The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-01-26


figures so prominently have only lately
come into fashion-they originated in
Paris, by -bye-but the amount
of injury and misery that they are re-
sponsible for is already beyond all
reckoning.
What happens is this: A number OF
ladies who, owing to the similarity of
their individual tastes and weaknesses,
are in sympathy with each other, form
themselves into what may be termed
morphia club. They meet at about
O'clock every afternoon, ostensibly to
enjoy nothing more harmful than tea,
the members providing the CHASTITY en-
in turn.
Tea is certainly consumed, but only
to avoid suspicion on the part of the
domestics, for as the repast progresses
the hostess produces a tiny syringe con-
tanning morphia. The appearance of
this little instrument, which has been
eagerly waited for by the whole COM
pany, is the signal for the guests to
lay bare their arms This they do
hurriedly enough, anxious not to lose
a moment so intense is the craving to
put themselves under the influence Of
the poison. The hostess then goes the
round of her visitors, giving each an
injection.
Very frequently guest is not salts
customed herself to the drug and
small dose has no appreciate effect
on her. She cries for three injections.
She gets them if her hostess is devoid
of sense, which she generally is, and
thus drives another nail in her coffin.
The women who resort to this proceed
ing belong to that numerous body who,
bereft of self-control and feather
Drained to a degree, cannot live with
u ~
sensations. They attend the morphia
tea party to drive away-as they fool
ishly think-melancholy Without the
morphia tea party they would not care
to exist. Life to them is an insuffer-
able bore.
In very short time the poison does
its work. The woman who was de-
pressed and dull-eyed when she entered
the room is full of life and gayety, she
talks wittily, even brilliantly her eyes
are bright, her cheeks, but a moment
before CHASTITY white, are flushed, her
whole countenance is animated
But what q price she pays for this
change! Submitting herself to the in
fluence of morphia at these parties, as
she does every day. the drug when adj
ministered in fairly large quantities
quickly loses the desired effect and the
wretched being must have more. Three
injections once a day are not enough
for her; she injects the fluid morning,
afternoon and evening. To get the poi
son she will sacrifice everything-he
dearest possessions, her money, her
jewels, her all, in fact. The result is
disastrous. The poison obtains a COM
plete mastery over hel~-she can no
more resist it than she can fly to the
moon.
The inevitable consequence is that
she dies an early death, wrecked both
in mind and body. Nothing is more
frightful than the sight of one of these
women when she is denied her favorite
drug Filled with despair, she is capa-
BILE. if not watched, of destroying her
self at any moment. In her rage she
will tear her hair and scream as no
madman could scream.
Another dissipation of London's Idle
set, and the habit has obtained a strong
foothold on this side of the Atlantic
is cocaine injection. The practice can
be carried on so secretly that for a
time even the nearest friends of the
drunkard have no suspicion of it. 1t
has none of the responsiveness of ordi-
nary intoXication. Doctors are its chief
victims, writers and politicians come
next, and the more artistic the temper
ament the greater the peril this new
habit presents.
Cocaine injection is, without ques-
ton, the most dangerous and subtle
| form of inebriety known. Compared
with it, even moprhinomania is harm
les 1t grows on one with amazing ra-
pidity and gives little or no warning
Of the harm it is doing until the evil
is accomplished almost beyond recall
With most narcotics you have quick
presage of coming evil Let the aver
age man inject a dose of morphia and
he will find the temporary ease follow
ed by excruciating headache, by raw
nerves and by fearsome depression of
spirits. But with the cocaine at first
there is none of this. You feel young
and vigorous again, you seem swept
out of your life. You have a sense of
satisfaction, of buoyancy, or ease
and of pleasure. In the normal man
or woman there is often at first no
great reaction, although in this, as in
every nerve poison, the effects differ
according to Individual temperament.
But the pleasure passes off very
quickly and the victim is almost inev-
itably driven to renew the injection. In
many cases from u to 20 doses are be-
fore long taken in a single day. This
costs money. Cocaine hydrochloratet the
form of drug used for this purpose, is
very expensive. Wholesale it costs 25
shillings an ounce and retails usually
at about three times as much. In one
known case a man spends as much as
10 shillings a day on his cocaine
The first harmful result seen is often
enough not physical, but moral. Co
caine, even more than mOrphia, de-
stroys the moral sense. This is no fig
ure of speech, but plain statement OF
an observed and undeniable fact. The
cocaine flend does not become violent
or brutal. On the contrary, he seems
more gentle and more refined than ever
before. His artistic perceptions are in
every way quickened But though he
has hitherto been scrupulously honest,
he will now often steal without shame.
TIe often seems to forget the meaning
of truth. 1t is yet a moot point with
psychologists how and why this de-
structon of the moral sense is accom-
plished. But that it is accomplished
admits of no denial.
Many of the cases of kleptomania
which excite so much surprise and
many of the unaccountable crimes
among well-to-do people are solely due.
to this. AS one druggist put IT some
what bluntly: when a person comes
in here and asks for cocaine or NOR
phia or chloral /, of course, fill in the
doctors prescription. This is my bust
ness. But take care to keep a close
eye on that customers fingers all the
time she is in the store. The cocaine
fiend will steal anything if she thinks
she can do 1t unobserved. If you let
her get into your debt she will never
pay you. Among my regular customers
some come with q story that they have
left their purses behind, or something
like that, and wish me to trust them.