The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1904-01-05
A CROOK
OF the First Water is Or. John
May. Who was Arrested
Aere a Few Days
Since.

AZ
chief of police Of Greenwood,
Z. turns out TO be a regular crook
and q dope fiend as we'll. DR.
May is q man who before he
began to take morphine bore q
splendid reputation both as a
chemist and a man of honor and
integrity, having for a number
of years occupied a lucrative aud
responsible position as chief
chemist for the Economic Medi-
cine Company in Paris. Some
months since, however, he began
the use Of morphine, and his
mind became impaired, causing
him to lose his position land since
that time be has gone from bad
to worse, finally 81 king to the
level Of a defauIter and general
all round crook.
After losing his position in
Paris ne went to Birmingham,
where he became identified with
the Thermel Medicine Company,
and finally secured q position as
manager of that concern. It was
after obtaining this position
that he began his Gro 9ked work.
Funds amounting to about ST, 700
were turned over to him TO be
deposited to the creeit of the
company in one Of the local
banks, but instead of doing this
he deposited tie money in his
own name, aud in q short time
skipped out, taking the money
with him.
Hhan he left Birmingham the
the crooked chemist was ao-
companied by woman who for
some time had been an inmate cfI
well known resort in the Magic
City, ne having abandoned his
lawful wife upon leaving Pari /
and here one of the saddest
features in connection with the
affair comes to light. His wife,
who is reported to be a most
estimable Christian lady, but
who was an invalid, was deserted |
by her husband soon after he |
lost his positiop with the Eoo-
nomic Medicine Company, and |
chagrined at the sertion by her
husband, and his subsequent
misconduct, che pined away, ana |
finally, just a short while before |
Christmas, the end came, and |
she died among comparative
strangers, with no one to soothe |
and comfort her during her last
hours.
The only possible excuse to be
found for his action lays in the
fact that he was uEder the in
fluence of drugs and opiates and /
was not responsible for what he
did. He spent considerable /
time in Columbus, returning here
after having been taken 10 |
Greenwood, where he was want |
ed or the charge of obtaining
money under false pretenses,
which charge he got out of by |
repaying the money which he
had fraudulently secured. He
arrived mere from Greenwood |
shortly after noon on Christina
day and went TO one of the lead |
ing hotels of the city, where his
conduct was strange in many |
ways, SO strange in fact as to |
incite comment from almost
every one about the hotel.
After he had succeeded in ex-
tricating himself from the troubles
into which he had become en-
tangled in Greenwood it began |
to be noised around in Colum-
bus that he was also wanted in
Birmingham for crooked work
committed there, and no one was
surprised when Mr.. L. L. Pond, a
stockholder in the ThermoI Medi-
cine Co., arrived in Columbus
last Saturday and announced the
fact that DR.. May was a defaulter
and that be intended TO take him |
back to the Magic City.
Nor did the doctor seem one
whit surprised either, for he |
went quietly withou, requisition |