The Desperate Plea of a Drug-Addicted Transient
A man seeking a meal at the city health office reveals he has been consuming dangerous, sleep-inducing doses of chloral.
About a week ago, a man entered the health office and asked Assistant City Physician Palmer for 10 cents to get a plate of soup. He said he was 'dead broke,' sick, and had not been able to sleep for a long time. Then in confidence he said: 'I took 150 grains of chloral a short time ago to superinduce sleep, but my physical condition is such that it has not had the usual effect.' At the mention of 150 grains of the pleasant but deadly drug, Dr. Palmer was visibly affected, and took steps to have the man, who gave his name as John H. Michael, sent to the county farm for treatment. Yesterday, Dr. James Shannon, president of the board of health, received a letter from Louis T. Michael, of Perryman, Md., asking for information of his brother, John H. Michael.
“I took 150 grains of chloral a short time ago to superinduce sleep, but my physical condition is such that it has not had the usual effect.”
While the medical understanding of addiction has evolved since 1893, the intersection of homelessness, mental health, and the health department remains a central and unresolved civic struggle in Seattle today.
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