New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-05
RESORTS FOE OPIUM SMOKERS.

The raid upon an opium joint, resulting In
the capture of moro than a dozen men ana
women and their arragnment in Police Court
on Monday is most unpleasantly suggestive OF
the growth of vice which, until within few
wears. was almost exclusively confined to tho
lowest foreign quarters of the city. 1t is not
necessary to refer TO official records for proof
that the opium habit is spreading steadily and,
comparatively speaking. fast. The statements
of physicians and druggists and even common
observation, supply convincing evidence OF the
fact The men and women who were arrested
on Sunday night were not found III SquaIld
den in disreputable street, hut in an un>us-
pectcd apartment house in desirable nelSh-
borhood Moreover the appearance ana err
cumS,ances of most OF them did not indicate
that they had consciously and irreyocably given
themselves over to degradation. Two or three
looked like noviccs and not a single one j. de-
scribed as visiby belonging among the lowest
drccs of society From the nature of things
the women who placed themselves amid such
surroundings can have little left 10 lose bun
their companions of Sunday night are probably
accustomed to think of themselves a respect
able persons, fit to be trusted by their fellow
men.
II is not probable. indeed II IS scarcely pos
sible. that New \ or1 contains many large ana
luxuriouSly appointed resorts for opium >mok-
ers If private houses could he turned inside
out they would almost certainly reveal start
ling number Of individual victims who are &C
cu>iorncd 10 practise the vice in solitude. but.
mOf6 than this, there Is every reason 10 sup
pose that without reference 20 the Chinese
quarter, there are not few small establish
ments, cautiously conducted amid decent sur
roundingS which are regularly supported by
lotteries of habitual patrons and moro or less
accessible 10 occasional visitors The incrcaS-
ing sale of the drug, the admissions OF the med
zeal profession and the experience of the hos
pitals Enthusiastically point TO this conclusion.
The discovery OF one such place. comfortably
appointed bearing every mark Of familiar
usage and not closely guarded against sur
Prise confirms the belief that such facilities
are not so rare as the community would hc glad
10 believe II is not necessary to suppose that
they are knowingly protected by the police.
ON tho contrary those members OF the police
force who are open 10 corruption are Tar more
likely 10 lie in league with vile resorts OF
different description. and particularly with
Illicit rum-hoes. than with opium dcns But,
nevertheless the fact that the law relating 10
diSorderly houses is never applied against scan
daous establishments Of particular character,
however notorious, so long as owners. inmates
and patrons refrain from causing public tn
mutt, leaves no room for doubt that a resort
for opium smokers might exist for a long time
without interference and, like the one just
broken up be discovered at last merely by
accident.
This particular Joint had been in operation
for a considerable time and the number OF
those who were caught in it on Sunday night
is not a measure Of It's patronage. One Of these
persons said and some Of the tenants Of the
building confirm the observation, that if the
raid had been made on Saturday night two or
three times as many smokers would have been
found there. II is simply impossible 10 be-
licve that this small and quiet rendezvous was
the only place in the city, aside from the dcns
where the Chinese and their outcaSt white
associates congrcgatc in which pipes and opium
were TO be obtained for a consideration by the
initiated. For reasons which are obscure,
though the fact is notorious, indulgence in the
use Of opium destroys the Chnaman far less
surely, quickly and completely than the eau
casian. TO Americans In particular, it means
swift and certain and absolute degradation
| II is high time for far more active, intelligent
| and determined crusade against this vile and
| insidious foe than has ever yet been mada