The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-16
CONFESSION OF
 A COCAINE PEND
 By MARY WEST' e Burea Inc)
By MARY WEST

their fellow-creatures to ruin and perhaps death.
 Become A Tool of the Gang.
 I can see now that in me they had a useful tool. I was alone in the world; l was now practically penni- less; l must have my drug some how And so, as sort of servant as a trusted messenger, as liar, even, for this gang of three, l went to live at the flat, and soon I grew quite intimate with the inside work ings of this awful traffic and thought nothing of it. I had become ab- solutely immoral, callous to every tHtng except to my own desires.
 At my only duties were to go back wards and forwards to Lifts shop. to assist in the entertaining of the guests who came for their drug to the flat. and to play cards. I was a fairly brilliant singer and pianist, and when the winter came and Mrs. Bay neton started evening card parties at which there would be sure to be the usual leaven of card sharpers, clear eyed, sharp faced men who never drank or took the drug, it was my task 10 keep thinking and keep things going as it were--to play and sing when cards and so forth had wearied and men began to yawn.
 God! How 1 think now of those young men. some little more than lads already in the grip of that cursed drug. as they hung over my piano, and how used to smile back at them, and sing and playfully tell them to come again the next night when I would have a new song for them. What a vile thing was,
 Gradually, bit by bit, began to be trusted more and more, and it wasn't long before I knew d good deal of the inside workings of the trade.
 Not alone at Mrs. Bayneton's flat was the cocaine illicitly disposed of In the hearts of the West End Lit tan and tobacco shop under the manage ment of a creature of his The pale youth, who was the assistant in Lifts pharmacy. was completely in the Ehinaman's power, for he had been caught in forging his employers name, and Lit held this over him as a threat to compel him to his will.
 Cocaine in q Tobacco Shop.
 In this tobacco shop cocaine was also dispensed. and how I found this out was in this way:
 One day Lit to whom I had become almost accustomed through so con- stantly meeting him. asked me to walk through from the little parlor at the back of the shop into another room. Then he carefully shut the door and asked me if I would like to make some money.
 I had as much cocaine as want ed and clothes too, from Mrs. Bayne- ton, but I never had very much spending money. So I told Lit that it would be very useful.
 All right" he said his curious English which I am not skilled enough to reproduce, You sit down here and l tell you what to do. Il am too busy mlself, but you do it and you shall have money. Keep your tongue still and there will be more money, tell anyone and I shall kill you. That is all"
 He spoke very quietly in most l matter fact way, and can re- | member I laughed I didn't care about 1 anything. I had just had a dose of i cocaine. and was feeling remarkably l well and merry.
 Lit went away for a minute. and | then returned with a number of little paper tubes and a bowl full Of white i powder which I knew was cocaine | He had also another bowl, smaller. | full of tobacco. He soon explained to me what I i was to do. I was to fill these paper ! tubes with cocaine, at the end of | each tube. however, placing a little i tobacco so as to make them exactly | resembla cisarettes. These were then placed in cigarette boxes made to l contain a hundred cigarettes, the first | two layers being really genuine | smokes. The boxes were marked | with some distinctive kind of label | and then handed over to the West 1 end tobacconist who had regular cus- | toners for them.