The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-12-18

law that makes II a crime TO have knock
out drops IN ones possession.
what Is commonly known as knock
/ out drops BE- choral hydratc." sad Or
OHanlon, from u 10 % grains OF Il pro
duces sleep that lasts three hours. OF
course tho sleep Is deeper u the drug
Is administered Ia large amounts. Then
u produces staie OF coma Fatal syn
/ cope sometimes may occur Choral NY
| drate acts az a hypnotic Oh the brain. but
when the heart is weak g kills I have
known OF cases where thirty grains prov.
ed faial although the crooks about town
who make use Of Il usually administer
much more than thirty grains. They dis
solve tho crystals IN water and often
compound the mixture by rough guess
that II bound 20 result fatally TO the per-
son who gets a dose"
In at beast nifty drug stores in this town
stranger can buy ehloral hydrato with
out physicians prescription some OF
The druggists know what use u II 10 bs
put 90 al the time they sea II. but they
charge s. or s. for an ounce bottle 81
he mixture and 10 long as they get a
good price for x they ask no questions.
/ here are two drug stores In Manhattan
mat are thriving on the sale OF choral
l lydrate. Their customers are thieves who
make a practice Of drugging and robbiug
men who come 10 New York to see the
Town. The thieves have their headquar-
,ers in Chinatown, anu get IN much OF
ineir work ia that part OF the city. They
work In conjunction with the propric iors
OF cheap hotels IN the vicinity OF Chatham
Square. aud divide their booty with them
In the Tenderloin district there are
many young women who use choral by
drate for the purpose OF carrying out
their plans OF robbery Most OF them have
been saught 10 use il by the men with
whom they associate. la many instances
cabmen who have made a practice OF
drugging strangers Ia the hotel district
The young woman selects the victim and
drugs him while sitting In one Of the up
Town saloons or smok ng parlors. The vic
tim selected Is usually a man who nas
been drinking heavily. The woman Dr.
ders bottled beer. and volunteers to pour
4 into her companions glass. Il Is While
doing this that she holds q small bottle
Of chlcral IN her hand and pourB the
choral into the glass with the beer. A
few minutes later. after the victim has
swallowed che contents OF the glass. he
becomes dazed. He stands Up 70 go. and
'maglnes he's intoxicated. The cabman
who is In the game Is near at band. Tho
woman calls a waiter. says her friend Is
| drunk aud asks the waiter 20 help him
occurs later In the cab. probably while
the cab Is being driven through Central
Park After the woman gets possession
Of the victims money and jewelry she IN
forms the cabman, who drives through
dark street. The victim is lifted out
and left on a stoop or lying on the side
walk only 70 be found later by the police
man on post who sends for the patrol
wagon In some cases the victim IL
taken TO a hospital In other cases he
| awakes to find himself arraigned In court
on a charge OF intoxlcauon.
But that Is only one OF the ways the
women OF the Tenderloin make use Of
Knockout drops. Up there they call 81
| Peter"
Put a little Peter 10 my friends glass %
woman remarks 20 the bartender Ia the
resort they happen into. The bartender
may put the Peter IN the water that
he serves with whisky or he may put 4
IA the glass before the victim pours
out his drink The young woman, OF
course. pays the bartender for his part
Ia the robbery. and often helps 90 drag the
victim 10 a Raines law hotel room where
the robbery Is easier.
often the Peter people use choral ~
glchy or selizer Sometimes they pat 4
in the victims gin. In such cases, az ~
rs colorless, ~ IS not detected.
The places where Il Is mostly used arr
s!suated OF the upper West Side OF the
city. In some OF the so-called smoking
parIors II IS used and IN a few places
on Third avenue and along Sixth ave
nue.