St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1901-05-18
ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR.
QUININE EATERS.
Americans in Mexico Eat the Drug "a
Incredible Quantities.

l.
Incredible Quantities.
Tlae quantity of quinine taken By
foreigners on the southeast coast Of
Mexico is something simply ineredi-
Bile, said a resident Of New Orleans
who is interested i'll coffee culture in
the sister republic. There is a gem
eral belief among the Americans anf
English all through that region ths
the drug Is necessary for the pr Y
erVation Of life, and they keep
of it from one years end to ano
The first time I visited the css
stopped at Frontera. the first
east OF Vera Crliz, and as soon as
ship tied up It was boarded By al
EsalloW man, who turned out to BID
American engineer, ii charge 81 j
big sugar plant up the country He
made bee line for the purser. Hell
lo, Billy!' be said; did you bring
that quinine9 Sure, replied the
Enrser, and diving into his cabin. he
came out with an arnfuI of tin boxes.
about the size of tea eanisters, and
japanned green. Each Of them held
q pound Of quinine. I never saw it
put up that way before and, naturally,
I was surprised 4 soon scraped an
acquaintance with the engineer and
made bold to inquire what in the
world he wanted with such a supply.
Are you getting it on speculation:
I asked, with a vague idea that it
might be intended for some Mexican
army contractor. He laughed heart
liy, Speculation nothing.' said he;
this all goes TO our little colony Of
Americans back in the interior, and
it won't last long, either. With
that he drew penknife from his
pocket, opened a blade that been
ground off round, like d spatula, and
thrust it into one Of the cans. He
brought out flaky, white mass
enough to heap teaspoon put II
On his tongue and swallowed it like
50 much sugar. Have you any idea
bow many grains You are taking
asked in amazement. Only approx
imately, he replied, carelessly, q
nan quits weighing quinine after he
has been down here d few months
That was my first encounter With q
bona fde quinine-eater the coffee
planter went On, but / met plenty of
them afterWard. They generally
<eep the stuff in rubber tobacco
pouches, to protect it from perspira-
ion, and when they feel like taking
dose they dig in, with one of those
patulated knives that they all carry
md swallow as much as they see iit.
IS they go entirely BY guess, it hard
o say how much will be taken ID the
curse Of a day, but ] have weighed
ne amount that can be lifted or the
'rdlnary knife blade and found ii 10
ange between 25and so grains. You
ae, qulnine is as conpressible as cot
on, and two Wads oft that look about
lle same size will vary d hundred per
ert. in weight. One would suppose,
$ matter Of course, that such enor-
lous quantities Of the drug would
rodnee an intolerable ringing in the
cad; but, strange to say, they do
othing Of the kind. The average
+hite man down there who keeps tlra-
ar the influence all the time, expert
nees nothing except q slight feeling
exhilarationat least so / was as
lred by dozens Of habitues. Wheth-
the use Of the stuff Is of any real
sneflt is something I am skeptieal
oo'lt. | never took a grain Of it nv
i, and ! was the only man on the
lantation who didn't have i touch
fever. @. Times Democrat.