Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-29
UNEARTHS
REVOLVING
DEPRAv|TY
Children Buy Opiates
for Sodden
Wrecks
Police Discover Open
Violation of
Laws
Woman, Once Beautiful and Of Excel
I..A E...iI,, r.-., H., . r,..,-a
Woman, Once Beautiful and of Excel
lent Family, Found in Disgust
ing Stupor-May Arrest
Druggist

The startling story of f. |. Martin,
who went to the police station early
last night and told the police that his
sister was being held a captive in a
locked room by the landlady of the
Renne lodging house at 49S California
street. was unwittingly the means of
revealing to the police some thrilling
discoveries of attempted blackmail, an
Illicit traffic in poisonous opiates sold
to habitues and little children and the
deplorable subsection to drugs of a
once respectable woman, the daughter
of prominent Los Angeles people.
The first discovery in the series of
alarming conditions made by the police
was the pitiable state in which Mrs.
II. G. Johnson, a one-time member of
the best local society, was found. In
vestigating the tale of F. l. Martin.
who claimed to be her brother and
accused the landlady of the Renne
rooming house of imprisoning her, de-
tectives were informed by the landlady
that although she had refused Martin
permission to see the woman, she had
done so because she did not believe
him to be the woman's brother, but
she denied that Mrs. Johnson was
locked in her room. Taking the Off
GERS to the room she showed them the
woman in deathlike stupor and with
her was her husband in similar con-
dition-both supposedly under the in
fiuence of morphine, to which the land
lady alleged they were both constantly
addicted, and were seldom free from it's
influence. Johnson, the police say, Is
known to the department as one of
the most wretched specimens of opiate
users in the city.
From Excellent Family
Not long ago Johnson was a popular
young man of Los Angeles. He asso-
ciated in the so-called smart set, in
which mis- wife lived, and his career
seemed unusually promising. His wife,
whose maiden name, is that of q we'll
known Los Angeles family, was a beau
tiful girl and still retains vivid traces
of her past charms.
The story of the downfall of The man
is similar to that of the famous opium
eater De Quincy, and not less dramatic,
but unlike that of the experimenter,
Johnson's case has ended in sordidness
and misery. Beginning by taking the
opiate for the alleviation of pain,
Johnson soon began to revel in the
sensations of pleasure the drug af-
lOIueQ IllIll, anu ne
the size and frequency of the doses
until at last he found himself in the
clutches of the life-sucking poison, un-
able to release himself.
Then the young wife began the use
of the poison, and at last she, too, was
lost in the mad abandonment of every
other impulse and threw herself body
and soul into the grasp of the insidious
drug.
Children Buy opates
Life for both Johnson and his wife
has now become but a ceaseless strug-
gle for the dream producing poison, and
when they are not doing petty jobs to
obtain it they are sleeping in the mock
paradise of it's influence.
The landlady of the Renne rooming
house declares that both Johnson and
his. wife have been stealing from the
other guests of the lodging house and
she has announced her intention of
prosecuting them on this charge.
While talking with the landlady the
police were told that the Johnsons have
been in the habit of sending two little
girls. aged and 8. to the drug store of
j. w. Bodenman, corner of Temple
and Broadway, to purchase the drug
for them. A heavy penalty is provided
for the sale of poisonous drugs to chill
dren, and the detectives followed up
this scent.
j. w. Bohemian admitted, the police
say, that he had sold the drug to the
children, but attempted to excuse him
self on the grounds that they had
brought note from Mr.. and Mrs
Johnson. A perusal of his record
books produced the evidence that, al
though he admitted in the presence of
a Herald reporter and Detective Beau
mont from the central police station
that he had sold the drug to the john
SONS at least twice a week for several
months, there was but one record of
sale to the Johnsons in period cover
ing from October 81 1906, to January
90, 1907, and that was on January 25.
Is Criminal otfense
The state statute regarding the sale
OF poisonous drugs also declares 1t to
be a criminal offense to sell poisons
without making a complete and con-
else record OF the sale each time. The
law further specifies that poisons are
not to be sold to any one incapable of
comprehending their serious nature, or
who, to the druggists knowledge, in
tends using them for an illegal purpose.
The police are preparing evidence
against Bodenman, the druggist, on all
of these counts and expect to prosecute
him under the state law, which pro-
vides maximum penalty of $500 fine
or six months Imprisonment in the
county Jail or both.
The books Of the druggist, according
to the testimony of the investigating
detectives, showed that he had been
carrying on constant traffic of NOR
nhina Oniuu1 and anoafna 10 t,ea,so nP