South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-03-31
PRICE Of COKE IN
NEW YORK SCARS;
CRUSADE RESULT
Three Reformed Victims of
Drug Habit Assault AuthOri-
ties in Stamping Out Traffic
in Cocaine.
BY GOTHAM KNICKERBoCKER.


NEW YORK, March Clone COM
modify which is considered a prime
necessity Of life by many persons
hereabouts. has risen rapidly In price
since last Novem Der without an outcry
on the part of the public. ! refer 10
cocaine. Four months ago IL cost
about 81 an ounce wholesale, and %
to so cents a deck" retail; now the
price is S12 to $40 an ounce 20 dealers
and the deck" contains one or a
stingy two shifts instead of the old
four inhalations OF delight
All this is due to a conspiracy in
restraint OF trade on the part of As
sistant District Attorney Wilmot, an
Oxford university graduate, a daugh-
ter of a Minnesota judge, and a Ger
man university man. The three last
named are. all friends who have re-
formed and are now seeking 10 assist
others out OF the clutches of drugs
one hundred and fOrty-fiVe arrests
Of druggists have been made since No
vember. The traffic has decreased 80
per cent. At present every time a
victim takes a sniff IL costs him twice
as much as a drink OF whisky.
Cocaine is one Of the things which
we have 10 thank our sister state, New
a law against selling the drug. but
none against possession. Wholesalers
send their agents across the river TO
the big city. The drug is sold only TO
persons who are known to be 'fiends"
as least likely 10 squeal. Even to
/ 'fiends" the drug is not supplied If the
Would-be purchaser has ever been ar
rested on a drug charge. This is be-
cause the drug-seller usually squeals
when in the tolls of the law-sO in
variably. indeed, that all who have
been arrested are suspected by the
wholesalers and are cut off from the
traffic.
Since district attorneys men have
made innumerable raids and have dis
covered the costly drug in such places
as secret drawers. stoves floor
boards and flutes, the drug-sellers'
ingenuity is severely taxed.
They have taken a page from the
book of the East Side gang leader,
who goes out accompanied by a boy or
a young woman TO carry the gun,
thus avoiding the dangerous weapon
law.
The drug-seller uses a new type Of
white slave. He takes a woman"
with him on his rounds who conceals
the stock of coke" in her garments.
A policeman Is forbidden by the rules
Of the department 10 search a woman.
so the only way to meet the situation
is through detectives The daughter
of a Minnesota judge has proved to be
very valuable. She contracted the
habit while suffering from headaches
and sank lower and lover until She
was arrested for petit larceny. After
that she resolved 20 reform and be-
came the ally of tae drug crusaders.
1t was through her that the notorious
gang leader. "Humpty Jackson, was
! arrested as hop" seller.
ri
ed the morphine habit while expert
menting as a medical student. The
oxford man was injured in the Boer
war and was treated with morphine
when suffering intensely. He thus
became a victim.
You must not only be a woman to
live in the new hotel at Lexington av.
and Thirtieth St. but YOU must also be
a business woman. So quite a select
company IS to be expected.
/ do not give the name of this hotel
because il hasn't any. That is the
latest style. YOU know. It's only
known by a street number.
No male person may venture above
the first floor of the building. But
there are exceedingly many cosy hooks
around that first floor The decOra-
tiOns are especially designed for wom-
an, so I'm told, whatever that means.
Captain George +. Titus. Of the New
York police, Is now George +. Titus.
attorney and counsellor at law After
twenty-seven years work in the blue
uniform he has ben forced 10 retire
on account of an injury 10 his knee
received in the course of his duty. He
is an exception TO the rule that New
York police officials retire rich. He
hasn't made those fortunate real es-
tate SpeculaiOns' so common III stories
of police. retirementS. Instead, at the
age Of fifty-five years, he sets out to
make himself a new career in the law
which he practiced for a few years as
a young man prior TO accepting a place
as a city sleuth.
The following 10y a press agent. I'M
endorsed:
.The vitagraph Moving Picture
company develops nearly one million
feet of film weekly in their Brooklyn
studio. After the developer has be-
come useless for developing purposes.
IL Is carefully saved and placed in a
huge tank. The reason for this is that
the solution frees a certain amount OF
the silver used in making film. When
enough Of the silVs- has collected in
I the form Of sediment at the bottom OF
the tank, il is sold for a considerable
amount Someone possessing a
I knowledge Of these conditions at the
I Vitagraph studio. succeeded in releas-
! ing the water during the recent bliz-
card. thus allowing the sediment 10
I freeze in cakes. which they then cut
\ into blocks and stole from the studio.
I IL is not known just about amount
\ they were able TO release. but il
must be considerable. considering that
| they carried off more than 100 pounds
I OF the sediment which contains a large
/ per cent Of silver