The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-09-11
Scenes of Revolving Wretched-
ness and Misery Presented
in the Opium Users
Colony.
BY F. ", FITZGERALD.

w ME waves OIL WcIl lncanI< DuV SolHc
times misdirected reforms are sweepin,
over the country. with societies for th'
admirable purpose of reprcsSing vice II
its different forms hourishing in nj
parts of the country. it is meet tha
attention be called TO one vice that i:
the sum OF all vices.
Disagreeable and revolving as may
be the suggestion, 1T is. nevertheless
true that the terrible drug habit has
been encroaching stealthily Yet stead
lily on the American civilization until
ii has reached proportions that cause
1t 10 become an imminent danger to the
institutions and the citizenship of the
republic. The danger has reached n
stage where it must be met unlllnch-
iDgly.
Despite the laws which have been
passed and to some extent enforced, the
drug habit has wear by year enslaved
more and more victims and the country
has had more and more of its children
transformed from useful citizens 20 par
asites on the community,
BY far the greatest of the evils of
the yellow peril is the introduction OF
the drug habit the curse Of oriental
civilization. Because of their location
as gateway to the Orient the western
states have suffered most from this ac-
cursed affliction. For a score of years
they have been more and more in the
power Of the curse, until today the
number of American drug fiends along
the Pacific coast is appalling,
Spread Is Alarming
A few years ago Salt Lake was com
paratively free from the curse. Only
few orientals living in the city were
addicted to the use OF drugs. Today
the Caucasian votaries of opium and
its derivatives far outstrIp the num-
ber of Chinese addicted to the terrible
habit,
In l113 opium was first introduced
into China FROM India by the English
Despite imperial edicts and stringent
laws, strictly enforced the opium habit
in China grew to such an extent that
for the past century Chinese civiliza-
tion has been completely dominated by
the drug and the civilization that for
scores Of centuries has led the world
has been stifled. and China has become
synonym for retrogression.
With the oriental migration to the
United States came opium as an attend |
ant evil 1t is wonderful panacea. a !
powerful stimulant. AS Il medicine it |
has no equal, With its use as n medi
cine soon came its use as an intoxi |
cant.
The Americans fell easy victims to
its use As q drug. Its subtle effect on
the intellect, its operation on the Amer.
the vision. pleased the American fancy
and he was eager 30 partake of it's
supposed blessings. The charm of Lcthc
that it possesses soothed the troubled
mind.
But the beneficial properties of opium
and the other oriental drugs are over
come by the resultant horrors of lis
nscs. The person who succumbs to the
bcatifc transports produced by the drug
tC1 l.on In, Of fhnf
is far more terrible than his previous
sensations wero agreeable. The only
avenue of escape from these horrors is
more of the drug and the consequences
arc terrible to contemplate.
With Fatal Rapidity.
From a habit formed half from cur
iosIty half from a desire for relief
from sordid things the opium devotcc
IN few short years becomes de-
pravcd emaciated, decrepit slave.
whose craving for the drug ovcrcomcs
all other desires In life, a moral and
physical coward, never free from the
most narrowing and terrible hallucina-
lions. an awful example of the deadly {
potency of the drug
To one whose attention has not been
,alcd to the fact, the grip of the opium
habit upon Salt Lake mast appear as =
founding. Within stones throw Of :
.he business center of the city is ]
white brick three story building TO I
~ who should be representative Of the =
youth and strength of the city. This I
building is located on Plum alley and h
s occupied by scores of Cinnamon. On r
he ground floor are "noodle iointsD I
md curio stores. On the first and sec. 9
'ud floors are the rooms of the China i
non. in almost everyone of which the
lrug vice is rampant {
A visit to this building few nights r
'go revealed the fact that on the see a
md floor of this building there were =
hree shop ioints' where opium could =
'e bought and lay-outs furnished No Ii
questions were asked and anyone who
,ad % cents TO pay for the privilege {
vas allowed 10 smoke "pill' ard re- U
Ire on the dirty cane couch until his ~,
naze of air castles had passed and his n
'escent TO the squalor surrounding him e
vas complete. 4
"Hop Joints Repulsive. g
There is nothing attractive about b
hat comes from them aud the filth that u
eeks within them, 1T would seem, i,
would be sufficient 10 deter one from
ver embarklng on The terrible habit, G
terminated there. However to the dis. Ia
orted vision Of the habitues. Elysian o.
lelds could be no more beautiful than q,
he filth and squalor which surrounds ir
hem The realization only comes with ii
he horrors that greet them when the p
pell is over. a
Sanitation is scarcely part of the a a.
'longolian idea of luxury, Within the u
hop joints - of Plum alley scarcely a
ay of sunlight penetrates Cleanliness
S forgotten virtue, Dirt and opium In
ppear to go well together II
In the northwest corner of the large o.
rick, building which houses the herd ccii
4 hop fiends ~ is one of the largest o.
ives in the city. It is dirty, very al
irty, but the degree of filth is some in
'hat less than that which character ei
les the other rooms in the building. d,
he blind OF the single window in the 81
oom is closely drawn, and above il is
aunted bit Of fantastic cane tapestry. "
n oriental coneeit, On either side of d'
he room are double cane hunks. ON ST
Inch the smokers rcpose. Near the a,
oor IS tiny wood stove on which n to
llandated teapot is ever simmerino cl