The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-01-06
WOMEN WHO EAT TEA.
Discovery of q New Vice Reported
from Boston.
Boston Dispatch to Chicago T'Ibune.

Boston Dispatch to Chicago Tibune.
Two servants, who were hauled up before
police Justice here the other day, charged
with creating a rumpus, indignantly denied
having been drunk They said that they
had teen somewhat under the influence Of
tea, which was somewhat responsible for
their eccentric behavior.
But" remarked the judge, 81 never
knew that any one could become really in
toxicstei from drinking tea"
mo more they can, yer honor" was the
reply. I'VE ateit.
1t IS becoming quite a popular vice in
Boston, and presumably elsewhere-this tea
eating And, curiously enough, its victims
are mostly found among the help" who,
having the household tea-caddy always &C
cessible, get accustomed to helping them
selves from it, pinch at time, OF the dry
leaves. These they chew, thus extracting
the alkaloid, which is toxic agent of a
most powerful description. Its first effect
is an agreeable exhilaration. Ultimately
it induces sleeplessness and an abnormal
condition Of mind, with strange wishes and
delirium. 1t is an amusing fact, by the
way, that when tea was first brought to
England, about the year 1865, it was served
experimentally for eating III a bowl, like
spinach. For a long time after that il
was regarded as deadly drug, and per-
pie who SOLD it were considered disrepu-
table.
1t is positively wonderful how the de-
mand for new and particularly destructive
vices gives birth to an apparently exhaust
less supply One in particular that is said
to be making great progress among women
is the habit of ether drinking. This Chemi-
cal product, so well known for its virtues as
an auesthetic, is an ethereal spirit of alco-
hol containing that element of alcohol
which has the effect of deadening pain.
Most people have had opportunities OF OBJ
serving this effect in drunken men, who
suffer severe hurts without feeling them. ap-
parently.
Ether, taken internally. produces feel
ing of exaltation, which is not followed by
the disagreeable after-symptoms arising
from overindulgence in the crude whisky or
other spirit It's results are slower, affect
ing the mind by slow degrees and depriv-
ing the victim of all moral sense. The con-
firmed ether drinker will murder her own
grandmother, without so much as qualm
of conscience, to get 80 cents wherewith to
purchase a bottle of her favorite intoxi-
cant
In its effects upon the moral being ether
bears a strong likeness to opium, which
might be called poison for the soul. The
use Of this latter drug is said to be fear
fully prevalent among the wives of New
England farmers, VINO ueVOJ6 Ine pennies
they earn by selling eggs-always the
private perquisite of the country women,
in this region-to secret purchases of the
deadly stuff from itinerant pedlers. One
woman in small rural community will
spread the vice among all her female
friends. who, wearied by the endless monot-
ony of their lives, are eager for any excite
ment
The experienced eye can detect the habit
ual eater Of opium by an uncertainty of
gait, a sallowness of skin, and other symp-
toms. 1t is likely that the sallow complex
ion and weakly appearance so universal
among the Chinese one sees are due to this
cause. Everywhere throughout that part
of China which is familiar to travellers the
fields of rice are checkered with wide areas
of growing peoples, the seeds of which the
natives steep to make an intoxicating
liquor. This Is the most primitive method
OF consuming opium. For commercial uses,
it is gathered ny cutting open the poppy
seed heads with knife, leaving tho opium
gum to exude. Ropes, held taut, are then
dragged across the tops OF the plants by pairs
of laborers, and the gum sticks to the hem
pen strands, from which it is subsequently
taken and PACKED for sale. The people of
the PARKWAY mountain region in China,
W here opium is unknown-particularly in
the rugged north-are big, strong and
healthy,