Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-08-30

NOS OFFICERS VICTIMS

ta1t H!'-S'Oi.
F.om tic Ionl.n NNfre.s
you age going la Iorina s"'' ar
nttaeae of ono al tno ministries '' as
some moMihs ago "Taoa you M1A sen
Nh. cuHse of tAe ifaouea Navy the efs
ern uadneSs, ~nich our colleagues ~
the colonial Office and at the i3i.-
of marines are trying hard t. sup
press"
TAe eastern madness9" l ASKED
"NHsat is t,at
~ouium smoking" said ny friend
laconically. Ask some OF 1ac T"ll'n
newspaper men 70 ;:he y"n POUND
1t Was one OF The first Things / asked
about when rot GoWn to TnIion. ano
tho following is an account OF what }
saw:
We were in a cafe near the harbor
y tail and very handsome woman SAL
at the table opposite US ana ncdden
lazily 10 my companion. This did mol
surprise me AT all. because all ToNlon.
from the project maritime to the scav-
engers in the streets knew him and
called him by name. There was a lazy
WEAKNESS. or. if You like. Il weary iazl-
ness. in the w%oIuan's eyes which was
c%uriously noticeable.
Are YOU coming to smoke a pipe.
she asked.
He looked at me in~quiringly.
oh. bring Your friend With YOU. He
doesn't belong to the government, does
And so we all three got up and went
out. do not know exactly where We
went, for the back streets of Toulon
are Il very .klsatia for intricacy. We
unlocked Il door with n key which
madame carried in her pocket, we
aIin,J,J t1var tliubtS of dark stairs .inO
knocked at another door.
1t was opened at last, after about n
quarter OF an hour. by a young woman
in Il kimono and curl-papers. She
looked even sleepier than our com
panion, and did not trouble to invite
Us in. She merely left the door open,
lounged on in front. and we followed.
Appearance of Joint"
Imagine Il room IN which all you can
see at iirst is the dirty yellow of some
|cocoanut mating on the floor. a few
cushions covered in bright colors. and
several pairs of feet. 1t is q little puz-
zling at first, but You realize after a
moment that the only lamp is oH the
floor and that it has a heavy shade, 81
that the light does not light up the
room.
became used to the semi-darkness
soon. and saw hat / was in u small
square room, in which there We're Sis
or eight people. three women. includ-
Ing our companion, and several men. ]
noticed that the trousers which the
men wore We're those Of navy officers
looked at my friend the journalist in
iuiringly.
"Oh, yes" he said. "and they dom,
care. once an opium smoker always
an opium smoker.
We had spoken in a whisper. but one
Of the men. n good looking fellow. Wild
must have been Il smart officer NOT
long before. raised himself on one ell
bow and glowered at us. "Cursc YOU
he said. BE quiet. Curse YOU" And
he dropped back on the mat again.
The second sleep after the first
pipe" said my friend.
'.How do you know"
because they are always irritable
thea ne said. After the second pipe. j.
takes a good deal to disturb them. ane
after the third. unless they are very sea
soned smokers. you could let off cracker:
next to them before they awoke OF them
:, selves. and they would think that it wa:
wind Tapping the sails"
Another OF the men sat ur. l must eN
plain that there was no furniture whateve'
in the room. There was cocoanut mating
on the floor. there were a few pillows. ant
thatwas all. But the lighted lamp was IN tn
. corner. and in the middle. among the feet
y was a thing which looked a little like
Turkish hubble-bubble pipe. a lamp I"
glass. in which l think spirit was burned
making n small flame.
Next to it. a little white pot with a darl
brown paste in 1t that looked like Narnish
, and on a small rack. like a pen rack. sew
eral knitting needles. When a man sat ur
the woman in the kimono and curl-papers
i, craw,ed owe: to him.. took one of III
knitting needles. put .cr fingers an
thumb into the paste, and cooked a bal g
1t on the point of a knitting needle owe
= the flame of the lamp.
doors Are Sitting.
l And noticed then, as the smell becar m
more acute. that the whole room had
: treacly sickness about it. That, of course
, was the opium. Next to the man. where
\ suppose he had dropped il. was ii ion
l cherry-wood stem with n bulb Of amber 3
I one end of it, and a tiny cup at the other
a l think the cup had i pin in it. but ! al
e not sure. The woman put the little ba
o of opium, which had frizzled and SIZE
in the fame, into the cup. and held Il:
n cmber bulb to the mans mouth.
t He drew at the PIPE, inhaling the smoke
hut ne was too far gone to hold the II!
: for himself. The woman had to do tina
n for him. He stopped inhalinS after n ne
e ment or two. and she tore the neck OF hi
shirt open
Marrow sque..k that said my frienc
+ II know that cnap. He smokes e.shtee
or twenty pipes sometimes. and then an.
$ thing might happen to him. He woui
IT rather die Of suffocation than take tn
trouble to undo 4 button"
But what IL the insidious charm G
opium" l asked.
II That 1 ant tell YOU" said my friend
because a first pipe or two won't teac
1t to you, and. unless you are a fool. yo
will never smoke a third"
a The woman who had brought us in. an
in whose room we were. had just prepar.
~ q pipe for herself. "Smoke?" she said. an
put her pipe to my lips. ! took two {
three whiffs, and then got out of the roo!
,e and the house as quickly as possible.
1 learned from my friend. who cam
after me. that all the men in the roo,
were navy officers. l learned, too. tn
next day. when I felt better. that OPIUM
T. which in spite OF the efforts made l
10 the government 20 check in III
10 drug, Is currently sold in all the ports, al
70 particularly IN those of the south. is NAL
10 Ing terrible rayages among the officers
II. lie rrench ravy.
~ Your opium smoker is a dangerous ma
10 on board a ship. for he is like a sleei
walker. He acts unconsciously. but wit
sc apparent consciousness. and when ur i,
as the influence OF the drug, anything migi
happen either to him or 10 the ship unct