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DR. FLORENCE T. TRUAX,
Wife of Dr. Truax, and one of the
most noted woman physicians in the
South.
HEN 1 left my home in Mis-
W sissippl two weeks ago to come
to Atlanta I had no idea th,& 1
would now be telling my own unfor
tunate story and that of other human
wrecks. I came here with the inten
tion of hiding out—of disappearing.
There is just one person among those
who know me who knows where I am.
That person is my brother. And,
I would not have told him except that
I feared I might die and I wanted him
to take charge of my estate and to
know the circumsiances of my deata,
it 1t occurred.
But, after seeing what 1 have seen,
and after my own remarkable experi
ence | have decided to tell everything.
While I am concealing my identity
in this story I have such a teel\n; of
gratitude and I am so filled with hope
for the future that I will not conceal
my identity to anyone who writes me.
1 will answer letters or 1 will receive
callers, and I will cheerfully tell of
this wonderful incident of my life.
} sald this was a story about hu
man wrecks. It is and when 1 came
here 1 was one. I had no hope for the
future, and death, which I feared,
#eemed welcome.
Morphine! I
That one word tells why, for it was
‘morphine which made of me a human
wreck,
I am one of the best-known busi
ness men in my State. 1 have been
‘successful. In the city where I live
1 take a prominent part In business
‘and soclal affairs. If it had not been
for the new Harrison law I probably
would have gone on being secretly a
slave to deadly morphine and to an
‘early grave. There was one man In
my city who knew that I took mor-
Phine. Not another soul knew it
That man was the druggist who sup
plled me. When the law went into
effect 1 asked him if 1 could get a
supply to last me a year. He told me
that I probably could, but he ex
plained how my plight would become
& part of government records. It was
‘then 1 realized that 1 must either get
rid of accursed morphine, die or be
eome ruined finanrcially. 1 have large
dealings with banks and bankers and
I knew that confidence in my ability
would be destroyed ilf my business
;;mehtn knew that I was a slave to
morphine.
. Then and there I decided to try to
%’”’ some competent speclalist break
i_”% shackles which held me. 1 had
Mttle faith in so-called “drug cures.”
g’ dreaded the pain and suffering
which 1 thought would be necessary
é.' me to endure. 1 had heard of the
M of others who suffered
M while undergoing treatment,
“only to die a miser Able death. I se
§m a list of sanitariums and began
?fl. inquiry. I was afrald to ask
EJe advice of anyone hecause T want
"od to keep my condition a secret. |
. Amorg the sanitariums I wrote to
EVV the Southern General Hospital,
Capitol avenue, Atlanta. Before
a slave to morphine 1 had
“heard of Dr. Herbert E. Truax and
M remarkable work he had accom
- plis in his profession, and this,
te with the letter I received
3 Mr. H. M. Owens, Qeneral Man.
_ager of the Southern General Hos
made me feel as if I would be
in the hands of sympathetic friends.
1 weighed the matter carefully, be-
E” 1 felt that it meant {ife or
_@eath 1o me, and finally I came to At
lanta. My friends and business as
sociates even now think that I am in
_the East on business. My brother
_alonie knows where 7 am.
T arrived at the Southern General
Hospita! on Aug. 26, and immediately
the courteous welcome of Dr, Truax
and Mr. Owens made me feel at home.
1 had with ‘ne 40 grains of morphine
@8 1 did not know what might hap
_pen, and rather than suffer the tor-l
of the hrlmd 1 determined to
be prepared ter a few minutes’
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talk with Dr. Truax I handed him
my bottle of morphine. The personal
magnetism of the man, together with
his frankness and his l‘ymutheuc
nature, won my complete confidence.
1 was determined to play fair with
him and put my life and future com
pletely in his hands.
When 1 did this I was taking 10
grains of morphine each day—enough
to kill 10 men. That was on August
26. On September 2-—one week later
I WAS NOT TAKING ANY, and 1
did not want any. The craving was
gone. My strength was rapidly re
turning. My appetite had already re.
turned, and I felt as if I could never
get enough to eat. 1 began gaining
weight until to-day I am in better
health and weigh more than four
years ago, vhen 1 did not know the
effects of morphine. 1
Did I suffer?
This was one of the most -urpfl--‘
ing features of my stay with Dr.
Truax. I had dreaded pain and suf
fering which 1 had found resulted
from the lack of morphine. 1 was
prepared to suffer some, and when 1
found an entire absence of any suf
fering whatever I was astounded. In
fact, I did not know when 1 had
ceased to take morphine. The tran
sition from a drug slave to a free man
took place without me knowing it
I went to Dr, Truax then and there
and asked him to let me tell my story
to the world. 1 received his consent.
. Whisky was the indirect cause of
my becoming a drug vietim. 1 daily
consumed quantities of it, and when
under its influonce about three years
ago I mst a man who used morphine,
i met him several other times, always
when 1 wasd under the influence of
whisky, and on several occasions 1
observed him injecting something in
'hh arm. On one of these meetings
I was in pretty bad shape phys
feally because of constant drinking of
whisky for a month previous, and this
man gave me my fArst dose of mor
phine. My 1! ysical condition was such
that he gave me several other doses
until one day I realized that it had a
hold upon me, and then I quit one
evil for another — I gave up whis
ky for morphine. Some of those who
knew the hold that v hisky had upon
me were elated to think I had quit
drinking. I Wwas congratulated by
many of my friends and my business
assoclates had more confidence in me.
But ne:; a‘t‘hc!mw::ew that 1 was
worse before.
1 would not change my condition
to-day to what it was a month ago for
all the money in the world. Thank
God, lam a free man once mor‘.. ‘
While my story is interesting and
should be instructive to all those who
are slaves of this and other accursed
drugs, I met others during my stay at
the Southern General Hospital whose
storles were even more Interesting. 1
could write volumes about fellow suf
ferers I met during my stay here with_
Dr. Truax. 1 could tell about the
South Geotgia lumberman, or the
aged woman from Tennessee, or the
‘Georgia banker’s only son, or a dozen
‘othbn whose stories show the re
markable work Dr, Truax is doing.
He is doing just what the title of
this story indicates—he lis making
men of human wrecks. No story of
the work of Dr. Truax would be com
plete without something about him.
Probably no man in the country has
deveted more time, thought and ltudy‘
to drug addiction cases than has Dr.
Truax. He is well qualified to prac
tice his profession. His father, his
grandfather and his great-grandfath
er before him were noted physictans.
He is a graduate of the three differ
ent schools of medicine.
Assoclated with Dr. Truax !n the
Southern General Hospital is his
charming wife-—herself a well known
and able physiclan—Dr. Florence T.
Truax. No mother could have been
more sympathetic with a son than Dr.
Florence Truax has been with me. In
the hospital are a number of women
from cities all over the South, and to
these Dr. Florence Truax devotes par
ticular attention, It is for that reason
no woman should hesitate for a min
ute to put herself confidently in her
hands.
There are no bars, nor bolts, nor
locks at the Southern General Hospl
tal. I have heard of sanitariums for
the treatment of drug victims where
the patients were locked up to suffer
and pray for death. When Dr. Truax
opened the Southern General Hospital
he threw the keys away. 1 come and
g 0 as 1 please, and 1 have done so
from the first day | was here. Dally |
bave taken exercise by walking in the
vicinity of the hospital. 1 would have
done more than [ did had I not been
afrald of being recognized by a chance
visitor from my home city. The point
1 wish to make s that nelther the
NEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, GA. SUNDAY, S<PTEMBER . 1915
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. T e B s o il : iTI 2 S T S s T e
Dr. Herbert E. Truax at work In his laboratory at the Southern General Hospital, Dr. Truax comes from a noted family of physicians, his
father, grandfather and great-grandfather having preceded him in the profession.
treatment nor the conduct of the hos
pital prevented this. Nurses are com
petent and sympathetic, just like those
who manage the institution, Many a
talk T have had with Mr, Owens, gen
eral manager, since 1 have been here,
He Ix congenial, well educated, and a
man of wide experience. In my talks
For those who wish to call on
me or write me M"‘.m my |
wonderful experience, dress |
Business Man, care Southern |
General Hospital, 201 Capitol |
Avenue, Atlanta, Ga. i
With him 1 have received lots of good
advice, which I Intend to use for the
future conduct of my business inter
ests. '
1 do not wish to convey the impres
sfon that because I am well fixed
financlally in my community that the
Southern General Hospita! is a rich
man's institution. It is not, The rates
are reasonable—extremely so-—-and |
‘would have willingly paid ten times
the amount asked of me. A flat fee is
charged for the complete treatment,
which covers a period of twenty-elght
days, including medicines, sanitarium
nursing, board, etc. Ido not mean by
this that it requires twenty-elght days
in all cuses. It did not in my case,
and I expect to leave within a day or
two,
I suppgse I could have gone to a
high-priced sanitarium in the East,
where 1 would have been charged an
exorbitant fee, and where 1 doubt v::{
much that 1 would have been cured,
In fact, there is no other place in thie
country, outside of the Southern Gen
eral Hospital, that I would recommend
to a friend or relative. [ know this
place; 1 know the wonderful things
which are being done every day for
drug victims, and for that reason |
can recommend it. It is within the
r.:“r&. of every white drug slave in the
Dr. Truax and his assoclates are so
Interested in this work of reclaiming
human wrecks that they have made
arrangements where patients may be
treated at a cost which amounts to
pmucdlg nothing. Thofl are so sin
cere in their work of relleving man
kind of the curse of morphine and
rwfiu: that thohy want to t‘n‘lho
t @ for even the poorest vitim
to be freed from drug bondage. They
should have the thanks, support and
co-operation of every than in the
country who has the welfare of unfor
tunates at heart. So grateful am 1
that when I leave here 1 will make it
a part of my life to find drug vietims
and wend them here for treatment,
There is one word of warniog 1
H. M. OWENS,
General Manager of the Southerr
General Hospital. It was through
the able efforts of Mr. Owens that
. the Southern General Hospital has
been put within reach of a multi
tude of drug victims. .
want to give to drug victims. Do
not be deceived into thinking that
there is one formula, or one fixed
treatment, which will apply to every
body. There 1s not. People differ,
and they must be treated differently.
The treatment which would apply in
some cases might not apply in yours
It is for this reason that the success
of Dr. Truax has been so remarkabie
He makes a close study of every pa
tlent and treats each case individuals
ly. \He does not resort to such treat
ments as “twilight sleep” and “knock.
ow.” These methods are similar te
the locks, bars and bolts of some in
stitutions. He does sclentifically
what others try to do crudely. He
succeeds where they fail.
It would not be right to end thia
story without telling of the Atlanta
business man In whom Dr. Truax
fwrouxht such a change. He is here
with me now completely cured after
being a drug slave for fourteen years,
I have told how I got into the habit
of using morphine. I don't believe
!anybody ever began taking drugs de
liberately and intentionallv. Some do
it through ignorance and others
through carelessness, while others are
victims of doctors. This is true of
the elderly business man I mention.
He owns sgeveral houses in Atlanta,
and fourteen years ago a certain doc
tor lived fn one of them. One day,
while collecting the rent, the business
man mentioned to the doctor that he
was not feeling well, and seemed to be
run down. The doctor assured him
that he could give him a tonic which
would change things. He did. This
alleged tonic made the business man
fee! better than ever—when he was
taking it. But one day, while on a
business trip, he ran out of the “ton
fe,” and almost died before he could
drive through the country eighteen
miles to a doctor with whom he was
acquainted. When he arrived there
he collapsed, and, after an examind
tion, he learned the awful truth—he
was a confirmed drug slave. For the
“tonic” the doctor had been giving
him was no more thaq a solution ANI
ed with heroin, which placed the
business man in this unscrupulous
doctor’s power. And he remained un
der his power until the doctor died,
He pald this doctor hundreds and
hundreds of dollars for drugs, and aft.
er the doctor’'s death he learned to ad
minister the drug himself. He kept
this up until the Harrison law went
into effect, when he recognized that
something must be done.
“When I came here,” he tola me, “1
really belleved that I was golng to
die. For a number of years 1 had been
taking heroin, and when 1 came here
1 was taking each day enough to kil
50 men. From 187 pounds I dwindled
down to a mere skeloton. I felt that
my case was hopeless and that I would
be taken from the hospital by an un
dertaker. From the first Dr. Truax
assured me that I would get well. He
encouraged me by his sympathy and
words of hope. 1 know that he saved
my life, because I could not have con
tinued much longe* as 1 was doing.”
This man has had none of the drug
which has been a curse to him in two
weeks. Like me, he does not want it.
His strength is rapidl returning, and
be Is & new man, but Kx. case Is noth.
ing out of the ordinary here. Thera
are others whose cure has been just
"x am co.aubbfiomo In a few day
before I go fhopo I will :e'th:yr:n:::
of rescuing other victims, 1 am wil.
ing and anxious to answer letters or
to receive callers at the hospital while
lam here. If you are a drug victim, 1
WALL to meet you face to face and tell
you what Dr. Truax did for me, It
does not make any difference what
drug you have been taking, nor how
long {w have been taking it, Dy, Tru.
ax wil cure you. He wiil dn[z;r you
what he has done for me-—aave yoy
w"n future which is worse than
(Copyright, 1015, W. 1. Alston.)
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