The Golden age. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1906-1915, October 11, 1906, Page 4, Image 4

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4 The Great Trinity of Dope Evils. ■ : i ■ flk ■Hr ■ ’'S-MM fl , I', ' SIR y„. . ~|„,., „ Ma Westminster Chapel, Dr Campbell Morgan's Church. “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warn ed; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.’’ Ezek. 33:6. N olden times cities were protected by huge walls upon which the vigilant sen tinel walked. His business was to look out for danger, and when he found it, to cry aloud. Such was the case on the fatal night when Herculaneum was enveloped by the lava that flowed from the red mouth of Vesuvius. A descrip tion is given in one of the classics of I a faithful sentinel who, while walking his beat upon Herculaneum’s wall, saw the coming of the rain of fire and the river of lava. The description of his cries is pathetic, but not half so pathetic to me as his faithfulness in standing by his post of duty. There, facing the stream of fire, stone and lava, with his hand stretched out in the direc tion of the city, this poor sentinel was submerged, and afterward, his body was exhumed in perfect shape, which revealed his feelings and fidelity. This sentinel has always, to me, illustrated the preacher’s place in the world. He is ever on the watch tower. Isaiah so recognized him, and calls upon him to “cry aloud, and spare not.” He may have to go down; he may be submerged by the reign of fire; he may be called upon to lay his life down; but the preacher of righteousness today who, seeing an independent evil, one which is liable to menace the morals of the people, and withholds his cry, merits the contempt of society and the frown of Heaven. The Dope Menace. Ours is a dope age. More and more we are fall ing in line with poor, sleepy, opium-eating China. Our business and society promote it. The strain of business and the ever-unsatisfying demands of society call for stimulation beyond that which the natural man supplies. Oh, the restlessness of it all! There is no possible way of estimating the in crease in this line in the last quarter of a century. I have been so situated that I could observe, with One of a Series of Sermons Being Preached by Dr. Broughton in Westminster Chapel, London. The Golden Age for October 11, 1906. some degree of accuracy, in this line. I have been both a minister and a physician. I have been per mitted to mingle with the crowds, as few men in our community have within the last ten years. My contact has been with men of renown in the pulpit and in the medical profession. My position as the head of one of our leading hospitals, in ad dition to my other work, has brought me in touch with the medical side of life. I know something, therefore, of my subject, and I ask you to consider what I say, not as the vapor ings of a crank and a fanatic, but as the result of honest, sincere conviction, built up by knowl edge. The Opium Dope. The oldest of the dope family is opium. We have the history of opium in use since more than a hundred years before Christ. In its place, it is one of our most valuable drugs. When taken in the proper way and for the proper purpose, it is a God-send. But even this has made its use of great danger. The fact that it enables one to get out of the house of care, and enter the palace of optimism and sweet dreams, makes it a great pos sible danger. This fact has caused thousands to fall its vic tim. Men have tried with throbbing brain and shaking nerves; they have battled with responsi bilities that have grown increasingly; they have felt the lash of conscience; they have grown rest less and tired, and not having in themselves the stuff that sticks, they have resorted to this source with the hope of finding temporary relief. But it has not been a temporary relief, for like the sweet scented flower given to the prince, it has contained within itself a serpent as deadly as death. Cocaine, the Popular Dope. Again, we will consider the popular dope. While opium is king, it is so only because of its age. It is not the most hurtful. The most popular, and de cidedly the most hurtful narcotic today is cocaine. If something is not done, I believe it is to take the rank with us that opium takes in China. Those of you who have not kept pace with this drug can not form any estimate of its ravages. The extent of its dangers is measured by the ease of its ad ministration and its effect upon the system. The consensus of opinion on the subject is that it is the most injurious of any of the narcotics now in use. Specialists tell us that its constant use, even in small quantities, though pleasant to the sensation, is almost sure to wreck physical power, break down will power, and weaken moral percep tion. This we know by sad experience. From ev idence not to be controverted, I am prepared to say that there are thousands of men and wome’ 1 in this country who are utter and permanent wrecks from the use of this drug. One of the leading physicians in all this country recently said to me: “There is not a day I do not run against it.” The Cigarette—the Dude’s Dope. We come now to consider the cigarette—the dude’s fdope. There 'is 'nothing that equals its harmful effect upon the human race. In many re< speets, it outweighs the whiskey habit, because the constant use of the cigarette leads in that direc tion. Let me be fair in dealing with the cigarette; let me be considerate, also, if I possibly can. I confess that my feelings are so intense upon the subject, that to be conservative will be very hard. What are my objections to the cigarette? First, my objection is to the smoker himself. He looks bad, and smells much worse. I have often said if I were a girl, I would not keep company with a man who is soaked with cigarette odor. To me there are few odors as bad, and none any worse. But my real objection to the cigarette is its moral and physiological effect. The man who habitually smokes cigarettes for ten years will cheat, steal, lie, drink, murder, commit adultery—any or all of these that serves his purpose. I know some will regard this statement as extreme, but they would not if they had had such experience as I have. I once made this statement from my pulpit, and a young man who attended my services from time to time, and who was my friend, got angry. The next day I met him in an office down town, and he proceeded to abuse me for my statement. He said he had followed me as my friend. He had taken my part when I was criticised, but that I had gone to such an extreme he could no longer follow me, and that such a statement was calculated to cause suspicion of young men who smoke cigarettes, and who are ias honest as any others. He said: “I, myself, have smoked habitually for more than ten years, and I know there isn’t any truth in what you say.” I said to him: “You may be an exception, but I stick to my rule.” Was he an exception ? In less than three weeks’ time, he was found under the porch of his own home, dead. By his side was a bottle of morphine, and in his hand a partially smoked cigarette. What was the matter? He had embezzled from his firm, and could not make it good. At the very time he was raving at me, he was guilty of the very thing I had charged. I have kept careful records on this subject, and I say to you that had you been keeping them as I have, you would not be so ready to brand me as a fanatic or question my statements regarding this awful evil. The Beason Assigned. Why is it we have this effect from the cigarette? We do not have it because of the tobacco. Tobacco in itself does not produce such results. “Oh!” somebody says, “it is the nicotine in the cigar ette!” Nico-nothing; there is not enough nicotine in a barrel of cigarettes, if all were smoked at one time, to produce an effect of this character. Besides, it is not the effect of nicotine. Why is it, then? It is because of the peculiarity of the mixture in the first place, and the method of smok ing in the next. The cigarette is covered by rice paper. This rice paper is a heathen production. It comes mainly from China. It is bleached with arsenic. It can be produced in no other way. You say it is a lim ited quantity. To be sure it is, but that makes it the more dangerous. The tobacco of which cig arettes are made is, for the most part, steeped in opium. You say again, that it is a small quantity. To be sure it is, but this is another reason why it is so dangerous. Now, do not let any man who does not know any thing about this matter open his mouth in denial of what I say. Recently, a judge in Harlem Court, New York, made this significant statement with reference to cigarettes: “ Yesterday, I had before me thirty-five boy pris oners. Thirty-three of them were confirmed cig arette smokers. Today, from a reliable source, I have made the gruesome discovery that two of the largest cigarette manufacturers in this country soak their product in a weak solution of opium.” Think of it! The young men of this country, and I. am sorry to say, young women, too, are now more and more beginning to smoke cigarettes; are being opiumized and arsenicized by the use of the cigarette, permitted to be sold by the law of our land, which ought to stand against such public slaughter. The Inhalation of Smoke. But this is not all. The cigarette smoker inhales his smoke. This every man knows who has smoked them at all. Is it not true of other tobacco smoke ? If you don’t think it is, suppose you try it. You country are saying to their employes: “If you smoke cigarettes, you will have to get out of our employ.” Not only have they deprived them of the