Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-09-09

For time he did we'll Abstinence from
narcotic drugs brought back his old skin AZ
ne Trade and he earned good money Mrs
WaIince rejoiced that her husband had OBJ
teined the upper hand OF his fearful crav-
inH Then he suffered another severe at
TACK of asthma. He Visited a physician,
and the hrst thing that physician aid was TO
give the patient n hypodcrm'c injection OF
morphine. II was like touching match 10
powder Wallace Immediately became a
drug nend again. In a seconds time his
thouehtless physician had undone many
months labor.
Wallace went 20 pieces mentally and
physically. He drifted back 30 Philadelphia
and Joined the human dereiicts Of the Ten
uerlotn. His wife gave up hope. She had
stuck TO her husband TO the last ditch She
Thought she owed her first duty to her son
and obtained a divorce. Wallace is now In
the psyehopathlc ward Of the Philadelphia
Hospital. No one would recognize In this
hent shambling. prematurely old man the
spruce. optimistic and successful James
Wallace Of three years ago.
DRUG RUINS AUTHOR
That the dope" scourEe is no respecter
of genius and win lay crlppling hand on
the most brilliant OF minds is clearly illus
ffated by the case OF a former magazine
writer. who less than FIVE years ago enter
tanned and delighted a large reading pub
lie with his fiction. Call him Martin Muir
dock. He graduated from Yale with honors
@ifa aAtef tflFte years OF travel IN EUROPE
and the Far East took 20 letters. His
success was almost instantaneous. Pub
fishers soon evinced an cagerness TO receive
the bright, realistic stories from the pen
OF Martin Murdoch. Hundred Of enthu-
elastic letters which poured in from maga-
xine readers all over the country convinced
the editors that Martin Murdoch was real
and had struck a new and fresh note in
modern fiction.
Suddenly his briliIancy began 70 wane.
His stories lost their snap. Publishers
turned them back wondering what had
happened to Murdoch. Contributions soon
ceased to flter into magazine editorial
rooms from Martin Murdock. IL became
noised about among his friends in Phila-
delphia that he had become a dope
nend." He has never told how the drug
scourge fastened itself upon him. He is
now a derelict of the Tenderlon. a ragged,
filthy. hopeless creature. aged by the raw
ages OF morphine and heroin. There Is
nothing TO distinguish him from scores OF
others Of the Tenderloin who sleep in cheap
lodging houses or lie stupehed on squalid
doorsteps. Murdoch has just enough intel
ligence left to panhandle money to buy his
daily supply OF morphine from the dope"
pedders
Once every two three weeks he
shamhles into the Methodist Rescue Mis-
sion. at 2i2 North Eighth street, and takes
q seat. Two or three times on his visits
20 the mission the dope" cloud has lifted
temporarily from his mind. on these oc-
casions he has astonished mission workers
by reciting poems. The Rev. Thomas Nc.
kenty, superintendent of the mission. has
worked tirelessly to smash the drug thongs
which bind Murdoch, but thus far his ef.
forts have proved fruitless
ARTIST DRAGGED DOWN
The case of woman artist who appealed
20 Mr.. Kane to free her from the dope"
sccurge furnishes another example of how
morphine viii wither genius. We will call
this woman Esther Hill She was graduated
from noted art school and studied art in
Paris, Vienna and Rome. After completing
her studies she took a studio in Philadel.
phia. She became very successful.
Esther Hill became afflicted with severe
headaches. They we're brought on by too
close application to work, She bought a
headache cure" at drug store. The
''cure" contained morphine. Innocently she
became a morphine fiend The drug soon
destroyed her cunning with the brush and
ruined her color conception. Her clientele
and her friends dropped away. one after
another. She told Mr.. Kane that her wor-
ship for morphine had caused her to run
through savings OF $4,000, leaving her
penniless.
The case of young man, whom we will
call John Adams. furnishes another phase
of the drug traffic John Adams was IA
member OF church in the northeast sec
ton. He was the teacher OF Sunday
school class of boys and was active In the
affairs OF a Christian Endeavor Society. He
had worked his way up In bank and was
one OF the most trusted employees.
one night Adams was prevailed upon TO
take a Summing trip into the Tenderloin
He was Induced to take a snlff OF heroin
Within two months the heron habit gained
grip on him and he became a devotee Of
the drug A little later he came to a reali-
xation OF his plight and by a supreme exer-
ton OF will power managed to break the
shackles.
But the dope" peddlers wouldn't let him
alone. Knowing the properties OF heroin
as destroyer OF morals they hoped to
drag this young man to a point of degrada-
tion where he would rob the bank Almost
every day the dopesters called at the bank
and haunted packages of heron under the
nose OF the young employe. The tortures
suffered by Adams are indescribabIe, but he
did not weaken Finally when the dopesters
saw they could not break down his will
power they threatened TO go to the heads
Of the bank and expose him as a former
drug hend Right here Adams did a SEN
sibe thing. He appealed to the police and
they drove on the wolves.
STUDENT LED AsTRAY
Tho case of a young college student
treated py Drs. Joseph McTver and
George D. frice at the PHILADELPHIA Hos
pitai. furnishes phase Of the drug scourge
more shocking than any yet related. This
student was member OF a respectable fam
ny In moderate circumstances. He was
virtually working his way through college.
He was boy OF little vitality and especially
during examination periods suffered from
mental depression. On the advice of one Of
his instructors he began using cocaine as a
cerebral stimulant The drug did stimulate
his brain and made him pass his examina-
tons with flying colors. but a little later
he began paying the price for this forced
and unnatural brilliancy He became a
cocaine fiend. His mind and body became
blasted BY the drug. He was as pitiful an
object as any OF the 147 drug fiends who
applied to the Philadelphia Hospital TO be
cured OF their craving.
The Rev. Thomas McKenty points with
pride 10 one case he aided in curing OF the
drug habit One day dirty, hopeless-lool<
Ing individual drifted into the Methodist
Rescue Mission For six months he had
been living IN the Tenderloin, panhandIIne
20 buy drugs from the peddlers. This man
was nephew Of one OF the hEhtlnK ad-
mirals OF the United States Navy exvo
years ago he had occupied a high-salaried
Government position IN washington and
..rII4 n. naA ~ uavIN.