A more brazen fraud was never perpetrated on an ignorant public than the claims which these so-called institutes advertise. They are patronized chiefly by the poor—those who have been told by honest physicians that they are incurable. Having no means with which to take trips to the mountain or sea shore, they grasp at every quack medicine or institute that offers hope of recovery.
I have visited the Chicago branch of this miserable fraud. Invalids who can scarcely walk are to be seen there daily inhaling mixtures of nauseous gases that have no more effect on the germ of consumption than a popgun on one of Uncle Sam's ironclads. By means of paid-for testimonials and a couple of "cappers," people from all parts of the country are brought here, oftentimes taking the last dollar of the family exchequer to pay for the so-called treatment. These frauds have been exposed time and again. However, a new crop of victims are gathered in every day and the game goes merrily on.
Human Ghouls.
The human ghouls in the guise of doctors are meantime living in luxury, and fattening on the misfortunes of their already half-dead victims. You might ask why does not the law step in and protect the sick. If you had seen as much of the law as I have you would discover that it too frequently protects the doctors and not the patients.
The men running this and other similar frauds are all licensed physicians, and have the authority of the great State of Illinois to pursue their calling. If you have consumption spend your money in getting good air, not dope. Drugs never yet cured consumption. That is the testimony of all honest doctors, and there are still a few of them left.
The Morphine Cure.
Forty years ago Dr. C——, of Laporte, Indiana, a bricklayer by profession, conceived the idea of selling morphine as a cure for the opium habit. Morphine is the essence of opium, just as cocaine is the essence of the coca leaf. It was a brilliant idea and brought Dr. C—— (he afterward bought diplomas galore) a mint of money. C—— constructed himself a mansion in Laporte, which stands today, a splendid specimen of the builders' art. He was the first man to put on the market an opium cure.
The poor wretches who are addicted to this habit would make any kind of a sacrifice for a cure. The whiskey habit is not a circumstance to the opium or morphine fiend. There is no habit which so enslaves the victim as the drug habit, and they are seldom cured. C—— ran along for many years with but few imitators. The many victims of morphine whom he has gathered into his net were pouring in their wealth until it amounted to thousands daily. As long as they took the C—— remedy they had no desire for morphine. The "remedy" contained morphine—more, usually, than they had been taking before.
"Dr." C—— had thousands under treatment, but made no cures. At last the so-called remedy was analyzed and its true nature discovered.
At once an army of imitators sprang into existence in all parts of the country, and morphine cure became as common as other cures. They all had and have as a basis opium or some of its salts. The extent of these drug addictions is hardly realized. Chicago alone has thirty thousand of these unfortunates, and the trade in opium and allied drugs is immense.