Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-09-28
OPIUM SMOKING.

The following graphic description of
opium smoking and its effects among the
Chinese and adjacent islands of India, is
furnished by an English gentleman at one
time connected with the China mission.
He says - One of the objects at Singa-
pore that had the curiosity to visit, was
the opium-smokcr in his heaven: and
certainly it is most fearful sight, al
though perhaps not so degrading TO the
eye as the drlnkard from spirits, lowered
to the level of the brute, and wallowing
in his filth. The idiot-Smilc and death
like stupor, however, of the opium de-
the gaze than the beaStiality Of the latter
Pity, if possible, takes the place of other
feelings. as we watch the faded check and
haggard look of the being abandoned to
the power of the drug; whilst disgust is
uppermost at the sight of the human crca-
ture lcvcllcd to the beast by intOXication.
One of the streets in the centre of the
town is wholly devoted to the shops for
the sale of this poison and here in the
evening may be seen, after the lahors of
the day are over, crowds of Chinese. who
seek these places to satisfy their dcpravcd
appetites. The rooms where they sit and
smoke are surrounded by wooden couchc>,
with places for the head to rest upon and
generally side-room is devoted to gam
bling. The pipe is a reed of about an
inch in diameter, and the aperture in the
bowl for the admission of the opium is
not larger than a pins head. The drug
is prepared with some kind of conserve,
and very small portion is sufficient to
charge it, one or two whiifS being the ut
most that can be inhaled from single
pipe, and the smoke is taken into the lungs
as from the hOokah i'll India. On be
ginner, one or two pipes will have an eff
feet. but an old stagcr will continue
smoking for hours. At the head of each
couch is placed small lamp, as fire must
be held to the drug during the process of
inhaling and from the difficulty of filling
and properly lishtin" the pipe, there is
generally person who waits upon the
smoker to perform the office.
A few DAYS of this fearful luxury
when taken to excess, will give pallid
and haggard look to the face; and few
months, or even weeks, will change the
strong and healthy man into little better
than an idiot skeleton. The pain they
suffer when deprived of the drmg, attcr
| long habit, no language can explain and
it is only when to a certain extent under
its Influence that their faculties are alive.
| I'm the houses devoted to their ruin thcse
infatuated people may be seen at nine
| o'clock in the evening i'll ali the different
Stages-sone entering, half distracted, to
feed the craving appetite they had been
! obliged to Subdue during the day: others
laughing and talking wildly under the ef-
fccts of first pipe; while the couchcs
around arc filled with their different oc-
cupantS. who lie lanquid, with an idiot
smile upon their countenanceS, too much
under the influence of the drug to care
for passing events, and fast merging to
the wished for consummation. The last
scene iii this tragic play is generally a
room in the rear of the building-a Slc-
cicS of dead I-house-whcrc lie stretched
those who have passed into the state ot
bliss the opium cater madiy StelS-al
emblem of the long sleep to which he Is
! blindlv hurrying'