St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-25
WOMEN WHO EAT TEA.
Discovery of New Vice Reported
IRON Boston,

rom Boston.
Boston, Mass, Dec. 23.-TwO serv-
ants who were hauled up before pO-
lice justice here the other day charged
with creating rumpus, Indignantly de-
MED having been drunk. They said
they had been somewhat under the in
fluence of tea, which was responsible
for their eccentric behavior.
But" remarked the judge, 81 never
knew that any one could become really
intoxicated from drinking tea.''
mo more they can, yer HONOR" was
the reply. 1--WE ate it,
1t is becoming quite popular vice in
Boston and presumably elsewhere-this
tea eating. And. cullously enough, its
victims are mostly found among the
''help," who. having the household tea
caddy always accessible, getaccustomed
to helping themselves from it, pinch
alta time, of the dry leaves. These
they chew, thus extracting the aka
powerful description. Its first effect is
an agreeable eXhiiaration. Ultimately
it induces sleepleSSneSS and an abnOr
NAL condition of the mind, with strange
wishes and delirium. 1t is an amusing
fact, by the way, that when tea was
first brought 10 England, about the year
1865, it was served eXperimentally for
eating iE a bowl, like spinach. For a
long time after that it was regarded as
deadly drug. and people who sold it
were considered diSreputable.
1t is positively wonderful how the de-
mand for new and particularly deStruct-
i've vices gives birth to an apparently
eXhaustless supply. One in particular
that is said to be making great progress
among women is the habit of ether
drinking. This chemical product, so
we'll known for its virtues as an anes-
thetic, is an ethereal spirit of alcohol,
containing that element of alcohol
which has the effect of deadening pain.
Most people have had opportunities of
observing this effect in drunken men,
who suffer severe hurtSWithOut feeling
them, apparently.
Ether, taken internally, produces
feeling of eXaltatiOn, which is not fol-
lowed by the disagreeabie after-symp-
toms arising from Overindulgence in the
crude whisky or other spirits. Its re-
suits are slower, affecting the mind by
slow degrees and depriving the victim
of all moral sense. The cOnfirmed:ether-
drinker will murder her own grand
mother. without so much as qualm of
conscience, to get SO cents wherewith to
purchase bottle of her favorite intoXi-
cant.
In it's effects upon the moral being
ether bears strong likeness to opium,
which might be called poison for the
soul. The use of this latter drug is said
to be fearfully prevalent among the
wives OF New England farmers, who
devote the pennies they earn by selling
eggs-always the private requisite OF
the country women In this region-to
secret purchases OF the deadly stun
from itinerant peddlers. One woman
in a small rural community will spread
the vice among all her female friends,
who. wearied by the endless monotOny
of their lives, are eager for any excite
ment.
The experienced eye can detect the
habitual eater Of opium by an uncer-
tainty of gait, a sallowness of skin, and
other symptoms. 1t is likely that the
sallow complexion and weakly appear
ance so universal among the Chinese
one sees are due to this cause. Every
where 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 intoxicat-
ing liquor. This is the most primitive
method of consuming opium. For COM
mercial uses it is gathered by cutting
open the poppy seed heads with knife,
leaving the opium gumto exued. Ropes,
held taut, are then dragged across the
tops of the plants by pairs OF laborers,
and the gum sticks to the hempen
strands, from which it is subsequently
taken and packed for sale. The people
of the far-away mountain region in
China. where opium is unknown-par-
ticularly in the rugged north-are big,
strong, and healthy.