The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-07-02
VICTIMS OF COCAINE.
THEY NOW NUMBER ABOUT
HALF A MILLION.
Commission Has Been Appointed to
See If Measures Cannot Be Adopt
ed to Prevent the Sale of This
Deadly Drug; Consolidation of
Chicago's Down Town Banking
Interests; $3oo,ooo,ooo Capital.

Chicago, June 29.-Unoffical reports
that victims of cocaine now number
half million has set about ma
tional investigation by commission
appointed and financed by George H.
Currier of this city. In Chicago, it is
found. drastic police regulations and
Jane Adams assistants at Hull House
have quite effectually checked the in
crease of this drug habit which is to
Americans what the opium habit is
to Chinese, the national curse In
the other cities of New York, Phila-
ever the Currier commission has as
certained that this dope epidemic yet
has received no setback. According to
Charles W. Collins and John Day of
the commission: I'm many ways
dope is like an acutoly contagious
disease. From one sporadic case the
infection will spread through a neigh
borhood. ward, an entire city. Be
fore anything can be done in suppress
sion, it is imbedded in the social body
like cancerous growth. with many
obscure tenacles that battle the social
man, is now awaiting trial in Chicago
for pounding an old man to death with
a baseball bat during one of the peri
odical outbreaks of criminalism that
cocaine produces, killing the man mer-
ely for a few cents with which to
5000 "coko fiends" i'm Chicago and
that some of these consume as much
as l2S 'scals"-equal to a pound
a short time, the manufacturers pro-
fit being shown by the comparison Of
81 cents cost to $3.50 the retail price
The Currier commission has set out
to see how this sale can be stopped
and get all the facts of the grewsOme
eighth deadly SIM
The millions made by Chicagoans
popped into the limelight again when
the assessors figures were completed,
the Marshall Field estate heading the
list with $lOOO0,OO0 beside $5,5OOOOO
assessed to Marshall Field & Co., both
being at onefifth the actual value, or
$5O,OOO,O00 and $27 100000 respectively.
Armour & Co.. was assessed on an
even million dollars of personal prop
erty, and the Pullman company. on
$5,400,000, each being one-ffth the ac-
tual. Mrs. Pullman and Mrs. P. ID.
Armour found 100000 of personal
property when assessors called and
Mrs. Marshall Field $75O,O00 The fur
niture and fixtures of the Auditorium
hotel went in at $359,lS6 and the
equipment of the vast Illinois Steel
company at $l,340,000, blast furnaces,
train roads and all. Montgomery Ward
600 and John r. Walsh assessed at
$4,000. The street railway companies
were assessed at $22,OO0,0O0. Samuel
W. Alerton proved to have only $780,
900 which is about the sum charged to
Henry Crawford and Eugene S. Pike,
capitalists whose names have not be-
come famous. There are many such
men and women of wealth, as the as
SCISSOR knows, who are not popularity
classed with the millionaires of Chi
cago, but who have the goods-dry, wet
or household. Louis Weber & Co., are
down at over $2,000O00 for personal
property and the Albert Keep estate
at $2,250O00. Among the big depart
ment stores there is GURUS difference
in the stocks for taxation, Carson,
Pirie. Scott & Company's figure being
S2,25OOOO, but Mandel Brothers, across
the street, only 100000 and the Bos-
ton Store 100000 The increase of the
personal property assessment amount
ing to $2362l ,575, at one-ifth, making
the new total $ll5,243,747 included a
vigorous advance in the tax of brew
ing companies.
Uncle Sam travels twice as far for
his vacation as he used to ten years
ago, declare railroad men in Chiacgo,
who have analysed the figures of sum-
mer passenger traffic. The tendency of
the vast host of vacationists in the
United States has been steadily to-
ward more remote places, according to
these figures, and while the growth
in the number of passengers has been
enormous the increase in mileage has
been out of all proportion to it. The
growth of European travel is partly
responsible for this result but the
greatest gains are recorded for the
increasing movement across the inter
national boundary to the lakes and
woods of Canada. Ten or twenty years
ago only sportsmen or people fond of
''roughing it" ever penetrated far north
Since then the Muskeka Lake region
the Algonquin national park and other
parts of the original North American
wilderness have been brought within
comparatively few hours distance of
Chicago, New York and other cities
which furnish the largest number of
rest and recreation seekers every year
The great extension work of the Cana
dian Northern, Grand Trunk system
and other Dominion roads is largely
responsible for this increase in inter
national travel, which is building up
Anaarioap roeortc in tho hoort nf Can