El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-15
JUBREZ HAS 4
HELLHOLE Of
TEMPTATION
Almost One Out of Every
200 People in the Two
Cities Is q Victim.
THE MARIHUANA
OF THE MEXICAN
Is Worse Than the Other
Drugs, but All Of Them
Wreck and Ruin Life.
CBy D. R. 8IcCreesh.)

CBy d. R. zcCreesh.)
G6H OP, dope and drugs among E
Paso,s respectables." Grim
figures and gTimmer facts are
the foundations for the opening state
ment OF tins article. 1t VIII help you
to understand the situation IN Juarez
and FL Paso's Chinatown, the former
place being much worse than the larger
cities of America. and the latter IN
consequence, almost as bad when You
have read 1t YOU viii see how close
the thing has come to yOu-the average
El PasO man or woman. And after
YOU have finished reading 1t, YOU can
read the statistics On which It IS based.
There Is an underground room, under
an adobe house, within 100 yards o!
the bull ring at JUarez, TO which at
least one of your acquaintance IN des-
tined to 20.
The Juarez dope Hole"
The adobe hole in question is
square compartment, its dimensions
about 30x20 feet. 1t Is damp, dirty and
dark. The floor IS earth. Sometimes
it Is crowded with a dozen victims, al
though there have been more than that
number within at one time The light
IS dim and the faces Of these human
beings are ObscUred. This fact Is mer-
ciful to the observer, for to look upon
these faces by day would sicken most
men Putty colored skins, drawn tight
over their bones; lines OF fright and
despair and pain, so deep that the seem
to have been gouged out by fine chs
els; prOtruding eyes that glare from
the shadows; yellow hands Ike claws,
rags that are hideOus. And that IS
enough to tell 1t is not all by any
means When new arrivals enter the
room. these creatures, who once walked
IN Gods sunlight, fight and snaTl, as
dogs would not.
These are the drug fiends-thOse far
zone, who cannot care for themselves
ike other milder victims, for reason Of
their lOathsOmeness- And there are IN
III Paso today more than 200 men and
women afflicted with the habit, which
may ultimately bring them to this
state Out of that number nearly one
third come from the upper set Of FL /
PasO citizens
One Fiend Out Of 200.
In Fl Paso and JuaTez It Is est.
mated that there IS one drug user out
of every 200 souls. Count your ac-
quaintances and YOU viii find that the
list numbers far more than this, As
for the facts, know that the FL PasO (
police officers detailed on this work, I
wide, unite IN giving this rule: The
confirmed drug user Is hopeless. There !
are exceptions; there have been cures. !
But the number is small.
To get back TO figures: Two nun I
bred Is in all pTOba bilitv too small a 4
proportion. I asked detective Charles /
Henderson and police captain w. D. !
Greet. who have been working with the 4
federal detectives in their fight against /
dope" for figures. Both are expert
enced officers; they have both grown 4
facts as they come. with no emotion
on their part to color them When
asked regarding how many victims Of
cocaine, opium and morphine take daily
excursions to the SIX opium Joints in
JuareZ. they said: FIFTY. Then !
they paused 80, that IS too easy.
More than that" When asked for the
proportion of that army which come
rom decent homes in FL Paso-clerks,
professional men. wives and other re-
spectable envirOnments-they SAID:
The traffic Is getting less than it
Ised to be, although it Is hard to get
Il" Pressed for an approximate figure,
,ased among the number found among
lends. they declared: "AbOUt fifty
ire fiends-'
Opium and the Law.
The Law mikes 1t unlawful for one
o have in his possession smoking
opium. but the restriction in this case
DDlies more to quantity than anything
lse. One addicted to the use of the
RUG may visit a Chinese dive in IL
'asO and purchase from the proprietor
that IS called card" take it 10 his
ONE. and there smoke the dope" to
Is hearts content. without any fear |
f being mOleste1 bv the police OF secret
ervice men. Many of the CclestialS (
ONES in this city are nothing but I
andezvous for Chinese drug fiends, and
be oDium may be purchased at some,
The law prohibiting having IN posses
ion any smoking opium went into ef
eft about a year and q half ago, but
he ODium which bears the revenue
-arnD Of a prior date may be kept with
npunitv. Al opium which Is obtain
bic IN Fl PasO IS reported to be snug
led across from the other side, with
he exception. probably, of small lot
-hich bears the governments stamp
laced thereon before the enactment Of
he recent law.
Puving Opium to Smoke.
Where the opium IS purchased in
mall lots. being on a card and pre-
AIRED for immediate smoking. and taken
one to the room of the purchaser. It
IN be smoked without fear of inter
srence. the officers passing up the /
nall quantities and the smokers for
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