The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 13, 1898, Page 23

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 1898 ) I\ \\ of the law reached Valentyne started a er, and Mi Mra she asked Valentyne. there yourself, “He is not got afim,’ ge udma: bazaar b i int. superintendent; rch afte "1 hat also w ng track of Hpo and then , saw e Faei s Before He Turned and Ran He Fired the Last Shot in His hes (blackguards) are Killing some 0 and look into that first,” come back here say that you had a chance to hide anything.” as_dipiomatic; but it was the little slip of Thit that gave the Nahts (spirits) nce to work more mischief. i W4y 7:\\ AR R \::\! LT Wil / T 1 t rv')l \ 1t et ¥ 1S Ty ‘ ) H/;uj‘ A B P I ,1»?,? =774 AR B (17 /7 Tl Z A said the sergeant, and asked if said the finish the so that this and Ouray quf Somebody is murdering a Phoongye” (priest), he said hich goes up the o the sergeant Toad. Rushing into the pagoda he found the Phoong: clamor man, see where Ouray the temple clustered about the big Buddha, the 32 Budd s it was known. > o ot 1 o, si an put his jewels in th were prostrated at the feet of the great im- SERb Y rmennt Jiedeyalaiin the and lamenting and shricking 1n despatr. TH N e v the,matter?”’ asl Valentyne. e A thief has'stolen the Beda, the eye of the God, the e Just beyon boo wal alentyne’ a wrapp d on-colored s nd they pointed to a great hole in the forehead of the entyne It was the stolen ruby; the night was being made As he disappeared a s hind a Penang mat which serve and, kneeling over the box, seurched fer that which Hpo Thit had put there. It was Mi Mra. oplum and because of t Then she disapp: the ofl dip flickered lower Soon there was the ste are accustomed to marching, tendent, and the sergean steps; and also were Moung Ouray, and Hpo Thit, and the Phoongyes, and oth - “I think that this i: search while we are at it. oo 25 1"' AT A I (') ) 5 = %//f il Vil 7 AV \\.\\\\ \J VSRR Rifle at the Officer. for Hpo Thit had stolen it. It was an old-fashioned, muz- thered fn Hpo he should search furthe hideous with the din across the road in the Phoongye zle-loading musket. fore Valentyne could answer a fiendish uproar smote Kyoung. t is difficult to run down a Burman in' the jungle, and ht was thick when Hpo It W as though the play and the whole There was so much of terror, so much of menace, in jt was the next day before they came up with thelr s yaen zaar noises had been the hoarse roar of the Phoongyes. and the crowd of Bud- quarry. snake up the steps of the oompoung of the Phoongye Kyour dhists 0 had been attracte their cries, that his Heé had a couple of shots at them in a blundering sort and told Valentyne, th It was a proper Oriental babe] heart failed him—he dropped it again in the box, and of way with the old musket without hitting anybody; but ¢ had opium—mar ting through t eral noise lik passed silently, swiftly out into the Burmese night. just as Valentyne charged in on him at the head of his police, Hpo Thit fired again at close quarters, and the superintendent went down, shot in_the shoulder. Only for the sergeant Hpo Thit would have been arved up Into resulation slices; only for the sergeant nd Valentyne, too, for he bellowed out: “Don’t kill him! ake the beast alive!” A “Bring him here and search him at once,” said Valen- tyne, who was sitting up now, though feeling deucedly groggy; and while the sergeant bound up his wound they stripped Hpo Thit as clean as a whistle. But there was no ruby—nothing but much tattooing discovered. “What have you done with the red stone?’ asked the superintendent; but Hpo Thit wouldn't answer. Then they got back to Thayetmyo as quickly as they could, carrying Valentyne on an improvised dhooly, in the shape of a charpoy, which they got from the woon of a neighboring village by the gentle art of compulsion. ‘When Hpo Thit brought back by the police, he was met by a reception committee composed of orthadox Buddhists who were gathered together with the avowed 1 fizure glided out from be- as curtain to a doorway. 10, ho, Hpo Thit: because Moung told Mi Mra that you are alw: smoking at the t Mi Mra wauld have nothing to ld have Valentyne Thakine make a ared behind the curtain again, and and lower, and only the outside crept into the house—it was so still. tramp, tramp of men that nd once more the superin- and the police came up the no end of a fool's game,” said Val- to the sergeant; “‘but we might as well finish our Where shall we look first?"” about he slipped like a gentle shadow down Duddha, where the sacred “Beda Ruby” had been for .In the box, Thakine,” eagerly interrupted Hpo Thit. object of honoring him with the crucifixion. the back steps of bungalow. twelve centuries. > “If the opium is not th. nd he has the ruby, there To guard against his attaining Nirvana by a fluke, as foss Bt i How calm and digrified the alabaster god seemed, shall we find it.” it were, he was to be crucified head downward. s Qiplomatie oe oo coughed Jong: * fing there with his hand In b p! Throogh.fwelve cen- So once more the sergoant continued his interrupted Valéntyne, who was very weak by this time, had great was diplomatic, for jungle men, like . turles of strife and pass o hood and carnase, Mad It search of the box. There was nothing bevond a pair of difficulty in explaining to them that the government could « looked with calm serenity upon the struggles of the little . (Chinese patent leather shoes. o palm leaf Buddhist Bible, ~ not allow such a thing to take place. 20 trees ene girl's slight men who had come and gone. and Houng Oura silken headdres: muny of them So Valentyne was taken to the hospital, and Hpo Thit Moung O “The Tha Thit if he he did, we were pink fr trick of ruir d also, v ; o 2 empire to strike with the stag’s horn the crescent-sha And also, { Moung Ouray Mi Mra's brother? cong hanging there at its side, and then plead it fhed e Pahlacks d prone on the cemented floor in front of the god, for Who is hie S cengy the intercession of the Beda with Buddha Gaudama, o Ao i 1t and a couple of The Fhoongyes watched ft might and day, and how el s 2 any one had managed to steal the ruby Valentyne mfi’f;_m”u} r th hed down the metaled road, be- not understand 8 D Delmmecund tween the pe where a sweet-scented cham- In the meantime Hpo Thit had glided silently back pac erows oj Pagoda they stopped. Moung through the crotons and into the bungalow oncé more. t beyond. entyne tol rough the grove toward 1d_her teeth, which 1, gleamed like coral thoments over what vas straight enough, ttered to himself. “It's a man.” 7, In his knock-kneed s little room and Val- Twelve hund gh, asked Hpo &nd Poaza, the Chinese princes: box. Perhaps The seve e founded gained him gr “Beda Buddha’ work: And now for twelv e “Beda Ruby,” all Burmah. Piigrims._c The very air slipped into the house, tamarind that tow ed_year: it to the Talopins of Panja—Uzzana, the son of Mienzaim, en great Kyoungs of Talopins which Uzzana miracles. r was full ‘of demoniac for the crows, arou Phoongyes’ uproar, were screaming and shriel before had King Uzzana given $nd, Jf , 8o that when he died the dred years had the sacred eye, en so. -struck at the audacity of the a W the most sacred image in me from all over the Burmese noises as Hpo Thit by the g in a big That the ruby w the balls of opium had a tributed, to Moung Our: and Modng Ouray had t Then he saw was an innocent looking circlet of je: in front of the box. ware on their hair, and it hadn't been there when they searched the box before. Of a certainty Mi Mra has taken the ruby,” mured Hpo Thit, 11 but if his heart fail him, then will he tell her to take it to the police Thakine for it would be discovered would also lose the ruby. Slipping away from the others as they came out of Moung Ouray’s bungalow. As he approached cautious! 8 her mother and father sitting red high above the champac. nestly was put in a cage behind iron bars, just like the mangy tiger they had seen down at Rangoon. % ‘Il have the bullet eut of you in a Jiffy,” said the civil surgeon to Valentyne, as he rolled up his sleeves and opened his case of shining instruments. Then Hpo Thit was brought up before the Deputy Commissioner for a committal hearing, as it were, charged with stealing the sacred ruby, and with attempt- ing murder of the superintendent. But the priests were clamorous for the ruby eve of their Buddha;: for the matter of Valentyne dying or not they did not bother their heads—even they would let Hpo Thit go free, so be it they could come by the sacred gem again. The Burmese archbishop, the Thathanabalng, had come down from Ava to see about the recovery of the stone. They begged the Deputy Commissioner to give Hpo Thit promise of pardon if he would only disclose where he had hidden the “Beda.” yLicont do that,” he sald, “for the wounded sahib s may die; the doctor ed for the bullet and can't get it, he could see Mi Mra and and it Jooks bad for the superintendent's life. If he. dies, n the bamboo floor ear- Hpo Thit will have to swing.” away in the bottom. gone was a facer to Hpo Thit; first, ppeared, but that he had at- ; now the ruby had vanished, with the police all the time. which gave him a cle: It jessamine flgwers lying s such a circlet as the girls somet It w mur- me to the house of San Shwe, hwe will keep it, there will it ne her father. If S; N There was no time to be lost, that he had stolen it, and he house, he quickly sped to San Shwe's When the cd on top lay handsome Within all was quiet, and Hpo : discusssing _something.” “They will decide; I will But if the Beda might be recovered th. 1d e ! d on top la andsom s et, po Thit lost no = 4 ed, squatting s g b s 3 e T e ey would pay to silk gown; 11 " the Jjaunty little jackets making his way (o the box they had so lately sehrched for T Hoaq: Tuttered, squatiing on, his heels at the’side of Valentyng's family bis full value in good English sov- s ald ‘onithe Ao the opium: Then Mi Mra came out, and starfed off h “Fhe i [ yund lacquer box. When the The little lamp was still burning, so he cou 5 o e PR e b EUE KIGL ARTOB L R The Deputy Commissioner was as anxious to recover lif eE 15 A hdre s where to: putiithe small Tound Ba ould see just (]l"u’l.l maldan toward the superintendent’s bungalow: the jewel as they were; =0 he promised Hpo Thit that if nt lift oval white ba et he took from the L eite halls) unlike opium as they could well be, roll just at his wa If Now Moy Sieck He put it down n a corner of the teakwood box; then, thems: BAbE Oura that he not put the eggs actuated by a sudden resolve, he picked it up, unrolled me. + £ Hpo Ty ke & pantry of his clothes boX. Also, the little plece of vellow cloth in which it was wrapped, tad not Hpo Thit left them s he had slipped into and took a long, loving look at it. As he rolled it in hig thelacquer box while Mo v was down at the play hand near the flickering cotton dip, the little room seemed e round lac I bathed in a flood of warm, blood-red light. Great ruby- police inning from ear to ear. tinted rays shot hither and thither, until the dazzling hour h tic little laugk opium he had and asked Hpo though noonday sunshine. Moung Ouray lighted up the uncertain gloom, wine had been thrown high'in and it was as the bright, dacoit gun had gone with him. hat was Hpo Thit's swear that you and Moung Ouray stole it and Then the judge Thakine will ask how you should know that I had it, if 3 Mi Mra went back to her father's house; she wanted to think, wanted to do that which was the least trouble, In the morning she told Valentyne about it, and in an e and the sergeant ing after Hpo Thit. hance, ' he said, as' he left her, “I will ve it to he would tell where it was it would help him much when the time of l};l: sentence came. “I will tell,” said Hpo Thit, “because it will be easy the Thakine to get it; and then the Thakine will rexixe?x‘-' bel"lul( the time of the sentence.” Che court was as silent as the graven ima, Buddhu itself, as they waited for Hpo Thit to spenpc. °F Putting the palms of his hands together in front of his face in the form of supplication, Hpo Thit said: ~The red stone which I took from the Kyoung, even from the forehead of the Buddha, is in the poiice Thakine's body. I fired 1t from my gun the last time, you tell about it ou had not given it to me.” and a file of police were chas- But Hpo Thit had gone. One m, had been created. His brother's, the Thugg ¥ The Thuggle didn’t know that, lets, and because if it cou]:l w:g 2 miracle it would stop the police that I might yet away. 2 “’think it is the trath,” said the Deputy Commis sioner. “It is true,"hsagl ;he priests, must give up the Beda.” e “Well, we'll see what can be done ‘;n Htg; %’}fli‘%ks o] swereddthe Deputy. Co:nmlssn::er. an manded to await developments. > : “By Jove!” said the surgeon, when hekl';en «zha;l;mé;rl:: “that accounts for the infernal thing taking screw course.” “You'll have to get it out of hi Deputy Co‘rinmbisséoner. “ror'ltlse“l:l‘:! rupees; and, besides, it won' - ltve in Burmah with the eye of a Buddryfiglgod 'fx‘g‘?e‘?ed 1t “Look here, Grey,” said the surgeon; T am F&ECTEC - I probe for the cursed thing again. I r;enr X( eiscrious tyne’s life out of him the other day for fear of PO:SORCHT consequences, for I thought it was a slugh ‘éhim nd good, clear-cut ruby it will phrobabsl,w_"péver urt » I'm not going to take any chances. : The Deputy Commissioner was in despair. Th;fll:go:x\;\d gyes, headed by their archbishop, haunted h;‘s offics gt his bungalow night and day, clamoring for the rubv, their sacred “Beda,” for thgdeye tot their Buddhist god. But the surgeon was obdurate. = ;2 “Valentyne is a friend of mine,” he sald, vand “Ira not going to murder: him to ‘please any vellow-rohed Phoongye. I woulgn't do it even if he were an enemy. leave the service first.” Of course the Deputy Commissioner had to report it to the Commissioner. and he to the Chief Commissioner. = Valentyne in the meantime had to be guarded at ti 5 hospital, for Mi Mra discovered that the Phoongyes ha set a scheme on_foot to kidnap him, and, incidentally, carve him up to find the sacred stone. There were many reasons why they should recover it as soon as possible. Their Buddha had lost all prestige since his maltreatment, and no pilgrims came now to lay their generous offerings at his great square feet. The pagoda had ceased to do a paying business, for Uzzana’s ruby had been a drawing card. It had been a good invest- ment that for twelve centuries had gone on making money for the priests. Valentine applied for, and obtained, sick leave, handi- capped with an order that he must not take the ruby out of the jurisdiction of the Burmese courts. It was a splendid bit of judicial ruling that, and the Deputy Commissioner smiled grimly when it passed through his hands. As soon as he was able to sit up and move about he discovered a new source of annoyance. Devout Burmans were constantly coming and prostrating tnemselves at his feet, touching their foreheads to the ground and mutter- ing_their prayers. ““What does it all mean?” he asked Moung Ouray. “Sar, they are worshiping the ‘Beda,’ which you, by the grace of God and that wicked Hpo Thit, have got.” ““This s intolerable,” thought Valentyne. *I am a ruby mine, and a Burmese god, and a receiver of stolen goods, all in one.” As he got better the beauty of his new life was fure ther enhanced by the deluge of official correspondence that commenced to pour in upon him. By order of the Chief Commissioner he was asked to explain_how he meant to make good to the pagoda the value of the ruby he was still retaining on his person. It was cheerfully polnted out that.if half his salary was es- cheated for this purpose it would take at least forty years to make up the value of the jewel. v A delay of this sort would hardly be fair to the Phoongyes; besides, in that uncertain climate his salary might cease at any moment. At any rate, under the fifty- five years’ service rule he could not retain his position ir the service for that length of time, and his pension would be barely enough to live upon. The clvil surgeon was raked over*the coals for not acting upon the Deputy Commissioner's suggestion and probing the matter to the bottom as it were—for not making another effort to recover the jewel. It was in vain that he wrote in answer that the su- perintendent’s life would have been endangered by another operation. His answer only brought another literary wiggling, in which he was curtly reminded that the British Govern- ment expected its officials to do their duty, irrespective of personal feeling or considerations of<personal safety. Then the Phoongyes got up a monster petition, signed by all the Buddhists, living and dead, in the whole Bur- man empire. It was cleverly worded, having been drawn up by a young Burman barrister, who was the gold medal- ist of his year in England. : BN The petition was to be forwarded to the Viceroy through the Ghief Commissioner, and prayed that the Superintendent of Police, Valentyne, should be delivered over to them that they might regain the most sacred relic the Buddhist empire. - ell',hey were willing to pay an indemnity to his family, but the ruby they must have. For a time it looked rather blue for Valentyne, for the Viceroy was a man who had great ideas about the rights of the natives; in fact, he went in for it very much as a baboo plays lawn tennis, without much science in the game, but with his whole soul and ponderous body dead on the ball. In the meantime a civil suit to recover the value of the Tuby had been instituted in the courts :n general, and Valentyne in particular. Luckily for Valentyne the Secretary of State was a hard-headed man, not much given to nonsense, and he said In equivalent official language “that he’d be damned if he'd see an innocent Englishman deliberately cut up to recover any fetish bauble.” But all the same the superintendent would have to be retired on half pay, for his usefulness was gone. The two could not be combined; the dual position of Burmese god and superintendent of police; for the natives still persisted in reverencing him, though ready as soon as the word was given to cut him up. Cre Just when he thought his troubles Wwere at an end, and he might go home, they applied for an injunction tc pre- vent him from moving the ruby out of Burmah. They ghowed to the court on medical authority that there was every possibility that the stone might work itself out some day, and S0 be recovered; but if Valentine were al- lowed to leave the kingdom the chances of the rightful owners ever becoming possessed ot it were very slim in- deed. They undertook to pay Valentyne a salary of 10,000 rupees a year so long as he remained in Rangoon; and all they asked in return was the privilege of coming to wor- ship the Beda at certain periods, and that a medical offi- cer, appointed by them, should have free access to Valen- tyne's person, with a view to keeping track of the peram- bulations of the ruby; and that when it made its appear- ance near the skin anywhere, so that it might be extract- ed without danger to him, he would relinquish all claim upon it and allow the surgeon to hasten its appearance. Valentyne's_counsel, seeing which way the wind was blowing, agreed to accept this ruling of the court, only stipulating that Corbyn should be appointed surgeon, for the rether stone had suffered most in the grind, and Cor- byn was out of the service. One little formality the court demanded; thet was that the archbishop and three or four of the chief Phoongyes should go on a bond for Valentyne’s personal safety. So the Superintendent was lodged in a beautifully fur? nished bungalow, and was treated very much like a dis- tinguished state prisoner. Once he received an offer from Barnum at a salary which made his paltry ten thousand look like pin money. The enterprising American guaranteed to smuggle him out of Burmah, also, and pay all legal claims, too. After he had been in the business about two vears he began to feel a pain in his back. He confided his fears to his attendant physician. *“It’s working out, I'm sure,” he said, sorrowfully. And so it appeared, for a distinct lump was forming Just below the shoulder blade. Then one day Corbyn made a discovery. boil, the result of mango eating. The Phoongyes were in despair. Three years more of playing Buddha at the rate of ten thousand a year passed, and this time there could be no mistake about it, so Corbyn said. The ruby was coming right enough this time. It was coming not far from the place where the boil had been; in fact, It was the irrita- tion of the Beda that had most likely caused the boil. Everything was in readiness. The archbishop had brought a sacred dish that was supposed o have at one time belonged to Buddha Gaudama, to receive the Beda in. Valentyne's back was bared: Corbyn made an inciston with his scalpel, pressed gently with the fore finger of his right hand downward, and in a second it lay in his left hand. 4 He gave it a little rinse in a bowl of warm water he had ready, and held it up to the expectant gaze of the many craning heads. 9 It was a piece of oblong lead—a slug. Hpo Thit had lied, that was all, and had the ruby with him—at least, it was never found. “and the police Thakine ome way,” said the ‘:;fis about two lakhs of althy for Valentyne ta It was only a v 990000066 FROM PLEASANT DREAMS TO ® o ® STARTED in with the old cose of one-eighth of a grain and soon in- sed it to one-q sickness w one grain e a every I thought I could not go to Y sleep without it, and, as I was working hard during the day, and in water most of the time, 1 took another dose, as it braced me up, at least for a few hours. I know now when I look back that had the drug been hard to get I never would have become a slave to it. I found it in a country store that ca ried a line of patent medicines and poisons, and anybody could purchase it in any quantity desired. So, it being easy to get, I kept up its use, and soon found I had to increase the quantity so as to produce the de- sired sensation. In two years I found I was taking five and six grains every twelve hours. I then made up my mind to stop, but found it was beyond my power to do that without some help. I kept putting the trial off. I was in- creasing the dose, and in 1894 1 was using fifty grainsof morphine a day,or twenty-five grains every twelvehours; enough to kill forty of the strongest persons to be found. During the first few years I expe- rlenced pleasure, especially when the Arug was taken at night. About twen- CONFESSIONS OF A “MORPHINE WRECK.” ty or thirty minutes after taking mor- phine pleasant sensations would creep over me from head tofoot—languor at- tended by : leasant thoughts It would seem as if I was only half asleep. My eyes would be wide open, but would notice no objects around me in the room. It was as if I were float- ing in the air. I could hear soft and weet music, as if from an Aeolian harp. Dreams that came and went in rapid succession were of the pleas- antest. Again I would be in beautiful gardens and among flowers. I could hear the sweetest songs. Air castles were presented to my view in countless variety in all conceivable forms and grandeur. During all these pleasant dreams and half-awake thoughts I could feel the poisoned blood tingling through my veins and making me feel as if I never wanted to move again, and at the same time the drug intensified every phan- tasm which my brain could conceive. These dreams would last for three or four hours and then I would fall into a sound sleep. - During the daytime the drug would act upon my system in an entirely dif- ferent manner. About twenty min- utes after the dose I could feel the blood rushing through my body and giving me, as it were, more strength and also a lightness of step which I had not before. It would, at the same time, dull my mind to all cares and troubles, blotting out the darker side of life and forcing me to think only of the present. These sensations would also remain for three or four hours and pass away. But the feelings were al- ways the same dwing the first pix years that I used morphine. About the seventh year I increased the dose from seven to ten grains every twelve hours, or twenty grains a day. At first I did not experience much change in the degree of pleasure, but in a week or ten days I began to feel restless when I was in bed angd also found it much harder to go to'sleep. ‘When I slept I now had bad dreams, and in the course of a month or so I noticed that my nerves were commenc- ing to be unsirung; my hands began to twitch and my arms to jump; very often when I was sitting and perfectly quiet my head would be jerked to one side or backward. While I was asleep at night I would jump in bed; my limbs and arms would contract with a jerk that would shake the bed, and on two occasions the shocks were severe enough to break it down. Thinking to overcome these I increased the quan- tity of the doses, and at the same time I was increasing the evil effects. I was now using from thirty to thir- ty-five grains a day. I think of the awful days and nights that I passed, and I wonder how it is that I am,alive; or that I am not an inmate of some asylum. I could not sit five minutes at a time without my eyes closing—with- out my head falling forward, only to be jerked back again as by some unfore- seen force. My hands and arms twitched and jumped, in spite of me, worse than ever. I did not know what to do. I became alarmed, and, of course, like all other “fiends,” took more morphine, and not only inc¢reased the dose, but took it oftener. I now made it my business to take ten grains every six hours or forty grains a day. imagine. Dreams of falling from great On the tenth night after I had com- menced to use morphine that way I had retired to my room about § o’clock in the evening and taken a dose, and thought I would lie down on the bed until it should begin to work on me, and then I would get up and go out for a while. T dropped into a‘sound sleep at once. I remembered nothing until I awoke at 1 a. m. I was still lying crosswise on the bed, but the head of the bed was soaked with blood; my hands and arms were cut in several places, and I was cold and chilled through; I lighted the gas, and what a sight! There was not a pane of glass in the window. Every ong of the eight had been broken, and the frame was smashed. I had thrown my alarm clock through the window and also sev- emLother things which were on the bu- reat. I tried to think and remember if I had had a dream, but my mind was-a blank. I had risen.in'my sleep and made sad havoc of my reom and win- dow and then lay again on the bed. I did not know anything of this until I a]woke three hours after it had taken place. ¥ From that time on, if there was ever such a thing as “hell on earth,” surely Iwasinit. I could not sleep at night. I would lie all night with my eyes wide open, my arms ar - limbs jumping around in the bed, and I prayed for morning to come, when I knew I would g0 to sleep. During what sleep 1 had there appeared to me the most awful sights and scenes that one could gver heights, often of being murdered, were mine. Huge giants and goblins danced around my bed, making the most hideous faces and gestures. Horses ran over me, and all kinds of animals howled and snapped around my bed. ‘When I now think of the hideous dreams and nightmares that daily and nightly were ever before me 1 wonder that I did not lose my mind. I had to give up work. I was losing in weight. I had the most dreadful pains across my back and around my feet: The blood that used to be sent rushing through my veins was now stagnant and would hardly flow. At times I could hardly feel the beating of my heart. My arms would go to sleep and I would have to rub them for an hour at a time and put my wrists in hot water to get the blood moving again. When the effects would wear off some I would commence to sweat, and on the coldest days in winter, with six inches of snow on the ground, hot per- spiration would stream from every pore in my body. At the same time I would be shivering with cold. Water would run in streams from my eyes, nostrils and mouth. It would be im- possible to swallow. A lump 'would arise in my throat, and if I tried ‘to swallow it would make.me feel like sneezing, but I could not sneeze, and the trying to sneeze and to swallow at the same time would nearly choke me. These symptoms would remain until I cowld get another dose of morphine. During the raiiroad strike of 1394 T went to work for the Northen Pacific Rallroa ng between Portland because I had no bul- (Copyright, 1%, by W. A. Fraser.) 900000@0@@0000‘0‘9@ & : LIFELONG : ¢ BATTLE AGRINST o and Tacoma. I was on the night & ® freight and many times I have had : THE > Very narrow es 1 death. Ofte I have gone to sicep on top of & treignt o INSIDIOUS DRUG. ¢ car, with my feet hanging over the side ¢ 3 and under the influence of morphine, Wwith the trdin dashing around curves at the ‘rate of thirty-five and forty miles an hour. Once while I was stand- ing up on a car I went to sleep, and los- ing my balance I fell over, but I man- aged to catch the brake and so saved myself. That was enough warning for me, and so I resigned at once. 1 was then using fifty grains of mor- phine a day, and I knew that I must either let up some or die. There and then I made up my mind to reduce the QuantityIwas taking,and at one stroke I cut the dose in half, taking only twenty-five grains a day. I suffered the agony and tortures of hades for five or six days, but I had made up my mind, and 1 would suc- ceed or die in the attempt. I remained indoors and after eight or ten days I had the victory. In two months I re- duced the d again, cutting it in two and making it twelve or thirteen grains a day. T had another hard bat- tle and won. After that I reduced the quantity a little at a time until I ar- rived in $an Francisco, the last of 1895, when I was using only eight grains every twenty-four hours. I now began to regain my health nd soon went to work for the South- rn Pacific Company. When I began to use morphine I weighed 200 pounds. I had to work now from 7 in the even- ing until § in the morning. I tried 0000000000000 00060@ very hard to drop off on the last eight grains per day, but I could not do that and perform my work. I found it hard- er to quit on the last eight grains than all the other. After a while the night work began to tell on me and I once more began to increase the doses of morphine so as to keep up to my work. In a short time I was again using twenty grains a day, but I never got above that quantity for the two. vears I was with the Southern Pacific Company. I soon fell off in health and weight again. I was worse than ever before. I was reduced to 125 pounds. I was afraid to go to bed, and when I lay down I would set my alarm clock so that it would wake me every hour. If I allowed my arms to go to sleep it would take three or four hours before I could have any use of them. I would have to get somebody to rub them for me and bandage them and pour hot water on the bandages. Often I would have to hire some man to work in my place for a night, for I would not re- gain the use of my arms in time. Finally the pains in my back and side and my arms got so bad that I had to resign. That was in 1897, and I came to San Francisco at once and took a cure for the morphine habit, and in a few weeks I was on the road to health. GEORGE BABCOCK.