The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-12-28

the poppE heads are approximately
the size of hens "gss aud are ready
for TIE mauulatJurv1. Prior 10 this.
however, the fallen pe ais OF the flow
ers are carefully gathered ana sorted
according 10 condition in thrsa
grades. They are then heated over
slow fire and formed into thin cakes
to be useI for covering the drug il
later stages of lis preparation.
The poppy grower now begins to
collect his harvest, and the first sep
in the operation is the making Of
number OF perpendicular wounds in
each poppy head, care being taken
not 10 penetrate the cavity, by means
Of small four or five pTOnged iron
Instrument called a nushtur. The in
cisins is always performed In the at
ternoon. and early on the following
morning the milky juice which has
cXuded from the cuts is gathered by
scrapins it off with a small trowel-
like scoop, called a sittooha. The
Satherer places the juice in an earth
On vessel. called kurrace, and lets
it stand, stirring it occasionally for q
period of several weeks. until the
collector for the opium factory visits
his village. and the opium is weighed,
graded and purchased.
The compound of the opium fac
tory contains many hundred earthen
Jars of crude opium, which has been
freed by hand of larger impurities.
each jar containing one maund or
nearly eighty-two pounds, and all
separated into lots of a hundred jars.
After rigorous examination by the
superintendent, the jars are carried
by native workers to a large room
containing number OF stone cisterns
or watts with walls raised about five
feet above the floor, and with narrow
passages between every three or four
watts. The watts each hold 200
maunds, or over $50, 900 pounds of
opium. Into these watts the jars are
emptied The watts are filled to the
brim with the soft. mahogany col
ored substance, which here and there
hardens to a glistening crust. The
jars are scraped out by hand, and
when broken the shards are carefully
washed and cleaned, so that no speck
OF the valuable substance shall be
wasted The workers enter the watts,
and so that they shall not sink into
the opium as into SO much quicksand.
they stand upon planks which serve
as RATS. and then scoop up brass ba-
sins full of the substance and hand
these to women carriers. who take
them to the official weigher. After
being weighed the opium is thorough
~ mixed in shallow watts by coolies.
who use race like implements for the
purpose. After this it is trampled
by the feet of others, who walk
| around in the watts. Curiously
enough, no i'll effects have ever been
| noticed in these coolies, who some
times walk for periods of four or
five hours in the opium.
| After being mixed thoroughly in
this manner the opium is allowed to
stand for some time. and is then
weighed into tin vessels and carried
to the caking room, where 1t IS
packed for the Chinese trade. here
the weighers sit in iron cages, weigh
| ing out opium in just the right
amounts to the packers assistants.
who carry the pats of opium on plat
! tiers to the men who do tie actual
packing Each packer sits at
bench with brass cup on tray be-
fore him Near this is a pat OF
opium on the platter small cup OF
liquid opium or lewa, and pile of
the pancake-like poppy-leaf wrap
pers, as we'll as tin box full of tick
cts with his number printed thereon.
The assistant kneels before him.
holding a wrapper which the packer
takes. tears to a convenient size and
deity arranges in the cup, smearlnS
it over with the liquid opium. Leaves
are added bit by bit, until bed OF
the requisite thickness has been
formed. The opium is then placed
in the cup, the edge of the leaf
drawn up, and in a few moments it
has all been arranged into nearly
perfect and evenly covered sphere.
The sphere is. Of course. still soft and
pulpy, and is called a cake. The
cake is handed to the assistant. who
takes it to the examiner. When the
latter has passed it. it is covered or
busted with sort Of bran Of dried
poppy leaves, and is then fitted in an
earthen cup and placed in the store
, room to mature for some six months
At the end of this period the cakes
, are packed in wooden chests, and
sent to Calcutta for sale. The opium
r used in India is differently prepared
, being first dried in the sun till il
. reaches a certain degree Of hardness
| nd thnn nrassed ii,ta laroa snuart