The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-01-26
Continued from First Page.J

NAL human being even to suspect
He was a dope pedler him
self, had been since he was sever
years old. His uncle, Sam Morlen
has been a go-between for the Cal
Norma higher-ups in the "Dopt
Ring" for years.
And little Morris was broken into
the business almost as soon as hi
could ask his way, from q stun
to a smart hotel, and from a re
spectacle office in a respectable
business block to q dive under the
sidewalk or down on the watel
front.
Morphine he sold at SO much q
"bindle" and coke at SO much a
deck too-oh, he knew
them all, the innocent-looking white
powders that carry disgrace and
misery, madness and death along
with every grain of them.
Poor-Sam Morlen, the big ped
Ter.
Always Money In Bank.
Not he-how can a man be poor
who has been pedling dope" for
over twelve years, with the profits
growing every year?
Always plenty of money in the
. bank for Sam Morlen. Plenty of
ready cash for bail, in case OF trou-
ble-plenty of friends-save the
mark, or things they call friends,
in that strange land of ghosts and
phantorps we call the underworld.
No need for Sam Morlen's
nephew to go shabby, or to earn
his living pedling poison at so
much a sniff and so much a shot
But business is business and
people do not notice a little ragged
boy who runs into this alley and
out Of that entrance-slips up a
timidly at the back door Of a pre-
tentious apartment.
And if he's arrested, nobody's go
ing to hold him on serious
charge very long.
Valuable to "Ring."
Oh. be was very valuable to the
pale little boy, with big eyes and
his Wistfal smile--but he got tired
of it.
Tired of. the disgrace and the
flrtive hiding and dodging-tired
of seeing hop-heads waiting for him
in a sweat of agony, tired of deal
ing with human rats. tired Of work
ing and living in sewers, where
these rats congregate; and when
the chance came for him to get out
of it all, he went on the stand and
told his heart shaking story, and
the men involved in his testimony
went to the penitentiary-and
Little Morris" was taken care of
by the juvenile court.
] hope some kindly family has
adopted him by this time and that
he is getting chance to forget.
I'd like to buy him a Boy Scout
outfit myself, Sam Brown belt, can
teen, match box and all-wouldn't
you?
A peculiar case-that Of Little
= Morris-not at all.
I Taught to "Sniff Coke"
There are hundreds of such little
fellows all over the country taught
TO lie and steal and sniff coke"
and take a "shet of morph"-just
so they can make money for their
masters. the drug pedlers, who in
turn make more money for their
masters, the big dealers-who, in
their turn, make still more money
for the higher-ups in the great drug
rings which spread around the
world like a vicious and cruel net.
And then we go to the theater
and weep over the poor little rich
girl and the mimic sorrows Of
Oliver Twist.
At any rate, poor Oliver was not
taught the drug habit-even old
Fagin gave him that much of q
chance.
Children in the coils Of the drug
ring, make no mistake about it
they are there.
Babies Given Drugs.
Every doctor who has made a
speciality of the study Of dope"
addiction can tell you of babies in
their mothers arms who cannot
live without a daily dose of mar
cotics.
These are poor creatures born Of
addict mothers and they have
drawn the craving into their own
bodies with their mothers milk.
Sarah Graham Mulhall, ex-deputy
narcotic commissioner for the State
duu lily VI I've" 1OEhb CdN tell you
plenty Of tales of infant addicts.
And there are mothers who do
not hesitate to smear their baby's
lips with morphine to keep the
baby quiet while the mother takes
q "shot" herself.
Youth is the particular prey of
the drug ring.
When the New York State drug