New-York tribune., 1902-05-25
DICKENS'S OPIUM DEN.

THE cHINAMAN OF EDWIN DROoD"
James Platt, jr.. in Notes and Queries
Except a short note Of my own. which an,
peared in The Globe" March %, 1895. there is
l think no account in existence Of the subse-
queht fortunes Of the opium den SO graphically
described by Dickens in Edwin brood" \ few
. additional details may. therefore. be considered
not Inappropriate to these more permanent
columns especially the den was pulled down
some years ago TO make room for a board school
playground so that no one viii ever see il
again. 1t was situated in New Court, Victoria
St l visited II many times, and per
sonaNy well known 10 the old couple who
kept IT. 1t was worth going 10, If only to see
q ChlnaInan and an EnslishWoman so sincerely
attached 10 one another. They might without
improperly have been called Darby and Joan.
once took lady artist TO this interest
ing pair. She delighted with them and
they with her. The Chinaman even went the
length OF allowing her TO sketch him in the act
Of smoking. Those who know the dread this
people have Of anything that suggests publicity
VIII appreciate this concession at its full value
The lady never revisited them. but they often
spoke OF her, and always wished 10 be kindly
remembered 10 her when they saw me. Another
former visitor whom they were never tired OF
recalling was no less a person than our present
King. Upon his departure, il appears, his royal
hghness tas he then was) gave the old
sovereign. lie had never forgotten that coin
although in the lapse OF time il had acquired
something Of a neurological halo. johnson (fOr
so We always called himl epiCuTe. eating
very little, but requiring that little TO be OF the
best He was a literary man, Of course from the
Chinese point OF view, and had quite a small
library of Chinese books. one of the works o
his shelves ran to many twenty volumes,
and was an historical compilation bearing the
mcllinu0us name san kwO Che" He had
taste for art. and displayed couspicuOusly upon
his wall for twenty years amateur effort
Uhe work Of a Chinese saIlor) being, curiousy
enough the picture OF an English church II IS
now in the possession OF "a friend Of mine. Il
ts sold with other effects. upon his eviction
from his old quarters. including his scales for
weighing opium. his opium lamp. his gambling
cards and dominos. two Photographs etc. A
fatality seemed To- pursue him, for not long had
he moved TO another den i'm Angel Gardens be
fore that also condemned. In fact he
never settled down again, but wandered from
lodging to lodging.
The poor old mans opium pipe was as ad-
mirable an example Of Oriental ingenuity as
have ever seen or heard Of Unable TO afford a
real PIPE. ne manufactured scratch" one out
of an old fagcOlet and dOOrknOh. He drilled
a small hole in the top Of the doorknob, ana
affixed il 10y way Of the bowl TO the hageolet
Gts holes stopped up, which served for stem
The result was a most capable and workman
like pipe This is the vertable fageolet pipe
alluded to in the Dictionary of London, while
the doorknob which served for its bowl is doubt
less what Mr.. j. 7. Fields mistook for an INK
bottle The passage is in his In and Out OF
Doors with Dickens p 1O6 In a miserable
court at night" Mr.. Fields tells us. we found
a haggard old woman blowing at kind OF plpc
made of an old ink bottle, and the words that
Dickens put into the mouth OF TINS "relcheu
creature in Edwin brood we heard her Groom
as we leaned over the tattered bed on when she
yI.IC lVi