The suburban citizen., 1900-11-24
CHINA'S OPIUM FARMER.
HAS SOLE CONTROL Of ALL THE
DOPE AT HONG KONG.

The Big Dinner With WhiCh he ne
tires From ONCE,
In the colony of Hong Kong there is
a Chinaman who, while his brief
reign lasts, is spoken Of by the quarter
Of a million Of his fellow countrymen
on the island with bated breath, says
the Chicago Times-HeTald To these
Celestials, subjects of Queen Victoria,
the Emperor Of China is not nearly so
great man as the "Opium farmer
and the Queen herself compared with
'his mightiness Of the drug" is in
their eyes only a far-away sovereign,
not half so imposing.
| In order to regulate to some extent
| the Importation of opium into Hong
Kong and to simplify the collection Of
duties the British Government several
years ago decided to place the whole
business in the hands of one man.
/ Realizing, however, the tremendous
and arbitrary power that could be
welded by a single individual in such
a position, it was also decided that
the office should only be held one year,
and that no person should be allowed
to keep it for more than a single term.
So it was announced that the Govern
ment was prepared to accept bids for
! the privilege.
Since that time the selection of an
"opium farmer" as he is called, has
become an annual event. The highest
bid generally ranges from 100000 to
! 100000 tLels, according to the pros.
poets of the poppy crop for the year
] and the condition Of the market The
successful applicant is duly gazetted
in his position, and he is given the as
sistance of a fleet of a dozen swift
Government customs vessels to pro-
! tect his interests. He himself EN-
! ploys several junks to guard his bust
ness against smugglers, but he must
| only use these boats for the purpose
of obtaining information. If he secures
knowledge of smuggling operations he
| turns it over to the authorities, who
run the malefactors down. Nearly
every week in the year there is
smart skirmish between the sampans
of the smugglers from the mainland
| of China, and the revenue cutters.
Pretty little battles some Of them are,
too, and very useful in giving young
British middies and junior naval Off.
GERS their first taste of sea fighting.
The opium farmer has the sole con-
troll Of every pound of the drug brought
into Hong Kong, and he generally
v,oI,og fvor,, COEO OOO 20 coon 600 oIoor
profit in his year Of office. The Gov
ernment gets much more from him
than 1t could secure If it attempted to
collect the sum without the enormous
amount of trouble and the large force
Of officers that would otherwise be
necessary. The opium farmers sal
aried men watch all incoming boats,
and as it is a case of Chinaman
against Chinaman very little Of the
raw material gets past him.
At the end of his term of Office he
gives a great dinner to Government
officials, newspaper men and the lead
ing Chinese merchants of the colony.
This dinner is one Of the three great
events of the Hong Kong year The
other two are the polo championship
games and the sham battle between
the troops in the garrison. As a mat
ter of fact though natural pride keeps
them from openly acknowledging it,
the white people of Hong Kong look
on this unique dinner as by far the
most interesting affair in the social
calendar.
When a Chinaman makes up his
mind to do a thing handsomely he
| generally goes to the limit. The opium
farmer always makes his dinner
which is a sort of farewell to his brief
reign Of Czar Of the opium smokers
something to be remembered by his
white friends Indeed, he lays aside
a large sum Of money, from $4,000 to
| $4,000, for the banquet, and always
| reckons it as a legitimate item of ex.
/ pense when he figures up his bid to
the Government at the beginning Of
the year.
A week before the close of his term
Of office the farmer sends out his in
vitations These are always verbal,
delivered to the lucky recipient by n
shroff, a polite native clerk, who comes
] to your door with smile and a bow,
clad in a long blue gown reaching to
his heels, and tells you that his mas
ter desires the honor of your presence
at the Wong Tai 10 Restaurant "to
modestly sup with him from a little
! dish or two in token of your good
will"
The invitation needs no response.
! The shroff takes it for granted that
you would postpone a trip to Europe
to get to that dinner, and he is right.
There are no vacant seats when the
! ceremonies begin.
The Wong TAI 10 Restaurant, where
all these affairs are given, is the Chi
nese Delmonico's Of Hong Kong. 1t
stands in the heart Of the native quar-
ter, a five-story frame building elab-
Orately carved, with broad balconies
laden with Towering plants and creep.
ers and the usual huge feast lanterns
swaying in the wind.
You are met at the ground floor en-.
trance Of the restaurant by one Of the