The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-02-26
A VICTIM OF OPIUM.
YHE AGONY HE ENDURED IN TRYING
TO BREAK THE HABIT.
Falling in a Fit on the SidewaIk-The Old
story-Visions of the Opium Eater
The Terrible Awak-
ening.
CPittsbure ChronicIe.l

4
"The man is in fit, said a policeman,
as he stood over a man who was lying Oh
the sidewalk near Sixth avenue and Smith.
field street.
mo, he is only drunk" was the
opinion of q woman with a censortOus cast
Of COuntenance, as she glanced contemptu-
Ously at the writhing figure of the tall,
well-dressed man, about 40 years of age.
The sufferers mouth twitched conYuls-
lively; his eyes, over which the red lids
dropped, were covered with a CLASSY film;
from between his chattering teeth bub-
bled speck of white froth; his limbs
trembled, and his hands CROPPED aimlessly,
as if seeking succOr from some undefn-
able peril Then his weak fingers reached
his vest pocket, and from thence were
transferred to his mouth with hasty, Sc
cretive movement. The result was magical
Instantly the man Strengthened up, the
anxious twitching of his mouth ceased, the
eyes beamed with the fire of lusty man
hood, and the whole manner of the WIFI
lom shivering wretch was changed.
at is nothing" he said to the police
man. A sudden faintness, that is all. I
am subject to such spells.
The crowd dispersed, and the man was
left alone. save for the presence of the
writer. Rather an awkward thing to be
taken that way on the street. was the re-
mark. 81 suppose it was the old trouble
-opium2"
ayes; / am under treatment for it. but
occasionally it gets the better of me, and
am obliged to carry some pills in my
pocket in case of emergencies. l have
not been so bad before for several weeks.
When opium once gets you down it holds
you there. / have been studying rather
hard lately, and that has run me down.
What made you commence the use Of
opium2"
at happened to me as it has to thou
sands of others right in this city of Pitts
burg. l went to my physician to be
treated for nervous prostratiOn, the re.
suit of overwork. He commenced on me
with bromide of potassium. Then when
that lost its power, he administered NOR
phine by hypodermical injection. That
fixed me up. But in allaying my nerv-
business it implanted in my being a crav-
ing for the drug that would not be salts
fed. The hypodermic operation would
have been too troublesome for me, so
bought opium in the form of tincture. AS
you well know, it is necessary to increase
the size of the dose slowly but steadily,
and in a very few weeks l was a con-
firmed user of the drug. Opium eating is
enormously called habit. 1t is worse
than that-it is a disease, as the opium
fiend who is giving his experiences in this
city will tell you.
Is there any particular pleasure when
under the influence of the drug-aftef
smoking it, for instance?" asked the re-
porter.
"Only such as is contained in a sense of
relief The stories about opium-smokers
finding themselves in a paradise, peOpled
by hours of surprising loneliness, and
where more delicious deans than ever
strike the imagination in waking moments
are enjoyed, is all nonsense. Plain,
work-a-day people have no such dreams,
They simply enjoy a rest from bodily and
mental tormentS engendered by the very
means they are employing for their relief.
Then, when the influence of the opium
dies away, there come such horrors as
would seem impossible to those who have
never fallen victims to this SOUL destroying
vice In their sleep they suffer from
terrible Nightmares. They are constantly
on the edge of imaginary precipices,
or falling down dizzy heights. Now they
are the victims of some fearful accident;
again. they are hurled on by some malig-
nant persecution. They fancy that they
are drowning, that they are being burned
at the stake, inhaling the sickening odor
of their own burning flesh, feeling it peel
from their aching bones. Then comes the
awakening with a start or scream. The
gradual realization that these things are
not real; the cold sweat the trembling OF
the limbs, as you saw in me just now; the
sense Of utter exhaustion, from which you
sink into sleep once more, to live again
the agonizing scenes of q diseased mind
"YOu say you are under treatment
Have you any hope of being Cured?"
Yes; but in the meantime the suffering
is horrible-worse than can be described
But If cure does not come, then" The
gesture was even more suggestive than
words would have been.