The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-03
COCAINE FREELY
 SOLD ID VICTIMS Traffic In Chicago Goes On In
 Spite of the Law WOMEN PAWN VALUABLES Nothing Is Sacred to the Cocaine User Who Yields to the Influence of the Drug and Finally Lands
 in the Gutter.
WOMEN PAWN VALUABLES

1HiCdSU, oBDleH1DeT Z-tSDeGldl. t-OO- caine, freely dealt out to its victims over the ironing boards and clothes-horses of ostensible laundres, and the brass and lacquer of professed Oriental curio shops throughout Chicago's West Side district, at the sacrifice of the most sacred memon- toes and treasured trinkets of wives and mothers, is one of the respectable meth ods' of purveying the drug, brought to the public eye through the disclosures of the Currier commission. Publishing their preliminary findings for the commission In the September number of Everyday, Life" John Day and Charles w. Collins, special investigators, write concerning the efforts of the Chicago police of the West Side district eo conduct systematic cru- sade against the dealers in cocaine:
 After checking the drug store trade they found that the fiends were still get ting coke in large quantities, and then close watching of the furtive victims brought to their attention the den of Jim Hing To the casual passerby it appeared to be a harmless Chinese laun- dry, and in full view, through the front window were the paraphernalia of MT. Hing's ostensibe trade. But this real business was conducted in the room be- hind a partition, and it had earned for him the sobriquet of The Rockefeller of Dope But purveying cocaine to the in- habtants of the thickly populated region had gained thousands of worse than tainted dollars.
 ''So one night the signal on the secret electric bell at Hings door was given as usual. by chronic dope field, but behind him stood two detectives, and watching sthe rear was a patrol wagon load of po- licemen. The place was carried with quick rush as soon as the door was opened for the stool pigeon of the police. and Hing, with a loathly tribe of .dopes,' who had assembled for a happy cocaine party, were hauled away.
 Out of that den the police carried two of Hing's laundry sacks filled with va rious kinds of dope the innocent looking bottle of cocaine being in the major- ity. A moving van was needed, however, to carry away all of the other evidence of the internal traffic that Hing had been carrying on for many months. The place was literally cluttered with small house. hold objects. clocks, vases, bric-a-b brac. rugs, pieces of furniture and jewelry that had been brought there in exchange for ration of cocaine too recently for Hing to sell.
 Sickening Facts.
 And in that collection were 20 we'd ding rings.
 When Hing was tried the wife of A small tailor, who lived nearby, was one of the witnesses, and told a significant story. She said:
 When my husband learned I was using the stuff he wouldn't let me have any money. Then I began to take things from the house and give them to the China tlan for coke Once I traded my pocketbook, muffler and our clock for os cents worth. Then traded him my wed- ding ring. I have been doing that for more than a year, and so have many other women.
 Did this belong to you" asked the judge, holding up a small gold locket and chain.
 Tears came to the woman's eyes as she looked at the trinket and for a few min utes she was unable to answer. Then. sobbingly she said:
 That was the last thing. I waited until I couldn't stand the desire any longer, and then gave it to Hing for CO., caine. It was my baby's'
 She was broken-hearted, yes-but when she left the witness stand. she attempted to steal one of the bottles of cocaine placed upon the judges desk as exhibits. To round out her history. if not xH> 4 Hing's drug trust did not cure her of her vice; that her husband finally de- serted her. her baby was taken away bv the juvenile court and placed in an in- stitttion where it would get good treat ment; and that she herself disappeared. swallowed up in the nowhere of CO., caine.
 Another glimspse of the nightmare was seen recently in the municipal courts of Chicago. Before the judge. charged with disorderly conduct ap- peared man half stupefied with drugs. He was dressed in the filthy rags of a battered tramp, yet in his possession were two diamonds, a gold watch and deposit book from the Franklin Banl, of New York showing a balance of $12OO. With the cocaine fiends insouciance. he stated that he had been wealthy and had spent most of his money in ten years addiction to the drug.
 Merry Dope Fiend. "Tm on my way from New York 10 Denver" he said merrily, land if I ever get there I expect to go up into the mountains, where there isn't any CO., caine. I was full of good intentions when left New York; but now I'm full of coke. Let me read you all about it, judge. I keep diary a kind oi dope book, you see" Interested in the case. the magistrate permitted him to read part of his record of enslavement l The last two jottings he had made were - "Got up at a. m. Ate breakfast and started out. Got drahm of cocaine near Twenty-second and State streets for g. Blowing up strong when I went | into a faint" Been asleep since 3 a. m. day before yesterday. Medicine | came all right, also two crystals in 8 pack All fixed for a seal. Feeling | fine"
 This jargon will have to be translated | for part of it Is in the vernacular oi l the fiends. He bought heavy dose oi cocaine at dope den kept by negro well known to the police of Chicago and indulged in 1t so freely that the l blowing-up,' or floating or delirium l ended in complete inconsistencies. This 1 debauch was followed by a sleep oi l thirty-six hours or more. The medicine 1 to which he refers was doubtless somt ! patent drug-cure, all of which contain l disguised morphine as a counter-stimu l lant. The two crystals are obscure l but probably mean some form of CO | paine crystals. All fixed for seal l n1eans that he had arranged to purchase | one of the sealed bottles, containing hall | an ounce of pure cocaine hydroch1orate xhioh are as much of luxury to thu