The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-01-21
DRUG MONSTER HOLDS GRIP
ON SMALL AMERICAN TOWNS

, for seven more hop heads"
That's one of the notices of the
ring.
Most Of the agents who deal in
small way are dope" slaves
themselves.
The big dealers never touch it.
Seven out of every ten of the
crimes of violence are committed
by dope fiends.'
VICTIMS SLAY AND ROB.
The cocaine slave robs and kills
and attacks when he is wild with
cocaine.
The morphine addict kills and
robs when he is mad for want Of
morphine.
That's why school children are
such good customers for the ring.
When children get the habit
they find the money to buy
somewhere, somehow.
Time and again children are
brought into the juvenile court
for stealing and when the affair
is probed to the bottom there is
dope" grinninS like the skeleton
from the closet.
CREEPS OVER BORDERS.
Is there a dope problem in
America?
Ask the customs officers who
try to keep it out Of the country.
Ask the mounted police Of Can
ada who ride along the borders
looking for opium smugglers. Ask
the narcotic officers who risk
their lives day and night, day
after day and night after night,
trying to catch the traffickers in
this terrible trade.
How does it get into the coun-
try?
In a thousand ways, every one
more cunning, more secret and
more hard to detect than the
other.
1t. is brought in packed in auto
mobile tires. hidden in cans of
tomatoes and cans OF beans.
Secreted in the steam pipes OF
great ships and behind the board
ing Of first-class cabins on the
finest liners.
WOMEN AS SMUGGLERS.
Hidden in dirty bags OF clothes.
carried ashore on some forlorn emf.
grants shoulders.
Stuffed into the hollows Of lead
pencils where the lead should be-
they caught an old woman on the
Mexican border with great bas-
ket of pencils, and there was NOR
phine and cocaine enough in that
basket Of pencils to kill good.
sized town.
Women bring the stuff In from
Canada in their hair and in the
lining OF their scoats-and in the
hollow heels Of their shoes.
Men bring it in In the sweat
bands Of their hats, and some, fear
Ing the searchers. take a good.
sized strip Of court plaster along
the sides OF their feet and hide
the white powder under that.
ROB CUSTOMS HOUSE.
The other day here in New York
a truckman ran against q row of
barrels on the wharf and one Of
the barrels burst and in it were q
few dried fish and under the fish
A''dope."
The customs people opened the
rest of the barrels and found thou
sands of dollars worth of narcotics.
In New York, too. not so very
long ago, somebody stole tons Of
morphine and cocaine from crates
in the customs house storeroom,
and when the crates got to Cuba
they were full of dirt and stones in
place Of the drugs.
A man in the Government EN-.
ploy was indicted for this offense
but his case has never come to
| trial.
They are bringing dope" in
from Canada in Pullman cars and
in freight trains and in rowboats
and sailboats and little fussy
launches. They cross the river
at Detroit in launches and pleasure
boats and land the "dope" on the
American side and get money for
it, big money-and go back for an
other load.
LIKE FEARFUL TIDE"
From Canada, from Mexico, from
Europe, from Asia-it comes pour
ing in, rising like fearful tide.
Who can tell how far that tide will
rise and what people and what in
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president. 1t is with difficulty