Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1894-06-21
cANADA.s OPIUM BUSINESS.
An Industry That Depends Upon the United
States for It's Sunport-

An Industry That Depends Upon the United
States for It's Support
The manufacture of opium is one Of
the most profitable industries of British
Column ia, as it employees some 400 OK
500 men in making charcoal which Is
used exclusively for cooking purposes
in addition to the cooks and other en-
ployes- The Canadian license for the
manufacture OF opium is $500 year.
The government, in addition to pro-
viding employment for a large number
of people, and besides bringing into
the country great amount of money
from the United States. derives neat
little revenue each year, all at the ex-
pense of the United States
The development and manufacture
of opium is an interesting study The
Chinese are the greatest consumers in
the world Next to that race come the
Burmese and the inhabitants of the
straits of Malacca, the latter consum-
ing opium to the value of 81 900, coo
annually. The cultivation of the
poppy, from which Juice is extracted
and subsequently reduced by boiling
until it becomes a liquid resembling
molasses, when it is termed refined
opium, is carried on in many parts OF
Asia, Persia, Turkey, and some parts
of China The chief district is along
the Ganges river, India, and embraces
an area 600 miles long by zoo miles in
width, and is divided into two districts.
Behar and Benares- The cities OF
Patna and Gazepore are the principal
depots or shipping points, where the
factories for making crude opium are
situated. The producers are required
70 sell their r,x.od-1ax 70 tho India, rr,,rr-
eminent, which in turn supplies the
great Chinese importing houses. Be-
fore the fields of India were developed
opium came from Turkey and Persia,
and was used for medicinal purposes
for the reason that it contained more
than 10 per cent. of morphia, a quality
that is too rich for smoking; opium
used for the latter purpose contains
about 9 per cent
The method by which opium is man
ufactured is interesting TO observe, all
though sickening odor pervades the
atmosphere and will cause a novice to
become deathly i'll. The balls of crude
opium are slit open. moistened with
water and boiled to q paste. This
paste is dried, remoistened and again
boiled, after which it is strained. 1t
goes through this process several times,
each time being carefully strained and
all foreign substance removed until it
has rich brown color. The drug is
boiled in large hemispherical brass
pans about 20 inches in diameter. The
other utensils consist of a bamboo fl
ter, sprinlzlers, strainers aud pots
When it is properly boiled down it is
sealed up in brass tins containing six
ounces each. The factories in China
can manufacture a better quality of
opium for $3.50 less pound than the
factories on the Pacific coast. 4 good
opium cook in China is paid So month
and at Victoria $40 a month. a days
work consists of refining two and a
half balls of crude opium, each ball
making five-tael scans of prepared
opium. For each additional ball refined
it is customary to pay the cook so
cents.
The evil habit of opium smoking has
obtained such power over the Chinese
and some classes of white people in the
United States that it is physical inn
possibility to wholly stop the importa-
ton and use of the drug, and the next
best measure, it seems, is to adopt
some legislation that will check the
growth of the habit and at the same
time not defraud the government of q
revenue that it is justly entitled to re-
ceive. and which heretofore has mostly
gone into the private purses of the
smugglers of the Pacific northwest
Seattle Post-Intelligencer.