Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-02-24
HAsnEEsH SMOKERS,
A NARCOTIC ~ INDIA THAT HAS Pc
cuLIAR EFFECTS.

Ths Use Of q Vegetable Ar,oax n sav.-.
African People T.sasssrncd TAcir Ns-
tures-l1ashecsh a.a,ses seue reep,e
Peaceful ana Others Drank.
Alcohol. opiu,n and cocaine ara the
cause Of endless WOO to humanity.
What IL something could be found
which could be substituted for these
po!sous and at the same time ha<6 a
pleasing and beneficial influence ON
man. and instead of making him wild
would quiet him rs did the lyre of Or.
pheus: The African traveller, Wiss.
mann. describes in detail the cultiva-
ton aud use Of the ''riamho' among the
former canribal inhabitants IF Lubuku.
by which their customs and manners
we're made so mild that it was even for.
biddea by them 10 shed the blood of an.
tmals. This people. who before had
been aggressive leaders u, wars. are now
living In peace. Villages which hereto.
fore had been engaged in bitter feads
became friendly. Laws and customs Of
tho most peaceful kind were introduced.
with the result that tho country into
which strangers had never before ven.
tured was open to all.
This peaceful disposition, rs also this
antsSoaism to the shedding Of the blood
OF animals. points to characteristic fea-
ture Of an old oriental people. These
are the Indians. Tho same herb which
made the cannibals Of Lubuku the
friends Of men. ard which they call
"bashilangc," has been known to the In.
dams for centuries rs IN intoxicant. 1t
is the lndinn hemp. In the cast the in
toxicant extract is made ont Of the bios.
SONS and out of the whole plant. Gen.
orally il is called ..hasheesh," which sig.
nifes merely hcElp. II il chcved like
tobacco. or smoked Is such. or The Juice
called ''damamcsL." is used with sugar
and almonds or whisky.
In moderate amounts the Indian hcyS,
and its preparations have : mild effect
ON the nervous system and produce a
pleasant state Of feeling. ut any rate
among the orien.als. Larger quantities
produce i:.to.ication. In the east the
number of those who use the hashees,, is
computed ut between 200. eco GOO and
3O0. 900. 600. Physicians are not all agreed
as tn the effect of the drug. so.re claim
ing thai it produces nausea, heart beat.
ing. dryncss in tic throat. When fully
efficient.it produces the feeling OF pleased
intoxication and the most agreeable and
pleasurah!c thoughts. Thcreupon fol-
lows sleep. deep and drc.niess, and on
the following morning tho pleasant Wis
ions arc still real and present. That
opium or alcohol eventually destroys
those who use it 10 excess goes without
saying. On the other hand. The effect of
the hemp chewing On the negro is Won
derfully quoting.
Wissmann mentions several African
people among whom hemp smoking has
been firmly introduced as habit, cspe-
cially the Waniamesi. He SAYS he is
convinced that the effcc. Of this hemp on
the negro is to make him milder and
more gentle and to make him more ac-
cessiblc 20 the influences of civilization,
although it does have to q certain extent
m evil influence on the body. which in
fiuence. however. is generally exagger-
ated. Most remarkable is the manner
in which Judgment of Cod is secured
by the hemp smokers. Those that are
accused continue the smoking of hemp
until the guilty oncis compelled to ma Re
confession. On the other hand, the
thieves Of India use this hemp for the
purpose of pursuing their work. They
secretly make q hole in the house and
ell il with fumes OF hemp smoke. This
has its effect on the people OF the house.
and when the thieves enter they find
them in the most agreeable hunor, in
capable of understanding what is going
on and even welcoming tine marauders
with the most pleasant words and ges-
lures. These statements are from the
travels of Won Bibra.
Then the hasheesh smokers frequently
get into . state much resembling hy;-
notis,n, in which il is possible to place
the members of the body in any posi-
ton and to treat the body as though it
were all made of joints. The similarity
between hyp3ptism and the effects ii
hasheesh smoking is SO great that Dr.. Won
Schrenk- Notzig Of Munich made special
investigation Of this subject. 1t is well
known that when q person is hypnoti:ed
n single word or threatening action suf-
fees to throw the subject into spasms Of
rage. The authority just mentioned has
discovered that in n similar way per-
son under the influence of hasheesh can
be affected. He even discovered that
persons who do not submit to ordinary
liypnotism can be put into this state
through the chewing or smoking of hash
eesh. The faculty most influenced by this
narcotic is the imagination. The imme-
diGte present is idealized into the most
beautiful and fantastic forms. Hearing
is made finer. and the finest strains Of
music affect ns they never did before
Leipsic Daheim.
The sultan hes right royal terror OF
smallpox, and he is very particular TO