The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-16

stop the use of opium among the peo-
pie. Indeed, there are SO many differ
ent movements that 1 har lily know
where to begin. Every province has
its anti-opium societies. These meet
regularly; they print and distribute
anti-opium literature and send out
men to lecture upon the opium evil
There is n society in Canton which
has distributed millions Of pamphlets
showing the terrible fate of the opium
user. Pictures Of the man before and
after ne a become the slave Of the
drug are published, and the horrors
of the practice are wildly painted.
Many of the societies require their
members to wear a badge and sign
the pledge, and man. Of them offer
rewards for the detection of opium
smoking and of the illegal selling of
opium.
In some of the provinces the most
rigid laws a been enacted against
the users Of the drug. In Kiangsu no
habitual smoker under fifty can appear
in court as a plaintiff. He cannot in
stltute a suit, and can have no protec-
ton from the laws as long as he con-
t1nues to disobey them. In Canton
there is a temple which has been given
over to the anti-opium crusade, anti
opium pictures being pasted upon its
walls. In Yunnan opium lectures are
everywhere given, and a large num-
Der of refugees have been created to
take in confirmed smokers and cure
them. Hundreds Of opium pipes and
lamps are nailed to the walls Of the
government buildings n the viceroy
is rapidly reducing the area of the
opium farms.
At the capital Of Fukien province
there have been eight burnings of
opium and opium fixtures during
which 1886 ounces were destroyed
and the following items burned
Pipes, 4,433; pipe bowls, 4.482; lamps,
1888; boxes. 3,497; vessels for opium
usde for opium injections were all
given up and broken. In that pro-
vince it is absolutely necessary to
nave a certificate to buy opium. and
the same person can only get his sup
ply once a month, the allowance be-
Opium Cures.
I find a gneral belief among the
Chinese that the opium habit can be
cured. Everywhere pills to AXE away
the craving are sold, and, in most OF
the great cities, hospitals and refugees
have been eSta b1iShed where the slaves
of the drug go to break off the habit
In FoochoW there are six such hos
pitfalls, and -four Of these export tina
they have already cured 3,259 per
sons Such institutions have been es-
ldDllSllcO dl L chlIlS, I<dlhluS, llCiltSln
Wuchang, Canton and in many other
places. Foreign doctors nave also
come in, and profess to be able to
cure the opium habit. One Of those
who is we'll recommended is an Ameri-
can, Mr.. c. B.. Towne. He processes
opium habit in three days. He estab-
liShed hospitals at Tientsin and
Shanghai. He has started one at
Pao Ting Flu. where it is said that one
hundred patients came to him during
the first month and were cured.
Then the number Of applications mys-
teriousiy decreased, and Mr.. Towne
found that this came from a report to
the effect that, although the cure was
successful. it always killed the patient
within one hundred days thereafter.
This story was false, but it almost
broke up the hospital.
Mr.. TONNES institution at Tientsin
was established at the expense Of the
viceroy, and officials who were cured
| received a certificate certifying to that
fact.
Opium Versus Morphine.
One Of the great dangers in the use
of many of Of the anti-opium remedies
is that they contain the drug in some
other form. The government has had
to extend its laws to morphine, and in
one of the recent edictS the impOrta-
ton of morphia and of h~ypodermic
syringes is prohibited and Their sale
is limited to practicing physicians.
h morphine habit has long been
prevalent in many parts Of the Chi
nese empire, and a vast amour of
morphine pills are still consumed. In
certain cities along the Yangtsekiang
the hypodermic injecting of morphine
is They have professional
peddlers who go about with hypoder-
mic syringes up their sleeves n give
injections at the rate of about 2 cents
apiece. Such men are to be found
in the t~eahouses, and are ready to
give one a iab in the arm upon ask
ing.
In the past it was customary for
the members Of a party to stand up
in a row and hold out their arms with
the sleeves rolled up to their shout