The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1897-07-07

y
original notions that l found him not
only entertaining but instructive. He
appeared to enjoy my society, and con-
sequently we were very much together.
He has written a good deal, and his
books and monographs are somewhat
known. Surely, you must have heard
of DIR. Lanville?"
"Dr. Lanville!" l exclaimed. You
don't mean to tell me that your broken
down friend is DR.. Lanville?"
Yes, | do; but he has changed his
name and has dropped the doctor. Well,
to go on. When | was ordered here he
was greatly distressed, and announced
his intention of following me, not only
in order to be with me. but, as he said,
to work up some SUBJECTS he was study
ing and to avail himself of the libraries
and collections in Washington. About
a month after my arrival he appeared,
but greatly changed"
Tell me how" said.
Instead of being dressed in the best
and most stylish-cut clothes, his attire
was ill-made, dirty and looked as
though it might have been bought years
previously in the meanest ready made
clothing shop in Chatham street. His
body was bent, he had become slouchy
in his gait, his beard was untrimmed,
his hands and face looked as though
they were strangers to soap and water,
his eyes were watery and had peculiar
look as though they did not see what
was going on round them, though wide
open; his speech was hesitating and in
distinct; and yet l could see that it was
Lanville who stood before me, scarcely
able to make himself understood, and
swaying from side to side as he tried to
stand erect.
'Lanvile!' exclaimed. What is the
meaning of thisp
''Hush!' he answered. My name
here is Lewis-Mr. James Lewis. look
like drunken man, don't /? But am
not drunk; | have acquired the opium
habit, and this is my usual condition.
| can't talk with you, however, till
have had my morning dose. Excuse me
a moment And before | could recover
the power of speech, he had taken
hypodermic syringe out of his pocket,
had filed it from a small vial and was
preparing to use it when l checked
him.
mol l said, you shall not take that
stuff here. And this | continued, is
Edward Lanville, physician, scientist.
philanthropist, and, above all, gentle
man; or, rather, was Edward Lanville.
You were wise to change your name.
But this must be stopped. You
SIT shall not be stopped!' he ex-
claimed; L know what i am about. !
have a right to make beast of myself
if l choose. love morphia. should
die without it, And then, while my
attention was engaged with his speech,
he succeeded in injecting the contents
of the syringe under the skin of his
arm.
ITO say that l was overwhelmed with
pain and disgust would not express the
full extent of my emotions. He saw
that l was greatly moved. The NOR
phia, however, in a few moments
seemed to have steadied his mind and
body and to have given strength to his
articulation.
Wish .yOu "OuldH ulStiCSS youi-
self, = he said. I am past cure
now. Let me alone; l only want to die
in my own way
"'No, will not let you alone | an
swered. L shall stop you if have TO APP
peal to the authorities. / shall go be-
fore the court to-day and apply for
warrant for your arrest. will have you
locked up
"'You can't he replied, with faint
smile. so long as commit no act of
violence or disorder / am within the
law, and can do as please
Before | could fully conclude what
would be best to do he darted out of
the room. Since then / have often seen
him. Prayers, threats, arguments are
equally Intellectual with him, and he
has continued to fall lower and lower.
His morale is gone, but he manages to
Keep clear of the police and to main
tain sort of blind affection for me.
"a few minutes ago he came 10 my of
flee in a worse state than | have ever
seen him. He had just strength enough
left to tell me that he had taken suf-
ficiently large dose of morphia to de-
stroy life, but that moment after
ward he had repented and had hurried
to me for assistance"
By this time we had arrived at is
office, and in few moments l was in
the room in which the so-called Mr..
Lewis had been placed. He was lying
on sofa, breathing heavily. His eyes
were closed and "a 4 each exDiratiOn his
lips were pulled out like those of a man
smoking pipe. | knew that this was
often a serious sign. His face was
livid. his breathing slow and difficult,
his pulse weak and beating only about
so a minute.
/ spoke to him loudly, shook him
roughly, and even stuck pin into the
skin of his hand, but there was no re-
spouse. He was in a state of stupor,
from tho effaotc of some