The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-04-24
The Opium Evil-The Chinese "Joint.,
in Denver.

b
opium joints of this city, and the mor
ner in which the filthy habit is indulgad
in, it is not remembered that any effNr.
has been made in the direction Of facts
and statistics respecting the habit and
the extent to which it is carried in tha
handsomest city in America. To tbs
collecting of these facts and statistics a
reporter of the Tribune devoted GOOD
part of two days recently, and the result
of the investigation and inquiries made
will probably be OF interest to all CLASSES
of people.
There are in Denver ten opium Joints
or places where opium can be procured
and smoked. Of these, six are in what
is known as Chinatown flour on Wazes
Street and two on Sixteenth STREET..
one is on the alley between Blake and
Holiday, near Sixteenth; one near the
corner of Arapahoe and Sixteenth
Streets; one on Larimer near Eighteenth
Street, and one on Blake above Seven.
teenth. Two of these have what are
called "washee fronts" but the Others
are conducted as out and out Joints,
The best houses are on Wazee Street.
where some pretense is made at ar.
rangement and cleanliness. Most Of
them, however, are squalid and dirty
in the extreme. The general arrange
ment of the opium den is similar in all
cases. A small passage way leads-a0ez
one side of the room, affording entrance
to about five little apartments, six by
eight, and ten feet high, with, in some
cases, similar tier of apartments
above, which are reached by ladders.
These rooms are roughly CONSTRUCTED
and implanted, the sole furniture being
a wooden bunk about four feet from the
floor at one end, on which cheap mat
tress is thrown. The keeping of these
places has been SO long unchecked that
the proprietors have become quite bold
and entrance is very seldom refused
while the places themselves are easy to
find. There is never any ventilation,
and d window is not at all desirable.
Stink and nastiness seem to be prereoui.
sites to first-class joint. The dens are
most generally visited between the hours
of s in the evening and in the morn
ing, the busy season being between ii
cbllo " SlOCh. Az Uulo UllllC, dU d DUUu-
lar resort, one may find joint of ten
apartments, each apartment occupied
by at least four persons, making in all
forty persons, each smoking and rolling
in filth, the air foul with the fume Of
opium, whisky and the breath of the in
mates. This in an almost alright
room, say twenty by eight and sixteen
feet high.
Opium for smoking is either sold by
the pipe at twenty-five cents, or, as is
more common, in little horn bottles at
two dollars. These last contain from
sixteen to twenty pipes. A still more
common way of purchasing the shop"
or opium, is in little round quantities
for fifty cents. These afford an Or
binary smoker about ten pipes full.
The average smoker comes in quietly,
purchases a fifty cent ball, goes to a
room, prepares his pipe and smokes and
rolls and dreams and mutters for from
three to six hours.
1t has been stated that of late the
joints in Denver have been frequented
by business men and respectable women.
This is not so. The patrons of opium
Joints are those who are seldom met
and never known in the respectable
walks of life. The places are visited by
a great many business men and by gen.
tlemen visiting the city, but these are
simply on =" sightseeing" trip around
the city, and are never known to take
smoke even for the 60 fun of the thing
Their curiosity is never so strong as
their fear of the strength of the habit;
they dare not trifle with so dangerous
thing. A careful estimate of the num-
Der of people who may be called fire.
quenters of the joints, places it at about
fifty men and thirty women. By fire..
quenters is meant those who go at least
once or twice a week-and some of
them 60 every night. 1t is singular
fact that the habitual opium smoker sell
dom smokes at home. The smoking
must be done at a regular joint, sur
rounded by all the sickening associa-
tions of the place, to be fully
enjoyed. An average of the i'm
mediate sensations following an
opium debauch is, on the part Of
the woman, that of strong animal pas.
sion; with the man, feeling as if re-
covering from light spree, and gener-
ally an Indifference for any thing and
every thing. The sensations when un-
der the influence of the drug are the
same in all cases great vitality of spirits
confidence of bright future, rosy
dreams, happy Authorizations, etc.
The average number of pipes indulg-
ed in by smokers On one occasion is
fifteen. Providing that of the eighty
habitues of the places, fifty smoke night
ly, fair average. This would make
$50 pipes per day consumed in the city.
Continuing the reduction, this makes
forty-two bottles. The dealers in smok-
ing opium procure the drug in its gum
my form direct from China, in two
pound cans which contain a quantity
equal to that held in eight bottles. This
then makes the average daily amount Of
opium smoked in the joints of Denver,
ten and one-half pounds, or little less
than two tons per annum, the wholesale
cost of which to the Chinese dealer is
over nineteen thousand dollars.
These figures relate simply to the con-
sumption by the white Americans.
Every Chinaman smokes, but he smokes
at his room or house. With these this
article has nothing to do. 1t is they
who have bred the disease, who have
introduced the habit and who furnish
means for its indulgence, and it is part
Of their history and their existence. II