing few pellets,
which upon investigation, proved ~ CON
tain enough strychnine to kill an elephant
The woman was suffering from an over
dose If strychninc, and the drug had done
its work we'll 1t was with the greatest
difficulty that her life was saved, and for
days following this she cried pitifully for
the deadly tonic that was withheld from
her. From her own statement, and the
doctor and those present believed IL, she
had begun by taking very small portion
of strychninc, and, as the craving for the
| drug increased had added to her daily
dose until she found she could take with
IMMUNITY quantity sufficient to kill ten
people who We're unused tn poison
a reporter who visited the chemists
shops in the districts gathered some addi-
tional particulars regarding the new
dope One chemist stated that the poi
son book in which entries are made of all
| deadly drugs sold, showed n steady in
crease in the amount of strychninc con-
sumed. lit is quite evident that the new
stimulant is gaining in favor, said this
druggist, land the rccklessness of the
'flcnds' is sure To result in some fatality
unless druggists decline to sell strychnine
altogether. Those addicted to its use buy
IL In pellets, and the dose they take is reg
| ulated by themselves The seasoned hands
are able to take an enormous quantity
without doing anything more than quick
ening the beating of their dying hearts
and stimulating their jadcd nerves, but
those 10 whom the drug is new thing
are likely to kill themselves with n COM
paratively small quantity.
II have on my books the names Of wom-
en- who are shining ornaments of society
who send to me for strychninc pellets with
the stcrcotypcd assertion that they arc
wanted TO kill IA dying cat. The women
who send for the poison are without doubt
victims of the strychnine habit. Then
shall show you the names of men who are
regular customers for strychnine. In their
case the poison Is usually taken to coun-
teract the evil effects of tobacco smoking
A person can derive some benefit from TAX
ing strychnine, as the stimulating action
Of the one poison counteracts the sedative
effects Of the other. In these cases the
poison may be taken with some benefit,
under medical direction, but with the or
binary ilend' who merely takes 1t for the
pleasurable sensation it produces the after
effect is bound 10 be disastrous. Pear
sons Weekly.