100 years ago in The Saratogian
Monday, April 16, 1917
An Albany woman arrested in Saratoga Springs last Saturday for possession of morphine testifies in court today that Dr. John F. Humphrey of 58 Phila Street wrote her prescription, but the physician appears to have acted within the law.
Blanche Young “presented a pitiable sight,” The Saratogian reports, “and was able to speak only in a whisper. She could rightfully be termed a ‘drug wreck.’”
Young testifies that she has been traveling to Saratoga to get prescriptions from Humphrey for the last five weeks. She claims to have overheard diners in an Albany restaurant mention Humphrey as a doctor who would write morphine prescriptions, but denies asking anyone directly where she could get prescriptions or whether Humphrey would write them.
At the time of her arrest, it was considered significant that Young did not have the certificate that druggists are required to give to patients when filling prescriptions. That omission might have put both Humphrey and the Mack Finn drug store in legal jeopardy along with Young.
However, defense attorney Will W. Smith, representing Young, informs the court that “the label on the bottle of morphine which had been taken from her when she was arrested was a sufficient certificate, and it was entirely evident neither the druggist nor the woman intended to commit a crime.”
Also in Humphrey’s favor is the fact, testified to by Young, that he prescribed smaller doses of morphine each time she visited him. That puts him in compliance with federal law regarding narcotics prescriptions. Taking these factors into account, City Judge William J. Delaney drops the charges against Young and exonerates Humphrey.
After the hearing, Smith’s law partner Lewis C. Varney makes an appeal to the court: “Your honor, this woman is very evidently in need of a drug. Can she not have the box of morphine which was found in her possession?”
Delaney denies the request. While Humphrey’s conduct is technically lawful, a representative of the city’s Medical Society tells reporters that “practically every physician in Saratoga Springs declines to engage in this traffic on ethical and moral grounds.”
Foreigner arrested by guardsman
The arrest of Mike Goul near Lock 1 of the barge canal outside Waterford today merits only one paragraph in tomorrow’s Saratogian.
Out-of-town papers, however, report that Goul was arrested after the second shooting incident in the last three days at the lock. A National Guard corporal was wounded in Saturday’s incident, while no one is injured in this morning’s incident. Goul is found in a clump of bushes approximately half a mile from where shots were reported fired.