Evening star., 1911-01-15

the Nizam OF Hyderabad lie said that
he had seven pecks OF emeralds and
rubies in his room. worth he forgot just
how many quntilions Of lacs of rupees.
and he invited me 10 inspect them. Then
he "maced' me. as we say. for four bits.
! loosened up for the half dollar, and he
went his way. after cordially inviting me
10 drop into his palace at Rangoon some
old day and have few spiced sherbets.
filled with snow from the Himalayas.
with him.
He was stark mad OF course. But it
was drug madness. Presently he will be
mad entirely. even without the aid OF his
particular drug. Ills drug is cocaine.
Coke. the inveterates call it, or snow.
! knew this man when he wal making al
least $1,000 year in the life insurance
business. I had lost track of him. but
had heard that he was on the toboggan
owing TO irregular habits ! presumed
that perhaps his toboggan migH be oiled
by drink: | had no suspicion. until meet
ing MIN only short time ago, that lie
had become a cocaine hend. But | knew
" the instant | heard him talk. | believe
i could tell coke" fend through a
thick Scotch mis.ral. il only | heard him
utter FIVE words
The drug affords tile pronounced
coke hend what is known as the de-
iirium OF grandeur: furnishes. him with
hallucinations Of greatness glory. i'm
Inense wealth. But what a price he
paws, and how very soon he pays it, for
those swollen. hallucinatory moments,
TINS old friend OF mine had gone quite
u the dogs; he was veritabIe tramp
IN appearance; II is doubtful if he
sleeps in the same bed two nights in sue
cession. In the days Of his noTmalii y
he had for wife a woman Of wonderful
charm and several beautiful children.
They went ~ far into the maelstrom
NJ a
had to leave him.
We have great habit Of becoming
sporadically or periodically excited over
various matters in this country, Of get
ting all wrought up and viewing with
alarm and then very soon forgetting
all about the evils that had a little
while before caused such intense
perturbation. For some time past for
example. we have been viewing with
alarm, every once in while when We
happened To think about it. the rapid
spread OF the cocaine habit throughout
this country: spread that, To my per
sonal and visual knowledge. has taken
in and does take in all classes of men
and women. from the roustabout TO the
professional man from the charwoman
wealth and refinement. But cocaine
continues to find its way to the nostrils
Of its victims. It's sale increases
-.
OF course. have been passed with regard
TO IL. An example is made Of some
well known purveyor OF the drug in
some city or other; he is put behind the
bars for a little while. whereupop the
authorities charged with executing the
laws against the sale or cocaine by
peddlers Of the drug forget all about IL
until another period Of clamor and Of
viewing with alarm" starts them off
again.
I should hate TO begin to enumerate the
men and women--but mainly men--of my
acquaintance who have gone headlong TO
the dogs during the past dozen years or
so through their addiction TO cocaine.
Most Of them have long been dead or in
insane asylums. The coke ficnd doesn't
last much above two years; at the end OF
about that time he either dies or becomes
insane. The victim of morphine can and
often does stretch out his wretched exist
ence for a much longer time. I know
one victim OF morphine. sn-and a
very clCyer and meant-to-be noted wonl-
an, too-who has been hopelcssly addict