The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-04-25
AN ORIENTAL NARCOTIC.
TWO PLACES IN NEW YoEK DEVOTED
TO HASHEESH SMOKERS.
A Drug that is not so Harmful as
Opium, Although the surroundings
are EuUnlLY as DcmOraIiZimg.

year, but ten times the quantity is con
sumed, a Custom House broker asserted.
"Where does it 90 to2 l can't say of my
own knowledge, but there is always a
large demand for it. have passed it
through the customs for doctors, actors
society men, and even ladies. In point
of nationality think the Eastern races
use it the more largely. That is, they
formerly did Nowadays it ispretty even
all around"
81 have been selling hasheesh for more
than ten years now" u Bowery druggist
said. "Whcn began l sold about two
pots a month"; / now sell a hundred. |
have all sorts of customers, Cinnamon,
Malays, French, Italians and Americans.
Germans seldom call for it. One of my
best customers is a well-known actress
she usually buys two pots month.
What docs it look like2 Here's some
common stuff" displaying small china
jar which contained blackish- brown
paste. This is worth a dollar a pot.
This is tirst-class," showing pot of
greenish-brown resin, with a slight half
pleasant odor, and of about the consist
ency of opium. This is worth s3 pot,
and is five times rs strong as the other. ="
E. How is hasheesh used?"
r "The same as opium. Some smoke it,
others eat it in small pills, while others
dissolve 1t in strong wine and drink it
like a punch. The use of it in liquid
form is, however, very rare. Orientals
prefer smoking it, while the Western
users of the drug take it solid Hasheesh
is gathered from the Indian hemp, and it
90,
centage of cannabin, the alkaloid of the
plant. | don't believe that cannabin is
the sole essential principle of hashcesh.
1t acts similarly, but it has unpleasant
consequences which hashecsh never has.
1t is used good deal by some as a sub
stitute. Here is a prescription which l
have filled dozen times in the past three
months. The chief ingredient is Gamma
bis, and the purchaser is in reality no pa
tient, but only a confirmed hasheesh
eater, what's called in the East a has
chaschin She is lady living in the
neighborhood.
care there any hasheesh houses
here?"
"Only two that l know of-one in
Lexington avenue kept by an American,
L
man. Both do a good business, and they
enjoy the advantage of being safe from
the police, which the opium joints do
not"
The reporter experienced no difficulty
in entering both places referred to by the
druggist. At the Lexington avenue
house a colored waiter answered the bell
and ushcred the caller into a small but
neat reception room. The proprietor, a
tall, slender and emaciated man, was the
manager of an opium den some years
ago. He led the way to the second story,
-yherc the windows were thoroughly
closed and the daylight excluded Six
small coored lamps diffusod faint light
through thick smoke that filled the two
rooms. The carpets, walls. and furni
turc were subdued, but warm and pleas
ant in color. Engravings and simple
but pretty chromos, a few articles of brio
a-brac, and bust or two gave the in
terror a cOscv and attractive appearance.
A dozen large easy chairs and fifteen low
and roomy lounges were the chief articles
of furniture, easily accommodating the
twenty haschaschins present. OF these,
six were women; all were we'll dressed
and seemingly of good social position
Half were asleep, or doing, few were
beginning to come under the influence
while the rest were beginning the dissi-
patton. The proprietor asked in what
style the reporter would take the drug
and, on being appealed to, recommended
the nargile.
This turned ont to be a simple modif-
cation of the Turkish article. A hand
some glass vase filled with water, long
light tube with an amber mouthpicce,
and brazier-a metallic cup of the size
and shape of an egg-were furnished. In
the interior of the brazier were two brass
CRATES, and from the bottom ran a
tube down into the water of the vase
A piece of haShcesh as large as an acorn
was placed on the upper crate, and on it
was laid n small mass Of glowing char
coal. The brazier was then closed with
a perforated cap, and the reporter invited
to begin. The first inhalation filled the
upper part of the nargile with thick
blue vapor; the second filled tie mouth
and lungs with a cool, aromatic smoke
that in flavor seemed half way between
opium and Latakia tobacco. The smoke
lasted about six minutes. The only SEN
IL IJlOulCtA W as dlJDtll lIlC SdHlc IL
that an old smoker experiences with q
Rcina Nictoria-a feeling of mild salts
faction and content. There was none OF
the grotcsque or beautiful visions that
De Musset and Gautier have described.
A second pipe produced headache and
the scribe professed himself more than
satisfied.
81 like the business the proprietor
said, as he handed the reporter the
change for bill, land like hasheesh.
used to run joint, and for eight years
was an opium ticnd myself | struck
hasheesh by accident, like it, and soon
found, to my surprise, that it began to
give me distaste for opium To-day
I'd rather have one pipe of the former
than three of the latter. You see, it's
cheaper, little goes further, and there's
less trouble and no risk. Nearly all my
old customers were formerly 'fiends; now
they never hit the pipe My new Gus
toners have been brought here by the old