The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-09-08
OPIUM TRADE IN
CHINA BOOMING;
LARGE EXPORTS
CHAINS Tells of Visit to &Drug
Farm. Where Large Quanti-
ties Are Made for Export.
nv WIN. PHILIP sIMMs.

waeao. China, Sept 8.-What
..-rh is to the United States, the
S1scE and beady little opium pill
:. ~ the Far East Both hooch
.,d ouium have been pronounced
Ssad yet both are still going
stronp. At least opium Is in China
pI,t for Fan Tan houses and the
.,trTo bnsiness and what goes with
- this Old World city lost in
- orient would be deader than
~ NJ those western mining vii
,sges after the ore had petered out
Come over to the farm" the
.omnradore OF the Hongkong-
MACAO boat invited after we had
checked up our losses at Lee Yuen's
Gambling house on the Praia
Gandee. Come along have look
see"
about three squares and turned in
AZ a door over which, in box-car
istters. we're the words in English:
MACAO OPIUM FARM"
faint. very faint, sweetish odor,
not entirely displeasing, greeted
the nostrils.
Nobody stopped us. or asked US
questions. .
foundry as much as anything else,
foundry with an endless row OF
blacksmith's furnaces along the
right wall.
hacked earth served instead.
working at the furnaces were
about forty Chinese, naked to the
waist. The men labored about
four feet apart in a line stretching
from one end of the long, shaooWy
room TO the other.
They were all working opium,
getting it ready for the market
isWhere does the crude opium
come from?'' l asked the compra-
dore.
india" he replied.
$500 a BOwlful.
At each fire a Chinese was bus1ly
stirring or kneading. In the first
stages the opium mixture is thin,
like sugar-cane juice, but as 1t Dolls
it thickens, like sirup-
The vessel it is cooked in Is
about as big as a large wash bowl
: and is of brass.
After long boiling the stuff be-
comes mastic. The worker then
kneads il as a baker does dough.
Through several such bookings
and Workings the brownish black
poison is put until at last it is
ready to put up in packages Tor
sale.
one brass bowl of opium, accord
ing to the compradore. retails for
about 5000 Mex, or around $500
gold.
For Americal
On the opposite side of the room
from the furnaces l saw several
groups of Chinese packing the pre-
pared opium in oblOng brass cans
each holding a few ounces OF the
dope. 1t had the consistency Of
very thick New Orleans molasses
on winter day.
These packages, the compradort
said, were not for local consump'
ton. He said they were to bt
shipped to America
For medicineT' l inquired "Tc
make morphine, laudanum anC
such drugs?"
The compradore shrugged hi
shoulders. He did not know.
i picked up an earthen-ware OBJ
Jet l saw on the floor. 1t was like
4 a small pilI-box, about the size o
the end of my thumb and abou
three-uuarters of an inch long In
side was glazed hole larg'
enough to accommodate the tip o
my little finger.
For Chinese Trade.
That" said the compradore, ii
for the local retail trade. That L
the Accent size, and holds enough
for about six smokes. There is /;
S0-cent size holding four smokes.
rs there much smoking here :?
The compradore laughed.
Much smoking" he said. Conn
along, have look-see.
We left the opium farm AM
walked back up the street a hun
dred yards or so. The comprador
paused, looked at the signs owe
the doors, then motioned me to fol
low him up a fight of stairs.
AT the top we found ourselves Il
the middle of a room filed wit
visps Of thin purplish smoke an,
heavy with the same sweetisl
fumes 1 had noticed in the opium
factory.
Business Finely
On both sides of US were -dl
vans-not the fancy ones so mucl
u vogue out here, but dingy one
-a-plenty. Only they looked NOR
IKE dog kennels than opium d1vanf
Tney were really stalls, separate
ny iron grills on platforms tina
ran along the walls.
Each stall had an opium lamp i
tne middle of it, on the floor, an
| Two Chinese lying down by tn
lamp, one on either side. Each IA
! pipe Some were smoking Oth
n CTS were dead to the world.
II AS the compradore came into tn
room a Chinese approached hin
pretty much as a door-walke
might, TO find out his needs h
saw me, however, and brushed o
ny. He apparently considered u
DUN prospect, andd elseWher
BUSINESS was fine.
AS We stood there, opium seller
came and went like yellow shac
oWS. There was not a sound i
the place sayA now and then some