The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-03-12

Human Sacrifices TO . Horrible Lust
-Government Sanction
Pail Mall Gszetts

-GBN6FnmcEl S3hctloB.
Pail Mall Gazette.
II have been in East End gin-palaces
on Saturday nights, / have seen men
in various stages of delirium tremens,
| have visited many idiot and iunatic
asylums,' writes Mr.. Game, NJ. p.
from Lucknow. 'sbut / have never
seen such horrible destruction of Gods
image in the face of man as / saw in
the government opium dens of Luck
now. To my dying day shall carry
the recollections of the face of hand
some young woman of eighteen or
nineteen years, sprawling on the sense
less bodies OF men, her fine brown
ewes ilattened and duh with coming
stupor. and her lips drawn back from
her glittering white teeth. Another
girl of the same age was sitting in a
group of newly-arrived smokers. sing
ing some lewd romance as she handed
round the pipe. / went from room to
room and counted ninety-seven per-
sons of both sexes in various stages of
opium stupor. Green hands could
get drunk for penny or less, but by
degrees more and more opium is
needed, and the callous keeper of this
hideous den showed US men
whom $50 drops of thick
opium. mixed with tobacco. hardly
sufficed to intoxicate. | came out
staggering and faint with the poison
laden atmosphere.
After few minutes walk, my guide
said, Here is another opium shop;
will you go in2" could not believe
there was more than one such abomin-
alton in Lucknow, and. mastering my
disgust, / entered second. 1t was
even worse, and more squalidly beast
ly than the first. Again went from
room to room, and counted on the
ground floor alone III human swine of
both sexes, noticing among them a
bonny little lad of six or seven watch
ing his fathers changing face with q
dreadful indifference. Havingcounted
lit, was asked 10 go upstairs where
there were many more customers: |
had had more than even my strong
stomach could stand, but / was told
that there would be probably fifty
more. 1t was 3 in the afternoon
when l visited these places, and | am
told that after dark the attendance is
doubled. ! have felt the effects of the
fumes ever since. and the slight head
ache produced will probably last for
two or three days. In the city of
Lucknow there are 80 distilleries of
native spirits, POI liquor shops, 2i
opium shops, and 81 for bhang and
other intoxicating drugs. An opium
sot is the most hopeless of all drunk
ards-once he is well into the clutches
of this fiend, everything gives way to
his fierce promptings. He only works
TO get more money for opium, Wife,
children, and home are all sacrificed
to this horrible lust.
1.-THE receipts of the government of
the Northwest Province and Dude
from opium, nhang and other intoxi-
eating drugs, is no less than SGT 900,
and Is steadily on the increase. 1t
will give your readers some idea of the
way in which this horrible traffic in
intoxicants is being stimulated. if
give the average revenue for the North
west Province and Dude from all in
toxicants for the three years 1S78-9-S0,
as compared with 1SS5-6-7. In the
former case, its yearly average was
f2S4 900, in the latter ii had run up to
f5i6, 900, showing doubled consump-
ton within seven years Every day |
spend in India brings fresh proof that
the government is stimulating the sale
of intoxicants To the very verge of
decency. for the sale of the cheaply
collected and rapidly increasing reve-
nue. which it furnishes