The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-06-10
THE PACIFIC
Commercial AObertiser !.
Mr.. cruzau on the Opium Traffic.

CruZan at Fort Street Church, last Sunday night,
on the subject =. Shall we have free opium for
Hawaii"
hit, Te1 E;,5os, sn1s: 5,I 10 Il AS. IsuT Rely the Is serpent ig viii
Mythology tells US that Circe-sn ocean nymph
daughter of the Lins and Peise, was celebrated
for her skill in the magic arts, and for her know
ledge of subtle poisoPs.
According 20 Homer, she dwelt in an island,
attended by four other beautiful nymphs. With
their own personal beauty, and the sweetest
music, they lured sailors to their fatal dwelling.
There they were first royalty feasted, and there
tie magic cup was presented. Whoever tasted
it was converted into q hog.
When Ulysses was thrown upon the shores OF
the fatal island by shipwreck, be sent out an ex-
ploring party. These all drank of the fatal cup,
and were changed into swine.
Visiting one of the Art Galleries of New York,
one day, my attention was riyeted by a wonder
full picture, entitled Gree and the Companions
Of Ulysses" 1t was the picture of a beautiful
woman surrounded by a herd of swine! What
gave the picture its fascination was not the
beauty, or the face of the enchantress, but the
faces Of The hogs. Here was where the wonderful
skill Of the artist vas shown. Though every face
was that of hog. still in every one was a faint
trace of the human ; and each face family showed
more than mere swinish. brutal instinct There
was in every face a CLEAN of some human emo
ton. In one mirth, in another recklessness. IN
another bravadu but these were few In number
IN COMPARISON WITH those races III "ulCu Coulu NC
traced shame, anger, horror, despair. 1t was a
horrible picture-but a true one.
Gree was not a myth. She is a living, terrible
reality. She is a terrible. living, legal reality in
Honolulu. By law. daily and nightly. she fills
her poisoned cup in saloons in your fair city.
And now it is proposed to multiply these saloons,
and dot the kingdom with them. And, as if free
rum was not swift enough, and sure enough, an
engine OF destruction to the hot .blooded, disease
smitten Hawaiian ace-like children only in
self-control-it is deliberately proposed to license
the importation and sale of opium.
We need to face the fact that a strong influence
aided and abetted by those high in power-is
openly and secretly working for free rum and
free opium.
Let us, tonight, for a few minutes. consider
this question d" Shall ue hare free opium an
Hdgdii ?"
I-WHAT is OPIUM?
A narcotic poison-the dried juice of the poppy
raised chiefly in India used mainly in China
and the ORIENT, though it's use IS rapidly increas-
ing in America, and throughout the civilized
world. Everywhere it is a deadly destroyer; but
nowhere does it hold such regal sway, and yearly
send so many thousands of imbecile natives into
eternity, as in China, where, for the sake OF the
yearly revenue of fifty or sixty millions OF dollars,
Christian England forced this pernicious drug
upon Heathen China at the cannon mouth, and
against the protest of the Chinese Emperor.
But how is it generally used? The opium OF
commerce comes in small dark-colored balls,
wrapped in poppy-leaves The smoker-or more
commonly the keeper of an opium den-buys a
ball of opium, and by mixing it with water,
seethIng and straining, remixing and straining
again. and evaporating, he at last reduces it to a
soft mixture like jelly or tar. This is put into
little boxes of tin, ivory. or horn-large enough
to contain each three or four thimblesful, and so
it goes to the smoker. But soon his countenance
becomes shrunken and pallid. A deep sleep OF
hours follows. The poor victim at last awakes-
stupid, exhausted, enfeebled his brain seems on
fire, his limbs feel as heavy as lead gathering
by degrees a little strength. he rises, swallows
mechanically a little food. Incapable OF all
rational thought or useful employment, he sits in
sullen silence. while the slow hours of day wear
away. As night approaches. bis appetite for the
drug becomes more clamorous his desire is as
raging as a famished tigers for blood. To OBJ
tain it. he would trample upon the dead body oil
his wife he would plunge his naked hand into
molten iron though torment and death come
with 1t, he must have it. And thus he goes on
from day to day, from month to month. lie,
with his fingers and a slender ~stilletto. somehow
makes OF it a little pellet as large as a pea: This
he puts upon a pipe-not into it, as you do your
tObacco-U beg pardon as some other men do
their tobacco. | hope none of you use the stuff
And, having pricked a hole through the opium
paste, he draws the fame from a lamp through
it into a long pipe. Thus the fumes go into his
lungs, and lie is-happy Happy for an hour or
two in a beastly sense.
w HAT ARE THE RESULTS OF OFlUA OaoklNG !
This Bible says -" SIN, iOhen IL IS finished,
6rinqing forth DEATH"
While this is true of all sin, it is most sadly,
certainly true of the sin of opium-smoking. The
use Of opium rapidly eDervates, emaciates, and
destroys the body often it speedily reduces the
infatuated smoker to the appearance OF a walking
skeleton. Rev. Isaac Pierson, a missionary in
China, says go At a public inn in Paotingiu, |
met daily a little man, about 35 years OF age. who
had smoked opium for twenty years. lie was
slender and frail, and when lie laid off his coat
as the Chinese are wont to do in their homes
his RIBS could all be traced from end to end, and
his arms were scarcely twice as large as the bones
alone would have been. The opium bad fairly
tanned him. You could see it in his face, or
wherever his body was exposed. He looked like
"a mummy, and could hardly have weighed
seventy pounds
DR.. Beard, of New York, says - Even in the
climate where it grows, opium, when used &c
great excess, and for a long time, destroys the
constitution. 1t increases the thirst, lessons the
appetite, constipates the bowels, enfeebles the
pulse, and exhausts the nervous system. In the
last stages its direful effects are seen In the CLASSY
eyes, the sallow features, and the unequal gait
Those in the East who give themselves up to It's
seductions are usually short-liVed. They are said
to die on an average before forty.
Another medical authority says that the aver
age length of time after the formation OF the
opium haiti Before death ensues is from three
TO ten years"
Professor E. Ii. Clarke, MD, of Harvard
University, in his article in the American Ency,
clopedia on opium, speaking of the physical
effect OF excess, among other symptoms. says the
poor wretch will suffer from " emaciation, loss
of strength, ii trembling gait, pains IN the limbs
mental sluggisbness, Authorizations, and a con-
dition resembling delirium tremens.'
\ native writer in the Chinese Recorder thus
describes the effects of the habit - From the
robust who smoke. the flesh is gradually con-
summed and worn q UaY. and the SKIN hangs ike q
bag. The faces become cadaverous and black
mucus flows from the nostrils, and tears from
their eyes. Their very bodies are rotten and
putrid. 1t exhausts the animal spirits, wastes
the flesh and blood, dissipates every kind of pro-
obscurity, violates the laws, attacks the yItals,
and destroys life
Rev. Stephen johnson. for many years q mis-
sionary of the American Board IN China, says =
- The effects oil opium-smuking upon the body