Show > > > I DISCOVERY OF AN OPIUM JOINT i A Democrat Iteporter Gets a Peep i into One of These Den of I Iniquity Knowing it to be a matter of conjecture as to the secret methods used to elude the usec officers and defy the laws by the Chinese denizens of this city in carrying on their opium smoking resorts a DEMOCRAT reporter re-porter made a tour of observation among the Chinese quarters of Commercial I street and Plum alley upon several occasions occa-sions with the view to informing himself r and the public in regard to the hovels of r iniquity that are allowed to exist from L the fact that convictions for that crime ire hard to be made I has been an acknowledged ac-knowledged fact that dozens of opium joints are in full blast and have been for several yeal and that a raid upon a place by the officers merely forces the Chinese to remove it ito i-to a place where it will be more secure in the future after paying a fine into the city treasury The pallid faced men and women whom we meet on the street fully attest that they are hitters hit-ters of the pipe but where they are admitted ad-mitted to indulge in this mind and soul destroying habit is known only to themselves them-selves and associates They know full well that a few convictions of the proprietors proprie-tors of the opium joints they frequent would lead to their exclusion from them and thus take away from them the only enjoyment they have in life In this matter they have to be true to the China man to save themselves from the torture following the deprivation of indulging in the habit In the early part of last week our reporter fortunately found that one of the shutters that close the back windows of a Chinese cose bazar on Commercial street had been inadvertently I in-advertently left unlatched Opening the shutter and peering into the room between be-tween the curtains of some bright red material our reporter saw five persons three white women one white man and a Chinaman lying on the floor around an opium lay out Under their heads I and shoulders were either blankets or quilts made into long rolls and they al seemed to have given themselves up to the enjoyment of the most complete repose re-pose From their appearance and manner man-ner of lying it was easily seen that the women had become abandoned to every sense of decency and virtue and their hollow eyes and ashy pallor which was ghastly under the powder on their face by the light of the opium cooking lamp in the layout which furnished the only light in the r l showed that opium had the subtle power to cause them to I commit any crime to obtain it The Chinaman would take one of the long needles from the tray and place a smal 11 1 ball of opium on the end of i and cook 1j I it over the lamp turning it meanwhile I After two or three minutes the opium would seemingly l be ready for smoking and would be inserted in a small silvei r cup on the top of a hollow reed about two feet long which is the opium pip Holding the Dart that rnntninprl flip opium over the llames of the lamp the smoker would draw the fumes into the mouth and lungs and let it escape through the nostrils This operation was repeated several times by all the inmates of the room when a Chinawoman who hat I been unseen up to that moment by the reporter came to the window and letdown let-down a black curtain which excluded the interesting sight from his gaze The next place visited was a back room in a Chinese washhouse where two Chinamen and one Chinawoman were openly smoking with the back door of the room wide open Nothing more could be seen that night of interest the other opium joints unfortunately for our reporter re-porter having taken more care in closing their shutters On Monday night Plum Alley was visited and a conversation between two women and i niiinninon vtna lionrrl in reference to the arrest of a Chinese doctor some time ago and after protestations on the part of the women that they were not the ones that lodged the complaint against the doctor they were allowed to enter a back room and in a short timo the fry ing noise accompanying opium smoking was heard The opening of a back door warned our reporter that it might not be safe t be seen lying on the shed roof I with his eves peering down the side of the stovepipe into the room where the smokers were so he made a retreat by sliding down into the small space between that and the adjoining building While waiting for the Chinaman who seeming ly had heard something to arouse his suspicions and had come outside to investigate in-vestigate to enter the house entr our reporter reprt er heard snuffled sounds of revelry and I conversation which seemed to come from beneath the other building but a I thorough search on all sides failed to discover any opening or outside evidence of a concealed basement After a few I more observations in which nothing of I interest learned was our reporter gave up the task of trying to ferret out the of I ffiiidnrs iiinst the ntiiiim code ml lins I confined himself to the observations n i on two successful out of several ineffectual ineffect-ual trips made among the Chinese quar tersThe The police are on the alert to catch Wie proprietors of these joints when an arrest ar-rest of the inmates can be made and from the infrequency of the ariests compared com-pared with those of a few years ago it is safe to presume that opiumsmoking is not carried on to such a great extent in the Chinese quarters but is confined principally to rooms in private boarding houses and in the business blocks Our jjolice officers will do well to look after those retired haunt in tenements for the white opiumsmoking element |