The Washington times., 1901-09-22

which. platter in hand, stoops an expect
ant sprite. The help of opium Is deftly
tilted into the platter and the sprite is
off and lost In the long line of similar
brown imps, all standing before their
masters, the cake makers. The move
ments pf this sepio squire guide US to
where the cake makers sit. arranged In
two long rows on the opposite sides of
the room. Upon the wall, over each mans
head is a white circle with his number in
black painted on 1t.
Let us stand before No. /. who presum-
ably from his number is the doyen of
the craft. and see what his deft fingers
are making. He himself Is a man in the
prime Of life. with shapely head and fine
aquiline features; a small. well-trimmed
black mustache curls fiercely over his
lips. his large eyes are full Of intelligence,
and his long slender fingers move swiftly
and almost mechanically about his york.
He Is n Brahman of the Brahmans. and Is
courteously addressed by all men of in
ferior caste as "Maharay' Great King
when they speak to him He Is sitting on
low. sloping stool. stripped to his waist
CLOTH for it is May, and the tempera.u .ure
of the room Is unspeakable, although 1t
is only about 9 o'clock in the morning
Great beads of perspiration stand on his
back and little streams trickle down his
shoulders to his elbows We ourselves.
though our progress has been a leisurely
walk, are mopping our foreheads as we go
along But Mahadeo Maharaj, as he is
popularity known, is too absorbed in his
work to pay much attention to the heat
He bends down to a tray before his feet.
in which lies brass cup. Near the edge
of the tray is platter with a pat of
opium upon it. A small cup full of some
liquid substance. which we are told is
opium, is on his right, and on his left is
a pile of what looks not unlike a number
of pancakes, but which are really wrap
pers made of the petals of the poppy
flower. Hooked on to the edge of his tray
is little tin box full of paper tickets
bearing his number Before him his as
sistant kneels, reverently holding one of
the wrappers in his hands. Mahadeo
shoots one glance at us out of those keen
eyes of his and then sets to work with
complete calmness. He has played before
a bigger audience ere now. for the great
Lord Sahib, who rules over Bengal, has
watched him making cakes. Tearing the
leaf his assistant hands him to a con-
venient size, he deftly arranges 1t in the
brass cup and sm.ars it over with the
liquid opium Bit after bit he adds. his
fingers moving like the needle of sewing
machine, until a nice, soft bed of leaf has
been made. Then in moment he turns
the opium into it, and. drawing up the
edge of the leaf. covers it up, and, in a
manner which battles description, makes
in a few minutes perfect sphere, which
he shakes out of the cup on to the palm
of his left hand and adorns with one of
the little tickets from his tin box. He then
hands the cake. as this sphere is called.
to his attendant, who receives it care
fully in the palms of his Joined hands, for
it is yet soft and pulpy, and bears it away
to the examiner The examiner has not
much trouble with this cake, which is
symmetrical in shape ahd of the correct
weight 1t is once more handed to the
sprite, who takes it off to large box in
which a powdery looking substance re-
sembling fine bran is kept. and dusts half
of It with this. Next. fitting il with
little earthen cup from the stack of these
articles, he carries it out into the large
stons-paved yard we crossed when on our
way to the malkhana or store room. Here
he deposits it in front of a metal plaque
bearing the workman's number and hur-
ries back to see that his masters wants
are properly attended to-
The cake of opium is in shape much
more like a thirty pound roundshot or
some large frrit than cake The name
has, however. become so welded with the
history of the manufacture that. although
inappropriate, it cannot now be changed
A cake of opium, then. when mature is
not unlike an over-grown wood apple in
appearance and color. The outer surface
is greyish and smooth. When cut open
the likeness to fruit of some kind Is
still more striking. for the layers of leaf
in which the cake is wrapped then present
the appearance of a rind about half an
inch thick, while the opium resembles the
pulp of the fruit.
1t is not until the winter begins or
some six months after manufacture that
the cakes are considered mature enough
for export They are then packed in large
wooden chests made in the northwestern
provinces of mango wood, and are sent
to Calcutta, where they are disposed of
by monthly sales to the opium merchants.
and through them find their way to China
and the Straits, the market for all the
opium made up in this form That which
is used In India itself is manufactured
differently, being dried first in shallow
trays in the sun till 1t reaches a certain
large square blocks, looking extremely
lans Magazine.