St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-04-17
PREPARING OPIUM,
How the Deadly Drug Is Fixed for Smok.
ing PurposeS.

How the Deadly Drug Is Fixed for Smok
ing Purposes.
Before entering upon an account O,
the manner in which the perniciou.
habit is practiced, it would be we'll t.
describe how the opium is prepared fol
smoking, as but few smokers, ever
those who are veteran fiends, seem te
know any thing about it. Williams,
in ''The Middle Kingdom" thus de.
scribes the process:
The utensils used for preparing opium
for smoking consist chiefly of three
hemispherical brass pans, two bamboo
filters, two portable furnaces. earthen
pots. ladies, straining cloths and
sprinklers. The opium ball. which is
covered with poppy leaves, being cut
IN two, the interior is taken out and the
opium adhering to or contained in the
leafy covering is simmered three times,
each time a pint of spring water being
used. and the liquid strained into an
earthen pot; cold wafer is poured over
the dregs after the third boiling. and
from half a cake of opium. weigh
ing at first about twcnty-eight pounds.
there will be about five pints of
liquid. The interior of the cake is then
boiled with this liquid for about an hour,
until all is reduced to 4 paste. which
is then spread out with spatula in two
pans and exposed to the fire for two or
three minutes at a time. until the water
is all dried off; during this operation it
is often broken up and re-Spread, and
ut the LIST driving cut across with n
knife. 1t is all then spread out on the
pan in one cake and covered with six
pints of water and allowed to remain
several hour, or over night for diges-
ton. When sufficiently soaked a rag
litter is placed on the edge of the pan.
and the whole of the valuable part
,lripS slowly through the rag into II
basket lined with coarse bamboo paper:
from which it falls into the other brass
pan, about rs much liquid going
through As there was water poured
over the cake. The lregS are
again soaked and Immediately filtered
until found to be nearly tasteles>. This
weaker part usually makes about six
pnts of liquid. The first six pints are
then briskly boiled. being sprinkled
with cold water SO rs to allay the heat
and not boil over. and the scum is re-
moved with feather into separate
vessel. After boiling twenty minutes
five pints of the weak liquid are poured
i'm and boiled with it until the
whole has been evaporated to about
three pints. when it is strained
through paper into another pan
and the remaining pint thrown into
the pan just emptied to wash
away any portion that may re-
main i'm it. and also boiled little while,
when it is also strained into the three
pintS. The whole is then placed over a
slow fire i'm the small furnace and boiled
down to a proper consistency for
smoking. While it is evaporat-
ing. ring forms around the
edge, and the pan is taken
off the fire at intervals to prolong the
process. the mass being meanwhile
rapidlv stirred with sticks. and famed.
until it becomes thick like :reaclr. when
it is taken out and put into small pots
for smoking. The dreg> containing
the vegetable residuum. together with
the scum and washings of the pan.
are lastly strained and boiled with
water. producing about six pints
of thin. brownish liquid. which
is evaporatcd TO proper consist
cnce for selling to the poor. The
process of seething the crude opium is
exceedingly unpleasant to those UNI
accustomed to it. on account of the
overpowering narcotic fumes which
arise The loss of weight by this mode
of preparation is about one-half.-Sa"
Francisco Chronicle.