The Weekly Tallahasseean., 1901-11-29
M1HR DEMONS TOLLS
Thrilling Story Of a Morphine,
Cocaine and WhiSkey Fiend
CONFINED IN MAD HOUSE
-. j. Dent Returns from Insane
Asylum at ChatiahoOchee.

II HAS Deen frequently remarked that
%rutn Is stranger than fiction and his
tory is full of instances tnat verify the
assertion. Almost every uay we come
IN contact with men and women. a re-
%iLdl OF whose romantic careers would
reveal adventures more thrilling than
tne widest dreams of the Arabian
Nights.
The touching life story of A. J. Dent,
"A painter who has just returned to
Tallahassee from the insane asylum at
GhattahOochee, furnishes material for
a sermon as powerful as ever fell from
the lips of man. IL is a story of agony,
rem0rse, heart-aches, trials and trou-
Dies, that wOulu require the facile pen
or Dickens to properly portray. 1t
IS The story of a man rescued from the
grasp of the three demons of destruc-
hons, morphine, cocaine and whiskey,
when he was On the downward grade
of the Black Valley railroad 1t is a
story Of love and devotion of a faith
{ul wife to wayward husband.
A. ]. Dent was born in South Caro-
lima, the son Of Sheriff Dent, of Rich
land county. The young man was rear
ed in the lap of luxury, and had every
thing that the heart could desire. When
he reached manhood's estate a bril-
liant future seemed spread out before
him. Graduating from the schools of
his county, he studied medicine, then
went to Philadelphia, where he took a
course in one of the pharmaceutical
colleges.
His father died in the early eighties,
leaving his son a fortune of nearly
$4,000. After receiving his inheritance
and finishing his education, young
Dent became imbued with a desire to
travel, and spent most of his time see
ing the sights of the world. He was
never satisfied unless moving about
During his ramblings Dent finally
,airifted to Troy, Ala, where he fell in
love wi tn his present wife. Not know
ing anything about his past history
and character, her parents objected to
the match. They sent the young lady to
Madison county, Florida to visit her
sisters. Dent followed, and succeeded
in stealing his sweetheart away from
her brOthers-in-laW.
The elopement was rOmantically
planned and daringly executed. The
couple were married at Live Oak, af-
ter which they went to Ell Paso, Texas
TO live. Here Dent embarked in the
drug business, backed by Myers &
Potter, wholesalers, of St. Louis, Mo
The married life of the young couple
was as happy as ever mortals exper-
fenced with no premonitions of the
dark days to come. 1t was an earthly
paradice too delightful to last. On
August IA, 1895, the first cloud appear
ed It came suddenly, and without
warning, and fell like a thunderbolt
from a clear sky. Dent had business in
"a city several hundred miles away
and that afternoon, after kissing his
wife goodbye, boarded the east-bound
flyer which left Ell Paso about s
O'Clock.
The train was composed of siz
.Sleepers, and was due TO pass Pecos
City at $40 p. m. But an open switch
changed the current of Dents life. The
train rushed down side track just
before reaching PecOs City, smashing
with terrific force into a freight train
,of forty cars which was waiting fol
the Flyer to pass. Five sleepers were
4elescoped, and the air was filled with
flying debris. The moaning and shrek
ing of the wounded, the kissing of es-
Gaping steam, the cracking Of the
flames, men and women rushing here
and there in the lurid light, presented
"A scene Of pandemOnium impossible
to describe.
Dent was standing On the rear plat
form of the car, COrintha, and was
caught between the sleepers. He was
mangled and burned almost beyond
recognition, but was finally rescued
more dead than alive, tWenty-nine
hours after the accident. The unfort-
unate man was taken to a hospital
where for nine long, weary months
his body was racked and contorted
with pain. The character Of the true
woman was here brought prominently
forth. His wife remained with him, an
angel Of mercy, ministering to his
wants.
1t was while in the hospital that
Dent contracted the habit which left
him mental wreck, deprived him OF
his senses and consigned him to the
madhOuse. He suffered the most ex.
cruciating pain, and morphine, in ever
Increasing doses, was administered to
give relief. Released from the hospital
\ confirmed morphine fend, the un-
fortunate man returned to Ell Paso, to
close up his rapidly diminishing bust
ness With fortune gone, body physi.
<sM wreck and mind tottering, he be-
n