The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1909-06-16
TRADE IN JAG" BEANS ENDS
Juice Produces Effect Like That G
Strong Alcoholic Drinks.

OJUELOS, Tex, June 12.-There is
Ojuelos neighborhood over the recent
action of the United States govern
ment authorities in putting a ban on
the sale or shipment of the peyote
bean to the Indians of oklahoma, This
traffic has been going on for more
than twenty-five years and has been
growing constantly until it had as
sumed a business of much CONNER
cial importance. So much so in fact
that several large business houses in
Laredo sent their agents to Ojuelos
each season to buy and attend to the
shipment of the beans.
1t is said that the section of the
country around Ojuelos is the only To-
cality in the United States where the
peyote beans are found in large GUAM
titles. They come from a species of
cactus and are well known among
the MeXicans of the Rio Grande bor-
der for their intoxicating qualities.
The fact that wild state of in
toXication can be produced by chew.
ing a few of the beans and swallow
ing the juice causes them to be called
''mescar' beans by many Mexicans
Mescal is an Intoxicating drink that is
made from the juice of the maguey
plant. The bean juice is even more
powerful in its effects than that OF
mescal-and that is saying a good
deal
Whisky Cut OFF; Beans are Popular
How the Indians first learned OF
the existence of these peyote beans is
not known. Although regular ship
ments of the beans have been made
to the Indians in what is now Okla
homa for upwards of a quarter of a
century, it is only since the use of
whisky and other liquid intoxicants
We're excluded from them that the de-
mand for the peyote beans grew to
enormous proportions.
1t is related by federal officials who
came here from Oklahoma to investi-
gate the peyOte bean traffic that the
Indians succeeded for many years in
concealing the true quality of the
beans. They led the white people 10
believe that they used the beans 10
season certain kinds of stews which
they made.
1t was observed that INVESTIGATION
among the Indians showed no signs
of decreasing, although the prohibi-
ton regulations were enforced strictly.
II was inconceivable on the part of the
government officials whose duty it was
to look after the welfare of the In
dams how their wards obtained their
supply of liquor. 1t also was observed
that the "sprees" which some of the
Indians went on were of a most Vio-
lent character.
Storc.cepcr Eats Beans. Acts Queer
The discovery that the beans We're
the source of the wild orgies on the
part of the Indians was made a short
time ago quite by accident by a store
keeper near Fort Sill. He had re-
ceivcd a large consignment of the
product from Laredo, and was send
ing it out in numerous lots to the In
dams upon the reservation.
While engaged in measuring out the
beans he CHANGED to put one of them
in his mouth and while he was at
work he chewed on it in an absent
minded sort of way. He swallowed
the juice, and in a few minutes the
clerks and other people who We're in
the store We're startled to see him
jump upon the counter and give yell
The storekeeper is ordinarily a staid,
sober man. He had moved to that
community from Iowa few years
ago and had been a leader in church
affairs and was not known to drink.
Later, when told of his remarkable
antics. he laid all the blame on the
innocent looking bean. This caused
further experiments TO be made, and
it was soon determined that the pey-
ote beans We're the source of the In
dams supply Of intoXicants. Having
established this fact, the government
authorities We're quick to get at the
root of the evil by prohibiting the
sale or shipment of the product.