The Washington times., 1901-09-22
WHERE OPIUM is MADE.
A Visit to the Seat of Manufacture
of the Drug.
Bustie and Activity Reign In the
Sleep Gods StronEhoId-Scene in
the CakinE ROom-Product Never
Exported Until Winter begins.

the CakinE Room-Product Never
Exported Until Winter Begins
| Having passed the main gate and the
guard. tie visitor finds that he has only
penetrated the outer shell of the citadel.
and thar another formidable line CT for
| tifications. consisting of ratings covered
with wire netting and dominated by a
second gateway, has still to be surmount-
! ed. Before the irresistible authority of
| his pass this barrier also falls before him,
| and he Is at last in the inmost shrine of
the worlds opium house. Skirting some
| lofty buildings. the use of which will be
! explained later on, the explorer arrives
| at large court yard, in which about
| twelve hundred earthen jars are lying
| arranged iE patches of a hundred each.
These jars contain the opium as it comes
| in from the districts, and their contents,
having just undergone rigorous exami-
| nation by the superintendent, are now
being carried away one by one by a train
| of brav'ny, half-naked coolies. Each of
I these jars contains a maund of opium,
! equal in weight to eighty-two pounds
/ avoirdupois. but the men poise them on
| their heads and trot away as unconcern-
| edly as a party of ants hurrying to their
nest with booty from a neighboring corn
| field. We follow the men through door
way on the left into room in which for
a few seconds it is not possible to make
out what is going on, so confusing to the
sight Is the abrupt change from the white
| glare of the court yard to the twilight
of this lofty chamber.
| 1t is soon, however, discovered to be
| quadrangular in shape, and its central
! portion is seen to be occupied by num-
| ber of stone cisterns or watts, with walls
raised about five feet from the floor. Be
| tween every group of three or four Of
| these watts runs a narrow alley at right
| angles to the passage around the edges of
| the ROOM To the uninitiated visitor the
| scene is one of indeScribable confusion
| Men carrying jars of opium run in diff
ferent directions; others, empty-handed,
hurry back to the courtyard; women with
| basins of opium on their heads race down
! the alleys and disappear; a tangling
| sound of falling metal weights -ningies
with a continuous dull splashing as Of
stones being thrown into well; the high
| pitched tones of the women run through
! the hoarser rumbles of the mems voices.
while now and then the strident notes of
some person in authority cut across this
| chaos of sound as the lightning flash
| It is somewhat surprising to find that
nothing but hustle and activity reign in
the very heart of the Sleep Gods strong
hold Hundreds of thousands of pounds
of opium lie stored in this room, but there
| is nothing in the quick movements, bright
| eyes, and healthy faces of the swarming
coolies to show that the drug has any
attraction for them. Each one of them,
we notice, who carries opium jar. halts
| a moment at the doorway, where he re-
ceives directions to what particular vat
he has to take his load. There gang of
men await his arrival, part of them seat
| ed on the fat walls of the vat, while the
others help the carrier to remove the load
| from his head The latter also hand up
| full jars to the men seated on the walls.
who proceed to scrape out the contents
with their hands and throw the opium
in masses into the watts, thus producing
the dull splashing sound aforesaid. Climb
| ing up the steps alongside the walls of
one of the vats (marked holding 2,10o
| maunds, or over 1.500 hundredweights),
we find it is full to the brim of soft
mahogany colored substance, which here
and there has begun to harden into glis-
tening crust. This substance is opium.
and we are informed that most of the
I
and emptied several times before the sea-
sons work is concluded. To step into one
of these vats would be as dangerous as
stepping into a quicksand; yet they have
| daily to be entered by mer whose duty
it is to remove a certain quantity of their
| contents for the days work. The difficult
| ty is overcome by means of a broad plank
| on which the men stand on raft.
| Outside the vat, on the quivering,
spongy surface of the contents of which
| these men are floating, number of wo-
men stand. each with a brass basin in
her hands. eagerly waiting her turn to
have it filed. The men scoop up the
opium with their hands and fill the basins,
which are instantly hurried OF to be
| weighed at a neighboring scale and then
taken by the nearest alley to the check
scales. where crowd of impatient feI-
| low-carriers surround a weary-eyed as
sistant, who is SO busy that he has
| scarcely time to breathe. The jangling
noise of weights and scales is caused
| by the operation We have been watching.
and the apparent confusion existing in
| this part of the factory now ulravels it
self into order and methodicaI work. AS
| fast as the men at the check scales weigh
off a tagar of opium as (the brass basin
i
hastens with 1t to an adjoining room,
where four oblong shallow stone eisterns
| occupy each of the four corners. leaving
cross shaped passage in the middle. In
| each of these watts stand three or four
| muscular coolies, whose brawny limbs.
shining with sweat, look If they had
| been cast in bronze. They are armed with
| large wooden rakes, which they wheel
| around their heads and bring down as a
| boilermaker uses a sledgehammer strik-
/ ing the teeth of their weapons deep into
| the masses of opium and dragging away
| portions Of 1t, which they deposit in diff
| ferent directions around them,
| This furious battle is only one of the
| processes by which the opium is properly
| mixed. When the men with the rakes
have worked at 1t a sufficient time their
place is taken by another set of men. who
| leap into the watts and, seizing hold of
series of long cords hanging from the
| roof trees, commence a slow procession
through the adhesive substance. in which
| they are standing knee deep. The men
| are often in this footbath of opium sew
| eral hours. but no i'll effects have ever
been observed to follow from this partial
immersion in so powerful a drug. This
| treading of opium has very different
meaning from the treading of grapes dur
Ing a vintage. No ruddy juices stream
from purple masses of fruit to be con-
verted afterward into the liquid ruby that
Hafiz vows In impassioned verse to be
better than the sweet waters of Ruknabod
or the fountains of Mosul; no songs and
laughter accompany the strenuous exer-
tions of the men. converting their duties
into festival and work at the same time;