davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

habit" tall, stoop-shouldered, painfully
thin and CLASSY -eyed-was Invaluable in
Chinatown.
"Do you know that Blind Annie's cellar
is resort for white girls?" was the first
information. he gave.
Everybody who visits Chinatown has
seen Blind Annie and her cats, yet only
the initiate know about the white girls
frequenting her dingy cellar. To reach 1t
you enter the first dark alley that leads
north off Jackson street, above kearny.
When you reach the end of the alley you
come upon courtyard and foul smell.
The courtyard has balconies all around it
and for three stories above the street. You
go down a few steps and then turn to the
left to reach Blind Annie.
You cannot push open her door with inn
punity, for it is usually locked. The guide
always knocks and sometimes does not
gain admission.
1t was midnight when THE CALL man
and the young man with the "twenty-cent
habit" knocked on Annie's door.
"You stand to one SIDE" said the guide
to the other. Then the guide parleyed a
while with Annie and assured her that his
friends eastern tourists) were ali right.
Just what passed between the two a
Caucasian uneducated in the Chinese
tongue will never know, but it was suffi-
cient to gain an admittance for all three.
There were four other white people in
Annie's place. Two were women-evil-
looking women, though still young. All
four we're smoking and Annie was fond
ling her cats.
Blind Annie's room has a superficial
area of perhaps 120 square feet. When the
door is shut, as it must be when she has
white smokers, there is not a particle OF
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

ventilation unless it is from the cracks
around the door. The atmosphere was
sitting with the fumes of the drug that
came from the four pipes and 1t were
scarcely safe for one unused to lnhallng
the smoke to remain in the room many
minutes.
The room is foul and dirty. Blind
Annie sits in the corner on mat that is
greasy and elevated from the floor about
two feet If she tried to stand straight in
her bunk her head would bang against the
upper bunk before she was half straitened
out-and Annie is small creature. On
the opposite side of the room there are
similar tiers of hunks. Each bunk has
two square Chinese mats and on every mat
is ''dope" layout-a tray, nut-oll lamp,
a small box of the brown and sticky drug,
a vessel for ashes, a needle with which to
cook and manipulate the stuff and the
bamboo pipe.
Blind Annie's fee is graded according to
the ''habit" of the smoker. For two bits a
very big "habit' can be satisfied for the
time being-an indulgence of from thirty
to thirty-fi small pills. And this is the
kind of "habit" those who frequent Armies
Joint usually suffer from. 1t is "big
One must have courted the vice assiduously
or have been smoking many years to have
cultivated such "habit."
81 never smoke more than twenty pills
at time" said one of the young women
who was induced to show the visitors how
to smoke. THAT isn't enough to put me
under the influence, but it braces me up
after hard day, and that's all l care
about.
"Oh, it would soon grow if I'd let it, but
m not going to be 'fiend.' Eve hit the
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

They are, of course, Illegal, since the law
makes no distinction in race and color.
But the resorts in Chinatown where whites
may and do smoke opium-that is another
matter, the matter under consideration
here.
The following is list of the "joints" in
Chinatown frequented by whites who go
there to smoke opium:
BLIND ANNIE'S CELLAR, entrance
through the passageway between 718 and
720 Jackson street. Resort for white girls.
Supposed to be under the protection of the
police.
All KINGS JOINT, entrance by mar
row and steep fight of stairs at $40 Jack
son street. The most notorious resort for
whites in Chinatown.
HOP JAY, in the rear of 730 Jackson
street. Known as the palace Hotel' of
Chinatown. Second floor. Also ''joint"
in same building on the third floor.
80 WAVERLEY PLACE, entrance south
OF the barber-shop. In third story attic
116 WAVERLEY PLACE, double yell
low doors, entrance to the north. Second
story, rear.
SANG 10 HE, entrance between 921 and
~ NPOAiO SOIOOV' DSCOHu STORY, rear.
IL WASHINGTON ALLEY (known as
Fish alley), a passageway that leads
through to Dupont street. There are sew
eral ''joints" here.
DUNCOMBE ALLEY, a narrow cause
way that runs from Jackson to Pacific
street. There are no numbers, but in the
middle of the alley, on the west side, is an
entrance that leads to a room freouented
by whites.
s12 CLAY STREET, second story in the
rear.
All SING, s341z Washington street, en-
trance through a tobacco-store. Third
story front. White girls and men.
CHURCH ALLEY, about the center of
the block, entrance through deserted gam
bling-rooms to two joints on west side.
800 STOCKTON STREET, between Sac
ramento and Clay. Big brick building con-
tanning several resorts run by Chinese.
Opposite the consulate.
1909 STOCKTON STREET, third floor.
zoos STOCKTON STREET, first floor.
1923 STOCKTON STREET, the old Nc
Kenzie building, first and second floors.
Notorious. White women and children
found there at all hours.
All KING, 720 Jackson street, rear.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
EXTENT OF THE OPIUM TRAFFIC.
ONLY a PLAIN STATEMENT
or FACTS

Notwithstanding a keen public senti-
ment in this City against the abuse of the
opium traffic, in spite of stringent State
and municipal laws forbidding and re-
stricting the use of the drug, there are
about 5000 ''fiends" or chop heads in San
Francisco; the number is constantly on
the increase; there are over 800 ''joints,"
dens, rooms and lodging-houses, inside
and outside of Chinatown, where the
''habit" may be INDUCED with impunity,
and perhaps a score Of places where dope"
is sold illicitly.
These statements are made advisedly
and only after considerable investigation.
A great deal has been written about the
opium "fiends" of San Francisco, but the
subject has hitherto been usually handled
from its darkly picturesque side. The
generalities have, in the aggregate and in
their conclusions, been true enough. but
specific information has been lacking.
1t is difficult to overdraw the black
miseries of the lives of the opium ''fiends,"
or to understate the moral and physical
dangers to the community of this horrible
traffic in the drug. But in the present in
stance THE CALLS purpose is to state facts
concerning the odious traffic rather than
conclusions or moral distractions on its
influence. The facts have been difficult to
secure, because no assistance was sought
or obtained from the Police Department.
A bare recital of how the facts were finally
obtained would be interesting, not to say
spicy, reading for the public at large and
for several individuals in particular. But
this is not to be a spicy story, and is inter
estlng only inasmueh as a sober statement
of som Der and sorrowfuI facts may be.
And the facts are given for the good they
may do; for the lessons they may bear to
those whose duty it is to enforce the laws
against the illegal trade in opium and the
maintenance of opium joints and dens.
Not all the facts are given, nor even the
worst of them. The whole case is not
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

to open the doors of an opium joint, and
however difficult it may or may not be tor
the policemen on the respective beats to
discover their whereabouts, great many
young men and women from respectable
homes find it all too easy to force an en-
trance Almost any one can gain evidence
of the truth of this assertion by noting that
the houses named are frequented by young
people in all stages of the "habit." Some
are learning, for one must, smoke many
times before the system becomes thor
oughly inoculated and indulgence is not
followed by nausea. Some smoke once
day, some twice and some three times q
day. But once even mild habit is
formed there is no longer any hope for the
victim. Once ''fiend' always "iend, !"
is commonplace expression among the
chop heads.'
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
STATE AND MUNICIPAL LAWS RE-
STRICTING AND FORBIDDING
THE VICIOUS TRAFFIC.


AS in the case of many other evils it can
scarcely be urged by the auth critics that
the laws and ordinances against the opium
traffic are not stringent enough or that
their wording is uncertain. Section 3O7 of
the Penal Code of California, in effect since
March, 1881, is very plain spoken, as fol-
lows:
Every person who opens or maintains. to be
resorted to by other persons, any place where
opium, or any of its preparations, is sold or
given away, to be smoked at such place, and
any person who at such place sells or gives
away any opium, or its said preparations, to be
there smoked or otherwise used, and every
person who visits or resorts 70 any such place
for the purpose of smoking opium, or its said
preparations, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and
upon conviction thereof shall be punished by
a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or
imprisonment in the County Jail not exceed
ing six months, or by both such fine and i'm
prisonment.
In pursuance with the provisions of the
State law and to further restrict the opium
evil that was introduced and is chiefly
carried on in San Francisco by the Chi
nese the Board of Supervisors in 1890
amended order 1887 by section 81, which
reads as follows:
No person shall, in the City and County
OF San Francisco, keep or maintain, or
become an inmate of, or visit, or shall in
any way contribute to the support of.
any place, house or room where opium
Is smoked, or where persons assemble
Tor the purpose of smoking opium, or
inhaling the fumes of opium.
Any person violating any of the provisions
OF this section shall be deemed guilty of a mis-
demeanor and on conviction thereof be pun
tshed by fine not less than $3.50 nor more
than $1,000, or by imprisonment rot less than
three months or more than six months, or by
both such fine and imprisonment.
There are still other ordinances and laws
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

people should be shown in the act of chit
ting the pipe"
When asked to be taken where the
whites smoked opium the guides declared
there were no such places; that the law
was very strict, and the police kept such
close watch that neither inside nor outside
of the Chinese quarter could there be found
places where white men and women in
hailed the drug.
A lawyers assistant, who knows every
corner and alley in Chinatown and the
tenderloin districts nearby, was next APP
pealed to for the desired information He
frankly admitted that the white "joints"
were numerous and the "hop heads"
almost without number-but-
His but was that he found these peo-
pie very useful at election time, and there
fore he must not endanger their friend
ship and allegiance by betraying their
haunts. Other methods were tried-many
others. FHop heads" were followed, some
times paid for leading the way to their
rendezvous. This was slow and unsatis-
factory process. Sometimes two or three
''fiends" would lead all to the same build
ing. By three different persons the way
was shown to the lodging house at 633 Cal
isornia street. Two of the informants were
women, who went there TO smoke in a
fiend's room.
And many of the 'tiends" that were fol-
lowed refused to betray their haunts and
comrades. Many Of them are well dressed
and are not to be tempted by any moder-
ate sum OF money. These are the men
who live off the earnings of fallen
women. Some of them have dia-
monds in their shirt fronts. They are
known on the streets as dude fiends."
That they are victims of the seductive and
degrading drug one can easily see. All
are thin, pale and glassy-eyed. These are
three unfailing signs borne by every man
or woman who has regular habit
AT last, through the kindly offices of a
popular and well-known south of Market
street lawmaker, who knew a man who
knew another man who, for a sufficient
consideration, would undertake to show
two Eastern tourists something Of life
among the opium smokers in San Fran
cisco, acquaintance were established that
led to the knowledge, only portion of
which is now published.
It is a fact that the opium dens of this
City are not easy of access, but it is also
true that they are carried on under the
very eyes of the policemen in certain
| quarters OF the City. On two different
occasions policemen were seen to enter
these resorts and remain there for some
/ time.
Yet however difficult it is for stranger
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

so-called "hop heads" or opium "fends"
rendezvous to satisfy or palliate their de-
PRAYED craving for the "habit," and where
the uninitiated, if he or she be properly
vouched for or chaperoned, may learn to
use the drug, is by no means complete. 1t
is correct, however, and proves the Joints
to be sufficiently numerous to show that
the policemen in these districts are not as
vigilant as they should be-and this is
stating it mildly.
The 'joints' where the Chinese may
and do smoke opium are almost innumer-
able, far too numerous, in fact, and much
too open and we'll known or easily discov-
cradle to need designation at this time.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
INTERIOR VIEWS OF SOME OF THE
CHINATOWN OPIUM
nENC

One of the most valuable acquaintance
formed through the medium of the well
known and popular lawmaker' was that
of young man who has what he calls a
"twenty-cent habit" This means that he
smokes 90 cents worth of opium day, or
one Ii gee. The latter designation de-
scribes to Asiatic ears Chinese nutshell
about the size of beechnut, filed with
first-class opium. The Ii gee is sold in
many places in Chinatown. You can
watch the "fiends" coming north on Du-
pont street every night for their Ii gees. If
they buy
This young man with the "twenty-cent
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
Handkerchief.

500 dozen Ladies' Handkerchiefs,
actually worth 2Oc and csc each,
are offered for sale this week at 1Oc
each. They constitute the Handker-
chief Bargain of the season. Five
styles:
Hemstitched, seal Hoped corners, colored, en-
broidered.
Solid colors. hemstitched and embroidered.
Hemstitched, colored borders.
Hemstitched, colored borders, embroidered.
Hemstitched, lace edge.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
THE POPULAR LAWN AKER AND
THE GLASSY-EYED CHOP
HEAD.n

Starting in on the task to expose some
thing of the extent of the illicit opium
traffic in San Francisco, with the injunc-
ton to procure facts instead of general
material, was a most difficult thing for one
who knew little or nothing of the ways
and the haunts of the victims of the
s'habit," known in the yernacular as chop
heads or ''fends."
Certain Chinatown guides were tried
first These led the way to Blind Annie's
famous ''joint" but always at time when
no white girls or men were smoking
there-and to many of the Chinese opium
"joints" already enumerated. But always
only Chinese would be found smoking.
The guides took good care that no white
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

stated; could not be stated in anything
less than book of many pages. Only that
which is tit for popular reading is pub
lished. There is much more to be seen
and learned by one who would follow the
dark tale to its dregs; but to see them and
know them one must, for the time beng
become himself a part of this worst and
lowest phase of the slums of San Fran
cisco.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
House Furnishings.

Housekeepers will appreciate these
reductions = Always some dtsap-
pointed ones-Come too late-Suppiy
exhausted-Don't you be a late one.
READY-MADE PILLOW-CASES- &c
remnants of finest sheeting in IL
these-large size 45x36-special.. Each
READY-TO-USE SHEETS-neatly
hemmed-a real good quality OF hHC
she g-largeSt size 90x9O ~
fnches-6Oc each: Slx9O inches. Each
WHITE READS-Marseilles
patterns-large enough for full
sized beds-here are two partic-
1888 OO inches aess' worth 81 IS,
special at. QUO
S1x9O inches, worth 81 rs,
special at .................... S1.1O
1O-4 LOCKWOOD UNBLEACHED 100
SHEETING on special sale at.... LIZ
...,.....,.... Yard
WHITE ALIrWOOL BLANKET
Fssa sa9 SSass 0f 6s sas q merit
and extremely cheap at Pair
CHENILLE PoRTIERES-3 yards
ss g ss asassgss ssS blue 5ss
ually pretty patterns-reduced to Pair
WHITE CURTAIN SwISS-4O 1910
inches wide-coloreG fgures-was LIZ
25c yard-now marked ..... Yard
IRISH POINT-LACE CURTAINS
slightly soiled, very slightly by
ae Ps3ss y ss 81 they 80 arches
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
HOW WHITES SMOKE OPIUM IN CHINATOWN

restricting the opium traffic. Order 2oS5,
passed in 1885, prohibits any person what
ever from selling OF giving or exchanging
opium in any form except upon the pre-
sentation by the purchaser of bona-fide
physicians prescription of the same date
upon which the purchase is made.
They are all broken constantly and in
many quarters of the City, but the State
law and the municipal order forbidding
the keeping or frequenting of houses or
rooms where opium may be smoked are
those most frequently and fagrantly vio-
lated.
III.
A LIST OF CHINESE JOINTS" FIRE.
QUENTED BY THE CHOP
HEADS"
The following list of places where the
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

1856 JACKSON, run by a Chinese doctor.
~ WAVERLY PLACE, in basement.
All SUEY, first floor, 1874 Clay street.
All SING, second floor. 1874 Clay street.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
Cotton Dress Stuffs.

FIGURED SATEENS = that were
25c1now ........................... 121ac
DRESS GINGHAMS = that were
1a11sc-now ....,........... 71ac
SCOTCH TENNIS FLANNBLS-
part wool-very desirable patterns
that were 35c-now.........-.... zoe
PLAIN CREPE CLOTH-odd lots
We're 121sc-now. $3.50
FANCY NAINSOOKS, in stripes and
plaids that were 20c-now. 121ac
FLEECY FLANNELETTES that
were 10c-nov.. ...........--...... DC
III HANDSOME PRINTED COTTONS
n that h n We're 121sc-now ..........: ego
COTTON CHEVIOTS-checks and
i21sc@now. ....................... s1sc
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

The largest shad ever taken in Delaware
Bay was twenty-seyen inches in length.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
Bazaar Goods.

There are great many articles
down in the Bazaar Department.
that you need every day-Soaps,
Perfumes, Stationery, Books, Bas-
ketware, etc. Here are five price
hints:
CREPE PAPER-in excellent color C1C
assortment-the large 25c rolls. I-2
10l1
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
Infants Wear.

We have found whole lot of
things in this department that ought
to be sold at once, and we have
marked them down accordingly.
Mothers, attention.! Here are some
of the best chances to supply baby's
needs that you ever had.
WHITE LAWN BONNETS-trim-
med with all-over embroidery
tucked ruching-some plain tops
some rosette style-they were
75c to So each-sale prices
25c, soc and 75c
COLoRED SILK BONNETS-plain Ike
and fancy silks-dainty trim
mings-now. -.....-...--....- hacn
CREAM WHITE SILK BONNETS, q I 80
several styles formerly marked W l.
So to So each-closing price Each
LOT NO. 1-INFANTS' SHORT
COATS-Jhey were marked 81 to q l 90
$3-plain and fancy cashmeres, ep l.
embroidery trimmed-you choice Each
Come early-limited quantity)
LOT NO. 2-INFANTS SHORT
COATS-worth SIS and So each-Cs O.5O
fine cashmeres and Bedford cordS.p Il
-prettily trimmed-sae price. Each
(Only few doZen-come early.)
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04
Linen Department.


BIEACHED TABLE DAMASK-
6S inches-a very heavy all-llnen IN
cloth-ine patterns-worth 81
now ssss"'+'---'
REACHED TABLE DAMASK 6OC
63 inches-all linen-handsomely "
patterned-only .....-.-.'. aiu
81 BLEACHED NAPKINS all q 10
linen-our regular 81 90 kind-ep -
special at. .+.''' S
UNBLEACHED TURKISH TOW
ELS = 23x42 inches - medium NJ
weight-good 15c value-special ~
ALL LINEN HUCK TOWELS-21 &c
x42 inches-reduced from 2Oc, -
which was cheap-to. Lacn
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

CHILDREN'S SCRIBBLING TAB
LETS-for lead pencil-100 leaves,
avg inches IL
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-04

The following list of places where thu
Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-05-13

THE June number Of 1oilettes just
ties our recent prediction that this most
popular OF fashion journals had added
permanently a very charming feature
TO its outward appearance. We refer
not so much to the brilliant color work,
although of itself that is great inn
provement over the old style. But for
each successive month characteristic
floral emblem is selected to embelish the
cover. On the April or Easter number
it was the lily, and for May the apple
blossom. What more natural, then,
but that June should bring us spray
of roses, as sweet and balmy looking as
nature herself, at her best.
Needless to say, however, these floral
embellishments are far from being the
chief or only merit 7oilettes has in the
eyes Of its regular purchasers. There
is not another fashion book published
on either side OF the Atlantic, which has
such rich variety of elegant new
styles, none which give such accurate
Information on dress direct from Paris,
or is half 80 satisfying to the average
female eye than just 70ilettes. 1t has
a steadily growing influence in shaping
me fashions Of the day, and may fairly
q described as the most authentic fash
iou guide Of America. Price 20 cents,
al ueN edealers.
Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-05-13


The Protestant Episcopal church Of
America has taken OH itself to help
solve the labor question. The trouble
with most individuals or organizations
that attempt to settle workingmen's
difficulties is that they doctor symptoms.
They Try to readjnst vermont economic
systems to the needs of the present day.
II is probable that the labor question
will never he permanently decided till
some other plan than the wage system
is devised. The race seems to have out
grown that, and nothilW better has rs
set taken It's place. The investigator
who will permanently free society from
the present oppressive conditions, OPP
tusasiye both 10 labor and capital, must
ank along the line Of getting some
ihur setter than the wage paying sys-
trH
ace credit 90 The hearts Of the good
fura people meantime that they are
taling hoid of the Industrial question.
alfI nili runlne their efiors az present
a. mediation leiWoeii employer aud EN-
gi0gea. cndoaForing Ia secure fair deal
49, ou ilir part ~ both. Church socie-
tlos AND clule looking 30 this end are
forming la many places. This is good.
Churches cannot do better than to take
a living interest la the problems that
yex and torture mankind. Andperhaps
In the course of their labor some Of
these good Christians will hit upon the
real solution of the labor problem.
Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-05-13

Az interview with 1issandier, the
lulloonihi, wherein he tells the story Of
hla BNn remarkable career, and OF his
naus daring voyages ia balloons, par
tirHiafiY one hi which his two COM
laHionH wers ALLIED aud lac himself
nralil losi his lie. viii be one Of the
fuimm a. MoClures Magazine for
M1 A portrait 81 Tissandier aud
plciuc ~ hls home aud Of his historic
asoeunions viii accompany the article.