St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-27
GOVERNMENT OPIUM DENs.
What a British Nj. p. Saw in the
City of Lucknow, China.

What a British Nj. p. Saw in the
City of Lucknow, China.
London Times.
Il have been in East end gin palaces
on Saturday nights, have seen men in
various stages of delirium tremens, l
have visited many idiot and lunatic
asylums," writes Mr.. Game, M. P, flom
Lucknow, ''but | have never seen such
horrible destruction of Gods image in
the face of man as l saw in the govern
ment opium denS of Lucknow. To my
dying day L shall carry the recollection
OF the face of handsome young woman
OF eighteen or nineteen years, sprawl
ing on the senseless bodies OF men,
her fine brown eyes fiattened and
dulled with coming stupor, and
her lips drawn back from her glittering
white teeth. Another girl of the same
age was sitting in group of newly az
rived smokers, singing some lewd ro-
nance as they handed round the pipe.
went from room to room and counted
nlnety-Seyen persons of both sexes iu
various stages of opium stupor. Green
hands could get drunk for penny or
less, bnt 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 intOXi-
cate. | 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 in? [ could not believe there
was more than one abomination in
Lucknow, and, mastering my disgust, |
entered second. 1t was even worse
and more squalidly beastly than the
first. Again | went from room to room,
and counted ON the ground floor alone
1T human swine of both sexes, noticing
among them onny little lad of six or
face with dreadful Indifference.
Having counted III, was asked to go
up stairs, where there were many
more customers; l had had even
more than my strong stomach
could stand, but l was told that
there would be probably fifty
more. 1t was three in the afternoon
when | visited these places. and l 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 thirty distllleries of native
spirits, POI liquor shops, twenty-four
opium shops and ninety-twO for bbang
and other Intoxicating drugs. A opium
sot is the most hopeless of all drunkards
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, chill
dren and home are all sacrificed to this
horrible lust.
1.-THE receipts of the government of
the Northwest province and Dude from
opium, bhang and other intoxicating
drugs are no less than e67, 900. and are
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 of the Northwest province and
Dude from all intoxicants for the three |
years 1878, 1879, 1880, as compared with |
1885, 1886, 1887. In the former case its |
yearly average was e2S4,000. In the |
latter it had run up to e567, 200, showing
a doubled consumption within seven
years. Every day [ spend in India
brings fresh proof that the government
is stimulating the sale of intoxicants to
the verge of indecency, for the sake of
the cheaply collected and rapidly in
creasing revenue which it furnishes