The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04
WATCHING MORPHINE FIENDS
NERVE RACkING EXPERIENCES
OF A TRAINED NURSE.
Tho woman without Moral Nature Who
Died and the Woman With Moral
Nature VINO was Cured-vaEaries OF
an Aniiable Young Man, Also Victim.

DIED and the Woman with a Moral
Nature VINO was Cured-vagaries of
an Amiable YOUNG Man, Also . Victim.
'You newspaper women think you have
queer experiences sometimes said the
trained nurse rather contemptuouslv. Put
you really don't know anything about
queer experiences.
go on" said the newspaper woman.
.Tell your story
well" said the trained nurse in a grum-
bling tone. don't ever think you have
seen life until you have done detective and
trained nurse work on the same case.
Il was called one day to young woman
living with her parents in fashionable
residence district She was a widow with
an income Of $500 month in her own right.
She had little boy. He was beautiful
child, and she was, or had been, beau
tiful woman.
when l first saw her, every tooth in her
head was loose and liberated, so that she
could take no solid food. Her body was
covered with wounds and scars. She
would talk for twelve hours at a stretch
and never speak a word of truth.
"She would pawn everything she could
lay her hands on, and she was filed with
suspicion OF every one who approx hed
her. She was in fact morphine wreck.
"She had taken the drug first under a
physicians orders, to alleviate pain. He
had given her a hypodermic syringe and
taught her how to use it. Before her parents
knew it she had become slave. Then they
put her under the care Of another physician,
and he installed me to see that his orders
were carried out
Il noticed very soon that she couldn't set
her whole foot on the ground. She walked
on her toes. That spelled cocaine to me.
"We watched and found she was taking
mouth That made her case especially bad
You shouldn't mix your pizens any more
than your drinks.
I'VE kept her old prescription for both
drugs. getting them filed at the drug store
where she had always sent them. But
we got the order OF the physician who gave
them to have the prescriptions diluted
according to the orders of the new doctor.
-Then we began to reduce the dose little
by little with water. The result was a very
peculiar study Of morphine psychology
"She was thoroughly convinced that
she couldn't live without morphine, and she
was so suspicious Of the new doctor and
myself that we had to be exceedingly care
full. I have never seen such set, immov-
able determination for anything as possessed
her to have morphine.
-She demanded her hypoderrnic regularly,
and at the usual time the pains OF the physi-
cal demand for the drug would overcome
her, and she would become nervous and
hysterical. The moment she got the dose
she would be satisfied.
"Yet we had reduced that dose until
finally she was getting practically pure
water, with just enough morphine in it to
deaoen the pain Of the injection. Now
il you can tell how much Of that was mental
and how much physical, how much real
and how much self-deception, you will
do better than either the doctor or could.
within six weeks she could chew beef
steak and her health WIS much improved
Still we didn't dare to let her know what
had been done.
Her parents had given up the struggle
as she supposed, and we're letting her have
the drug If she had really believed other
wise she would have driven me and the
doctor out OF the house. Yet one day
saw plainly that she had eluded me in some
way and got full dose.
II racked my brains to see how it could
have been done. She had had social
call during the afternoon, and could not
follow her into the drawing room. l in
quired among the servants. and found
she had called up messenger boy immed-
lately on the departure Of the visitor.
Il went to the nearest A. d. 7. Office and
found the boy who had answered the call
He had, as l suspected zen to drug store
for her.
Il got the doctors name and went to
him. He was young fellow who had
never treated her professionally. He had
called on her socially that afternoon, and
she had got the prescription out of him.:
Il got his order on the drug store to dilute
the mixture according to my orders. Then
I had to go back to the drug store and fix
it I'D with them. 1t took me a solid day
TO chase that thing down.
Fortunately it was 80 early in the treat
ment that she did not have sense enough
doses. After that she could send her bottle
to either place, and they would send her
the diluted mixture.
Whenever l had any time of would
spend It tracing things she had pawned
that she wanted herself when she had money
in her purse. Then she would send mes
seneer Bows for wine and liquors
"A trait Of morphine poisoning is tina
the victim will drink without any sense
them when she eluded the whole family
One day she drank a pint of pure gin and
got crazy drunk
well, eventually that woman became
perfectly well physica lily, though still
her full dose. We had eliminated the
physical demand for the drug. but we did