Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-03-10

llC SpCdhSl NdS d NdiiJ Dul
writhed in tortures this morning
phin county Jail, where Warden
so many dope" fiends that he
quaint Harrisburg with the fact
1.-THE whisky victims are dimin-
ishing," said he briefly, but the
drug victims are getting so numer-
Gus that it is a serious proposition,
and l think that the Common
wealth should know just what is go
ing on. II measures are not taken
Immediately to stop the sale of drugs
in Harrisburg, this Jail will be
swamped With people who are no
less than maniacs. Come up here
and look at this bunch"
Calls For Narcotics
The Telegraph representative fol-
lowed the warden through the we'll
lighted and clean corridors. 1t
must be said for this county prison
that it is as clean as hounds tooth.
As the party ascended iron steps,
the sun brightly shining down
through the high glass roof over
head, groans and yells and calls for
Give me dope echoed in the sun
lighted bastille.
warden, as he pointed to a small
booth where this dope" fiend lay,
almost nude and careless of any
. thing but the Unsuitable desire for a
shot"
"Just One Shot
I'm a Harrisburg girl" she
moaned. Sure, L have been living
on drugs a long time. For Gods
sake, Warden, can't you get me just
one shot?"
This is a type" observed the
warden. There are->about fifteen
more here to see, and seQe white
girls, too" Later he opened the
ward of white girls and pointed out
several, one good-looking young
girl from Carlisle, who said she had
never indulged in drugs until visit
ing Harrisburg last week. Il fell
in with an attractive man. she mar
rated, lying on her narrow butt
white and clean cot "and he intro
duced me to a place where they hit
the pipe and use drugs. The hypo-
dermic is very popular. In short
time [ forgot where 1 was; morphine!
makes you dream. But now l am
sick, so sick. Please do not put any
thing about this in the paper. II
don't believe L ever could become a
drug fiend."
a Chance For One
There's q chance for her." re-
marked the warden, but it shows
what danger there is in this city, the
way drugs are being sold, for out-of-
town girls. 1 never, personally, had
much experience with this drug
habit, although / have been asso-
ciated with the Dauphin county Jail
five |
girl, white or black, absolutely
loses all sense of morality under the
influence of smoking hop or using
any drug" He called attention to
the fact that every one of the eight
cen or nineteen victims now in the
dope" ward lay about with prac-
tically no clothing on. One mulatto
girl appeared to be conscious only
of a gay and ornamented garter
with which she toyed as she ram
bled in her talk and yet, although
brain weak, had enough command
not to tell exactly where she secured
the drugs which are so prolific in
Harrisburg.
Always an "Angcl'
The Dauphin county Jail officials
are one in asking for help to put
an immediate stop to this drug de-
bauch which is, right now, bringing
in twice as many prisoners as booze.
Every official to-day expressed the
belief that Robert Chenoweth was
responsible for much of the sale of
dope, declaring that he always car
ries roll of 81 500 to S1,700. Wheth-
er it is he or some power higher up"
which pays the fines of q myriad
of white girls who have been taken
into the tolls, the Jail folk do not
know. But they are doing their best
to discover the angel who goes
bond for these victims of drug.
Nearly every white girl arrested sue
ceeds in getting bond quickly; some-
body or some association of men are
footing the bills.
Chenoweth has been arrested sew
eral times but always manages to
elude a Jail sentence.
Covered With Scars
Lying in the dope ward to-day
were mostly colored girls. helpless
from the effects of various drugs, of
which morphine seems to be the
most readily secured. AS rule,
their bodies were tatooed with hun
dreds of hypodermic punctures so
that some of them had the appear
ance of being marked with small
pox.
"Is is a fact" declared Warden
Hargest, that we are not having
so many drunks as hopes due, no
doubt to the hign prices for booze.
But I will say that Perry county is
furnishing it's full quota. 1t seems
that Perry county sends down here
myriad of drinkers who come to
Harrisburg for booze, and get tan
gled up before they can start for
home"
1t should be a duty of the taxpay-
er in Harrisburg to visit Dauphin