The Savannah morning news., 1900-06-17
She Meant to Cure Him.


"a week ago" says New Orleans ply
stefan the other evening, according TO the
Times Democrat Il felt convinced that
had stumbled across one of the biggest
sensations of the day. Since then the case
has developed in an entirely unanticipated
direction, but all the same it makes a
pretty good story. I'll tell it TO you in
few words.
cone of my patients is bachelor busi-
ness man, who has been lodging for
number of years in a quiet old mansion
rot a great distance from Lee Circle. His
land,ady is a delightful motherly old
creature who has learned to take as much
interest in him as if he were her own son,
and altogether he is very comfortably
fixed. About three weeks ago he came
TO me looking decidedly i'll and complain
ed of a singular stomach disturbance. He
said that a distressing feeling of nausea
set in every morning, accompanied by
severe headache 1t would wear off grad
ually during the day, and he would go to
bed feeling first class, but next morning
the same thing would be repeated.
knew him to be a man of temperate hab-
its and was a little surprised. Still l at
tached no great Importance to the matter,
and dismissed him with some simple rem
edy. In five or six days he came back
looking much worse, and told the same
story, declaring that he couldn't eat and
was rapidly losing strength. Then l took
up the matter seriously, made close in
Qury into his diet and so on, and, to be
frank, l Immediately suspected poisoning.
He told me the first thing he did on awak-
ening was TO drink a cup of coffee, pre-
pared by his old landlady herself, and
offended him greatly by asking him to
quietly pour the contents of the cup into
a bottle next morning and bring ii 70 me,
Why. you dont think he began,
bristling up. Keep COOL said l. I think
there may be something wrong with the
coffee pot; that's all. Bring me the bot
tie. and say nothing 20 anybody
Next day he came around with the
coffee" continued the doctor, 'and adj
mtted that for once he had missed his
regular attack of nausea. made a chem
zeal analysis of the stuff and found a
considerable quantity of q familiar drug,
harmless enough as an occasional medi-
cine, but certain to produce the gravest
gastric disturbances if persisted in. While
1 half expected something of the kind, I
was deeply shocked and don't mind adj
uniting I was also considerably excited
The drug could not possibly have got
into the coffee by accident, and as no one
else about the house had suffered, 1t look
ed very much like a deliberate poisoning
plot against my patient. He himself
was so Mortified and upset that he was
simply incapable of giving sane advice,
and l was forced to take the matter into
my own hands. The upshot of it was
that I put on my hat and went around
to have a guarded talk with the landlady.
I knew her only slightly, and she looked
greatly surprised when asked to see her
alone.
Mrs. - said, without any pre-
face. who makes Mr.. IS morning cof-
fee?'
when asked that question I thought
as white as paper and her hands began
to tremble so violently she could hardly
control them.
81 make it myself DOCTOR she man.
aged to reply.
"'What do you put in it besides coffee p
I asked.
"she looked at me appealingly and
burst into tears. Then the whole, absurd,
pitiful story came out. The dear old lady
is a prohibition fanatic, and in some way
/ the Lord only knows how-she conceived
the idea that her ledger was gradually GO
/ ing to the dogs through strong drink.
As a matter of fact, he is a man who
drinks very, very moderately and was
never drunk in his life-it doesn't happen
to be his weak spot. But she felt GER
/ tain, she said. that the habit would
| grow and when one of her old lady
! friends told her in strict confidence of a
! prepare ton which would destroy the
| craving and could be administered IN
| secret in coffee, she decided il was her
| duty to give it a trial. The rest you
know. She told me this between sobs
and I relieved her greatly by bursting
/ into a roar of laughter. 1t was really
too funny. Al the same time 1t had its
| serious side, and when I explained the
/ risk she had been running. she was as
badly frightened as she ever will be.
| MY patient was furious at the outset,
| but he realized on reflection that the eci
/ had been prompted by the kindliest sole
/ itude, and he was generous enough To
| treat 1t as a joke. One thing is certain,
however, he will get undoped coffee in
| future -