The Red Cloud chief., 1884-09-19

a chinese lantern burns dimiy a. ]:
hangs over the door. By it, aid we
mako out four characters written on
red paper. pasted on the intel: MAY
the Eve blessings descend 10 these por-
tails" After a rap with nv stick the
door is slightly opened. and a wasted.
biii"us-!ooking face peeps at the open
ing. "Who is it?' demand half a doz-
en- voices. 'Only some foreign deTils.'
says the man at the door. Alter \
short d~eliberation among the inmates
We are admitted. AID tie door closes
behind us with q creaking sound.
Once inside. nose. eyes and ears tell
u We are in the pre.enc' o: King
Opium. the dread t.ranl that holds
millions Of men in Il slavery ltt!e short
Of Z living death. 4 SUPPLYING smoke
fills tn den. through the gray III %.
when two or three little opium lamps
struggle hopel-s.iy - penetrate. II i
sufficient 10 show n, what - there. The
room - about twelve az ii teen feet
long and perhaps nine or ten feet
wide. The filthy wai's and ceiling are
covered with bl:cs cobwebs: the floor
- the bare earth. The walls. n in
n.ost Chinese shops. bear one or two
strips o. red papers, with s1ch inscrip-
tons a.: '3lay all who enter here get
peace and Joy" On all sides of the
room are wooden benche-. spread with
mating. each bench teing furnished
with lamp and pipe. Most of these
are occupied b. heavy-evcd, ~listless
and. IN some cases. haggard. wasted
figures. lying curied up on the mat.
some taking their first puffs. Others IN
different stages OF prostration and stu
peiaction.
Everybody has heard how opium is
smoked. The smoker Les CURED up.
with his head resting on Il bamboo or
earthenware pillow about five inches
high Near him stands au opium lamp,
the ilame OF which : projected by q
glass shade low enough for the point of
the flame 70 project above the top OF
the shade. The smoker takes Il wire
and dips it into 4 little box containing
prepared opium. \ -mall quantity adj
heres To the point OF the wire, which Is
then held over the fame of the lamp
until the heat has swollen il 10 about
ten times its original size. This i. rolled
over and over Oh the Hat side OF the
WAY bp"i. iit piiaHI al lit listIt al
herring 20 the wire. When il has been
rolled to a soft, solid mass it is again
applied 10 the lamp, and this alternate
roasting and rolling is kept up for AT
least ten minutes. By which time it is
in the shape of 4 pill and ready for use.
The apcrature in the pipe is So small
that it a only receive the smallest
quantity. and the most careful manipu-
lation is needed Il transfer the tiny ban
o. opium from the cad of the wire to
the bowl OF the pipe. The 20, nj of the
wire is inserted into the hole of the pipe
and worked round and round till the
soft opium forms into a cOnical-Shapcd
ring around the wire. BY twIrl NJ the
wire the drug is gradually detached
from it, leaving a hole through the
opium about AS large rs the hole of the
pipe bowl. with which it communicates.
The pipe is now ready aud the bowl is
he'll over the lamp so hat the opium
comes IN contact with the fame. A
spluttering noise ensues as the smoker
suck at his pipe. After each success
i've draw he elects from nose and mouth
u volume OF smoke, the very smell of
which Is enough to turn a horses
stomach. BY the end of the fourth or
fifth Whit the pipe is empty. TIE
smoker scoops out another dose Of
opium, rolls it into a pill and repeats
the operation with the same patience as
before and smokes away until the pipe
falls from his hands and he is lost in
dreamland. One thing is very certain,
that il tobacco smoking were on Y half
the trouble ~tobacconists would SCOT
have to shut up shOr.
After a little while VIC turned n cor
ner and passed into a back room. Here
were the same scenes, the same filth,
the same withered faces and the same
spluttering Of opium pipes. These
seemed to- he secret smokers who had
gone here to avoid detection. where
there seemed 10 be every facility to
evade the search of their friends. We
are not surprised TO find in this room
mere youth who. Judging by their
silken robes, must belong TO wealthy
families and who were here beginning
n career which must end in ruin and
disgrace. On entering the den we
were surrounded by half Il dozen
emaciated looking oh ccts. who I'M
piored us TO give them me iicines To
cure them. Every foreigner in China
is believed 10 be 4 god to Kill and make
alive. He has a great reputation rs n
medicine man. We were fortunately
able 10 direct the poor fellows to The
NJ slonary Hospital. where they would
get weanci from the drug. One man
told us that he hal smoked for thirty
years; that his physical energies had
clean gone and he was IA becoming a
wreck. He spent th~rce-fourths OF his
family earnings at the den anu the
craving was becoming SO intense he
feared that before long all his money
would go in opium. II is only a very
common example where a wife of a
very Young family will toll early and
late 10 support an Opium-smoking hu>-
band aud father. a beginner has only
TO pay two or three visits tn the den
aud the place has a wonderful ~fa>cina-
ton for him Three weeks smoking at
4 couple Of hour per day and the man
lett To himself is bound a slave TO the
pipe a long As he lives. held down b.
chains stronger than iron. from which
only death can ever release him.-San
IrdHcasc0 Chronicle.
Net a Dynamite Plot.