The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-17
0pIUM'S VARIED DREAMS.
THE HLBIT, THE pICTIM. THE RE-
LIEF, Avn TUE DEAI'lIR.
This City'n 25,OOO Opium Smokers AVID
Their Ways sine. Reform BROKE Up
Their Rrsort--Thc Pipe md Itr Han
ding, and the mnbIInc'a nrfrnrr.

be moro particularly n pastimc OF the Chinese
but in truth the greater number OF the stlok
ers are white men and white women. China
town furnishes tho pine, lamp, and yen.hock.
but lot y man once possess q layout, and n com.
mon American drug store furnishes him with
the opium. and China Is disccrntble only In
tho traditions that cling to the habit.
There Rrc $4,000 opium smokers in the city
OF New York alone. At one time there we're
two great colonies, ono In the Tendeloin,
one. of course, In Chinatown. This was before
the hammer OF reform struck them. Now the
two colonies ARE splintered into something
less than 5000 fragments. The smokers
are disorganizod. but they still exist.
The Tenderloin district of New York fell nm
early victim to opium. That part Of the popu-
lation which Is known ms the sporting" class
adopted the habit quickly. Cheap actors. race
track touts, gamblers, and the different kinds
OF confidence men took to II generally. Opium
raised its yellow banner over tile Tenderloin,
attaining the dignity Of n common vice.
Splendid joints were not then in
New York. There was one on Forty.second
street which would have been palatial II 1t
were not for the bad taste OF the decorations.
An occasional man from Fifth avenue or Madi.
son avenue would have there his private lay
out, an elegant equipment Of silver, ivory, and
gold. The hunks which lined all sides OF the
two rooms were nightly crowded, and some of
the people owned names which are not alto
gether unknown to the public. This place
was raided because of sensational stories
in The newspapers, and the little wicket no
longer opens to allo " tn" fiend to enter.
Upon the appearance of reform, opium re-
tired to rivnto flats. Her, it now reirns, and
It will be undoubtedly an extremely long cen
fury before the police can root It from these
little strongholds. Once Billie Rostetter got
drunk on whiskey and emptied three scuttles
of coal down the duml-waiter shaft. This
made n noise. and, Billie, naturally. was ar
rested. But opium is silent. The smokers do
not rave. They dream, or talk in low tones.
People who declare themselves able TO pick
out opium smokers on the street usually are
deluded. An opium smoker may look like a
deacon or q deacon may look like an opium
smoker. The fends easily conceal their vice.
They get up from the layout, adjust their era
watts. struighten their coat tails. ard march off
like ordinary people, and the best kind of an ex-
pert would not be willing to bet that they were
or were not addicted to the habit.
II would be very hard to say just exactly
what constitutes a habit. With the iicnds 1t Is
an. elastic word. Ask a smoker II he has a
napii and lie will deny it. Ask him If some one
he will admit it. perhaps the ordinary smoker
consumes % cents worth Of oniam each dayy.
mere hTe ptHerS WHO SHlOhe. o. "oItH. ms
is rather extr ordinary. and in this case at
least 1t is safe to say that IL is a habit. The 81
the term for a large pill. The ordinary smoker
is satisfied with pinheads. Pinhcads are of
about the size of a French pea.
Habit smokers have Il contempt for the SEN
sation smoker. who has been won by the false
glamour which surrounds the vice. and goes
nbout really pretending that he has a ravenous
hunger for the pipe. There are more sensa-
ton smokers than one would imagine.
1t Is said to take one year of devotion to the
nine before one en-. contract n nl OH Dut DrOD-
ably it does not take any such long time. Some
times d an ind M,Ii who n rd has smoked nMI din only snS 2
when a man talks pipe persistently il is a
pretty sure slIen, that The drug has fastened its
pipe. the nausea that clutches him is some
cassino to seasickness. II he had swellowed a
live chimney sweep he could not feel more
wGirIs ike the inside Of an electric light plant.
There comes q thirst. q great thirst. and this
,htrs nox il 50 ar sinister .I,r and so so m sn,isfy e. th Monl Il
presently be much. worse. The. one thing that
will make him feel again that life may be a 10y
is n cup of strong black coffee.
he returns to it after this first unpleasant trial.
heart. 1t ahsorhs his thought. He begins to
lie with more ana more grace to cover the
And then. finally, he may become a full. fedged
pipe fend. a man W 18th II yen-yen.
cra a ysn'yf Il c oS Is tx snS a Iisn ID th Mi a hpr he se the
rates himself from his pipe ard it takes him
by the heart, strings; If, indeed: he will not
at l,ast will become the most disagreeable,
sour-tempered person on earth until he fnds
a way to satisfy his craving.
When the victim arrives at the point where
his soul calls for the drug. he usually learns to
so"kins Tf is o SpSFn the lit IF s" lamD IS .hs a P dellt a%s
task. and it takes time to learn it. When II
man can cook for himself and buys his own
layout. he is gone. probably. He has placed
up n his shoulders an elephant which he may
carry TO the edge OF forever. The Chinese
the. preparation. and. the, second difhculty is
The hend viii defend opium With eloquence
and energy. He very seldom drinks spirits.
and 50 he gains an y opportunity TO, to make afsst. the he
rum and the eff cts Il opium. Ask him to
free his mind and he will probably say:
''Opium does not deprive You of your senses.
d II @Ge. do %st % sss; W & @" s q heard OF y OF a nan
fSGm'n fuIi 81 " WhisEey Tn and i he n Hi Tx Kin ' his
father. ! don't see why people kick so about
it. they wouldn't talk that way. Let anybody
drink rum who cares to, but as for me, I would
rather Re what am
gorgeous opium denS In, New York. hut now
there IS probably not n den with any ~pretence
smoke in q cellar. bare. squalid, occupied by an
odor that will font wooden chips. The police
Ing but the pire itself. Yet the Iipe is sum.
cient for It's slant-eyed lover.
When prepared for smoking purposes, opium
Is a heavy liquid much like mOlasscs. Ordi-
narilv II Is sold In hollow li.shi nnts or In little
round tins resembling thy old percussion cap
boxes. The pipe l. n curious affair. ~particu-
larly notable for the way In which II does rot
resemble the drawings OF 1t thnt appear in print.
The stem, is OF thick bamboo. the mouthpicce
usually of ivory. The bowl crops ont sud
denly about four inches from the eud Of the
stem. 1t Is n heavy affair Of clay or stone. The
cavity lisa mere hole, Of the diameter Of n
lead pencil, drilled through the centre. The
ycp hook Is n sort OF shnrpeued darning needle.
With II the cook takes the OPP nm from the box.
lie Iwirls It dcXtcrously with his thumb and
toreflnger until enough of the gummy sub
stance adhercs to. the sharp point. Then he
holds It over the tiny flame of the lamp which
burns only peanut oil or sweet oil, The pill
now exactly resembles boiling molasses. The
clever fingers ~ the cook tw!rl II above the
flame. Lying on his side co nfortahlv. he
takes III" pine In his lett hand and transfers
the cooked Pill from the Ncn-hoCk to the bowl
OF the pipe. where he again moulds II with tho
yen-hock until II IL n little button, like thing
with u hOl" In the centre fitting sUuarely over
the hole In the bowl. Dropping the ycn.hock.
the cook now uses two hands for the pipe. He
90 an thn me IL niasa N4NNuF fIa EEn 1vl