Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-17

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smoked opium and upon urgent request
the police officer finally allowed the
lawyer to set up a smoke of hop"
With glistening eyes the drug fend,
who was long past salvation, dtsap-
peared in the darkness for short time
| and then returned with his precious
purchase in a small globule. First ad-
| justing his glasses to his eyes, the
| gloating yellow man settled back on
| his wooden couch and toasted the
opium over a lamp filled with peanut
! oil.
Peanut oil is used because it makes a
| clear, steady and odorless flame. While
| the pill sputtered and swelled in the
| heat of the lamp, the smoker eyed 1t
! with fond longing and when it had be-
come hard and brittle he packed it into
a small bowled pipe and settled back.
Every breath of the deadly drug was
sucked deep into his lungs. And when
it was suggested, "Blime by, all gettee
dopee like fool" the other Chinese pres
ent nodded an envious aquiescense and
then went on with their chatter.
Joss Houses Deserted
Joss houses with their gilded and
carved beauties were visited in rapid
succession. Untold wealth in gold foil,
ivory, bronze and rare china ware filled
these places, but only a few sleepy
keepers loitered in the sacred places
and scowled upon the intruders.
Coming down an alley way, Sergeant
Edwards of the east side station was
encountered in charge of a couple of
women who had begged to be shown
Chinatown. This made the party so
large and attracted so much attention
that it was impossible to visit private
families any longer and the more pre-
tentious places known to tourists were
examined.
Sinister bullet holes in wood and in
dentations in brick walls were point
ed out by the police as relics of the
various tong" wars and now and then
a CHASTITY tale was told of some room
or place where bloody deeds in the old
days marked the battles of clan against
clan and all together against the police.
Many windows were more heavily
barred than the county Jail and in
some cases the doors were a foot in
thickness. Heavy hinges, powerful
bolts, and close set bars bore witness
to the fact that there was a time when
few men entered the places which were
so fortified unless the owners permitted.
Affairs Resplendent
In one room of the Chinese lodge Of
Free Masons was d resplendent altar
of gold foil bronze, inlaid work. and
beautiful wood carvings. A fat and
Jolly keeper showed the visitors around
and explained the value of the proper
ties. In another lodge room, musician
sat playing on his two stringed violin
and the woeful inharmOnies and jarring
| screeches of the peculiar instrument of
torture reminded one of the scraping
of coal shovel on rough cement
floor. The player on the instrument
was we'll pleased with his performance
and explained that it was a love song.
All that a white man is ever per-
mitted to see was seen and few oddi-
ties rarely noted came under the obser-
walton of the party due to the familiar
ity of the conductors with the region
Old lotteries, abandoned opium dens,
neglected gambling houses and rooms
and where once fighting factions met
to plan deeds of bloodshed, now they
gather to read the Chinese newspaper
or play dominOs.
White Man Is Victor
With the victory of the white mans
mandates of law and order and the
forcing of the conqueror's code upon
them, the yellow men have sunk into
cowed and Sinking subsection and all
the glitter and wealth which was
known to be a part of the district is
now gone and sordid bestiality rules
all without a trace of the glamor and
glitter of old
Fan-tan is supposed to be more
wicked than poker, rice wine more vic
ious than whisky, lotteries are more
terrible than stock markets, and the
pure opium smoke once a day is con-
sidered worse than fifty smokes per
day of cigarettes which contain 21a
per cent opium So the Oriental is re-
formed and likewise subdued but also
Los Angeles has lot more than three
fourths of her yellow men who, hav-
ing felt swindled by the slogan land
of the free" have sought other abid-
ing places where il is a little freer.