Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-10-15
PhilpdeIphia,s Opium ParIor.

Philadelphia letter: Mrs. Kate Chis- um Is the prOprietress of the only opl- l um parlor in the city. She resides in Q small unpretending house on Mount Vernon street, a few doors from Tenth. \ silver plate on the door bears her l name, but there IS no other indication that the house Is inhabited. The green
 blinds are always kept closed, and the door IS only opened for the patrons of the place, who silently come and go. Mrs. ChisOm IS n pale, refined looking woman of about thirty-five years, and her appearance does not indicate a vIc- tim of the opium habit. As far as could be seen in nasty inspection of tue three rooms on the first floor the in- terior of the house Is furnished with luxury rarely attempted ID a house of the kind. The walls are rich in gliding and decoration; on the floors are heavy
 Turkish and Persian rugs, and statues, pictures and bric-a-brac are scattered
 bout in every direction. The rooms
 lsed for smoking are up stairs" said
 Mrs. Chisom yesterday, "and of course
 1 cannot let you see them; but you can judge by these that no expense has, been spared m fitting up the house. l came to Philadelphia on the fifteenth of last February, and I am quite satisfied mat I shall do very well here. My GUS toners are constantly increasing, and among them are some of the wealthiest ladies in the city" On being questioned
 bout her sntecedents, Mrs. Chrisom told a story of an adventurous car CT.
 Seventeen years ago l mar ried wealthy Southern cOttOn-plant- sr. He was the owner of large plan tation near New Orleans, and for two years l lived there happily. How did [ begin to use opium? Well, 1t IS an
 i'd story. I was Ill and friend ad- vlsed me to try 1t. I did, and ever
 'Ince that day l have been unable tC do without it. My life became burden. neglected everything, and could take an interest in nothing connected with my home. l made several efforts Co
 taking 1t Tn erlateIhqt4haHu5 jtimnos- before. Ny husband died two years at- ,er my marriage, and after his death ] turned everything had into money and vent to live in New York. There put
 myself under the care of physician
 yho advertised to cure the opium habit.
 de gave me coffee baths and brandy ID
 arge doses, but I used to elude him
 and get the drug and take it secretly.
 1t was in New York that first
 earned to smoke opium. I was taken
 ly e friend to an opium parlOr or
 Eighteenth street, kept by French
 yoman called Mime. Fanlsn. Mans
 field, Monsalsnd, and other notorious
 women were regular patrons of her place. No men were admitted, and rooms were fitted up with Oriental
 uxury l often remained there a week at a tim9 without seeing the outside world. Women prominent in society anne there also, out a rule they did not
 smoke much; tue novelty of the thing | done seemed to attract them. It soon be-
 came too expensive for me to continue tO go there, for her charges were enormous. About this time the idea of
 having a place of my own suggested itself to me. had number of friends md money enough left to furnish few
 rooms. Sol opened an opium parlor | on East Sixteenth street. My place
 sOon became popular. Many of Mme. Fanlan's customers came to me, and my | success was assured. l would be there | to-day had 1t not been for the treachery of one whom I bsfriended. Among
 the frequenters of the French woman's | place was a young actress, then playing | d leading part Tn one of the New York theaters. She was very beautiful, and quite the rage among the gilded youth
 who affect things theatrical. She came
 originally, think, from England, and
 of all the Opium-takers I have ever
 seen she was the worst. She was com | pletely infatuated with 1t, and henever I T lasr a@ | theatre she would come to Mme | ranlan's and smoke. A short time after had opened my place she came
 to me broken Tn health and ln abIect | poverty. I pItied her and took her ID
 and gave her home, but she proved an
 lngrate, and l soon regretted my kindness
 to her. In order to obtaIn money she informed the husbands of some of my
 best patrons that their wives came to
 my house to smoke opium. Of course,
 this greatly injured my business in
 New York, but 1t taught me les son
 that have not forgotten"
 | Mrs. ChisOm claims that many of the
 freauenters of her place on Mount
 Vernon street move in good society and
 reside Tn the fashionable quarters of the
 city, and she seems to consider herself l a DuUllC leutlhcAIc10 m outIAuk n tAAcb '
 retreat to women victims of the opium habit where they can indulge III safety and comfort. Those who are in any
 way known are stared at little by the others when they first come" she
 paively remarked, "but they do not
 seem to mind this, and are very sOciahle with each other. They would use
 opium anyway, and they might as well : come to me as take 1t in tteir own homes. During the winter parties of three or four will often come together Actresses generally come in this way
 remain two or three hours, and thrr ] leave together" Mrs. Chisom refused ] to tell how much she charged these ] sristocratic opium-smOkers, but frCu , her indirect illusions to coffee served
 every hour and carriages constantly or 3 hand her charges must be considerable , She vigorously excludes the sterDer sex , saying that men do not interest th' J women who indulge in opium
 . The small province of Hohenzollern . with population of only 67,O0o, IS th ' champion consumer of beer in tn , entire domain of Prussia. By th e statistical bureau, while an average con . sumption of beer in the whole cOuntr
 for 1881 is struck s42 litres, ID Hohe1 2 zollern the average on the same basi