The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-05
WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
DEATH OF A MYSTERIOUS
STRANGER.
GAVE HIS NAME AS JOHNSON
WHEN HE REGISTERED AT THE
ECONOMY HOTEL, WHERE
HE DIED.
HAD CHANGED A PRESCRIPTION,
The Physician Giving 1t Says, From
Alcohol to Morphine Powders
Autopsy Is Held.

SHdLleS JOnnSOn-dL least ludI was
the name he gave at the Economy
hotel Wednesday night-was found
dead in his room yesterday afternoon.
Coroner Nelson was notified and the
remains removed to Mccarthy & Don
nelly's undertaking rooms. A search
Of the dead mans clothing brought to
light nothing that would reveal his
identity. In one of his pockets was a
card Of DR.. J. w. Rutledge, of 90 Sew
enth street south, Minneapolis, on the
back of which was the name of Ben.
Bajenkopt, with the address Long Lake.
On the floor of the room was a cork or
q medicine bottle and search OF the
alley in the rear of the lodging house
resulted in the finding of a bottle
which had contained morphine. The
drug, according to the label on the bot
tie, came from a Minneapolis drug
store and was put UP on the prescrlp-
ton of Dr. Ridgeway Nov. 2, 1897. All
outward appearances indicated that
Johnson had swallowed large dose of
the drug, thrown the bottle out Of the
window and laid down to await death.
Johnson came to the lodging house
about 10 o'clock Wednesday night, PAID
for room and informed the clerk that
he wanted to sleep late. Owing to MS
request, it was after 1 O'Clock yeSter-
day afternoon before an attempt was
made to arouse him. The body is that
of a man apparently thirty years OF
age. He was dressed in a business
suit light in color, tennis shoes with
rubber soles,1 and a blue bicycle cap.
He had brown eyes, dark hair and was
five feet ten inches in height. NO
money was found in his clothes. The
condition of the body showed that he
had been used to fairly good living and
his hands gave evidence that he had
been engaged in manual labor.
An autopsy was held last evening by
Drs. L. A. Nelson and o. Sohlberg, and
the cause of death found to be from
morphine poisoning. Coroner Nelson
telephoned to Minneapolis for the pur-
pose of ascertaining from the drug
store the identity of the dead man, but
was informed by the druggist that he
was not known further than he had
presented a prescription from Or.
Ridgeway and had been sold the drug
with which he committed suicide.
From the box, in which the morphine
with which Johnson took his life was
originally contained, the prescription
was traced to DR.. Joseph Ridgeway,
of Minneapolis, who says:
MY duplicate prescription blanks
show that on Oct. 10 l wrote pre-
scription for one ounce of VIM rectifi-
catus, or, in other words, spirits of
alcohol, but for whom it was written
I do not remember. AS soon as [ heard
OF the suicide I went to the drug store
on which tho prescription had been
given and compared the duplicates
with the original prescriptions on file
there. I found one dated Oct. 10. which
called for one ounce of morphine pow
ders. My signature was attached to
the prescription, but the words NOR
phine powders were not in my hand
writing. A careful examination of the
prescription revealed the fact that
something had been erased and NOR
phine powders substituted The num-
Der of the duplicate prescription for
the ounce of alcohol which [ still hold
and the number of the original calling
for the morphine were the same, so
that the person to whom the prescrip-
ton was given by me simply changed
the name of the article leaving the
mark 81 o." and my signature as L
had made them. In this manner he Sc
cured the morphine.
81 do not remember to whom I gave
the prescription. An order for an
ounce of alcohol is a very unusual one,
and 1 remember of only one instance in
the past few months which would
seem to call for such a prescription,
and it may have been that L gave it
at that time. This was where L had
given a patient at the Good Samaritan
dispensary some iodine. He complain
ed that he could not use it on account
of it's strength, and L may have given
him the prescription for an ounce of
alcohol with which to dilute it. Wheth-
er did or not, I cannot now recall, but
it is the only instance [ remember
when such a prescription would have
been necessary. What his name was
I do not know, as I rarely ask the name
of the patients whom I attend at the
dispensary."