The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1916-01-14
Charles B. Townsville Man.

Charles B. Townsville Man.
One expects to find Charles B. Towns
an unusual personality. For a layman
to have taken new principles like his.
to have developed them into a practical
method. to have perfected a technique
which physicians seem unable to i'm.
prove, to have struggled for years
against professional prejudices and ira.
dition, to have at length won the ap-
probation, admiration and support Of
the most eminent men in the medical
world. to have established Il big instl.
tuition. to have attracted the attention
of the heads Of some of the greatest
Industrial enterprises in the world-the
great captains Of in~dustry-and to have
become the trusted counselor Of states
and the instigator and virtual author
Of laws regulating the deadly traffic in
drugs-these are things that could only
Ike accomplished by an unusual per-
sonality. One Is not disappointed.
How Towns Began His Great Work.
Mr.. Towns has handled some G.OO0
cases of drug and alcohol addiction
and is at the present time handling
between 1000 and 1900 a year. HIS
taking up the work in 1901 was due
almost entirely to an investigation into
the methods employed to restore those
who had lost control through the use Of
habit forming drugs. At that time such
cases were supposed to be hopelessly
incurable, and the victims drifted from
bad to worse until they arrived either
at the madhouse or the morgue.
On making inquiries from some of
the leading medical men who had been
dealing with the various types Of men
tai and nervous diseases Mr.. Towns
learned that they were virtually un.
able to name any case of n confirmed
drug user who had been permanently
benefited by institutional or any other
treatment. 1t seemed incredible to him
that Il skilled physician could no elm.
mate the craving or desire for the
drug or restore these un%fortunates to
the point where their systems would
not demand or feel the need of it. He
soon found out why this was so. In.
vestigatiOn showed him that the drug
habit is a mental as we'll as a physical
condition: that the physiological &C.
ton Of an Opiate Is TO Tie up the func-
tons. which results in a deterioration
of the vital organs when the victim has
taken the drug sufficiently long to set
up a definite tolerance.
The medical world had apparently
been unable or had not attempted "a
bring about, first Of all. Il definite physi
illogical change and to put such pa.
tents In a physical state in which theil
systems would not demand their Gus
tomary poison. To his further surprise
he found that the medical world had
been depending entirely on deprivation
or gradual reduction of the dosage n
a means Of treating such cases.
Treating 1000 Patients In China
In 1908. when the Chinese govern
nent was carrying on its great figh,
against the use of opium, Mr.. Town.
with characteristic energy put his New
York affairs In good hands and betool
himself to China. He was sure tina
terrible mistakes would he made IL
such Il campaign unless some one VIII,
knew the alpha and omega of dru;
taking were OH the spot to point on
the pitfalls and to throw light On thi
much misunderstood subject. He re
manned in China nearly a year. and Il
his own expense and in the face OF oil
stacles that would have broken tn
will of any man only. a little less dc
termined he established -four hospitals
at which 1000 Chinese were success
t:lly treated. passing on his method (
others there when he returned to co,
tinue his work in America.
Some of Towns Latest Exploits.
Apart from this remarkable explo.
and from the regular work that IS b,
ing carried OF at his hospital IN Ne,
York Mr.. Towns has recently beer til
chief figure In two noteworthy unde
takings-undertakings that are like
to be the forerunners Of sociologic,
regeneration on a large scale in respe,