OPIUM DENS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15252, 15 March 1913, Page 5 (Supplement)

OPIUM DENS.

LONDON ESTABLISHMENTS. . DREAMS AND HORRORS. - Is one of those dismal streets which inter- • sect the two main highways in Limehouse - —and within r a stone's throw of each , otherare two houses which have recently :. been opened for the us© of victims of the opium habit. They are rented by China- • men, and are "run by" Chinamen, who, I as day succeeds day, add to the already i considerable fortune they have amassed : from their drug-stricken and helpless. patr rons. These dens have been called into r being by the amazing increase in the nnnji berof those who seek oblivion and ultib mate ruin in the use of opiates. ) Th proprietors " run " other opium dens, i . but thesemore ; magnificent - in their ap- ) pointmenta, and more luxurious in . their \, surroundingshave been made possible by , the growing number of well-to-do men ' who have given way to the deadly, and at • one time almost exclusively Oriental, vice. " Night after' night, people of position and l wealth drive up to the neighbourhood, , dismiss their vehicles when still some diß?' . tance away, and steal furtively up to the , door. The customers are known, and their identity assured by a vigilant doorkeeper * before admission to the " house of dreams and horrors " is allowed. The Chinese Proprietor. , It was after 'considerable trouble a cor-' ' respondent succeeded in locating one of the • dens; the task of securing entrance. » was still more formidable. This was even- . tually achieved after making the acquainti ance of a man who is fast losing honour, ( position,-business, and self-respect, who gave his guarantee that there was no 1 hidden or sinister object in the stranger's '.'' visit. The proprietor, a wily-looking, - parchment-skinned Chinaman, imagined a . fresh victim, and set himself to'present , such allurements, as the apartments and their occupants could supply. There were 1 some three or four rooms— of thorn • on the ground floordevoted to the use ; of opium-smokers. It is not long since '. the vice could only be practised—at least, 1 in the East End, in low-roofed, filthy, and. shabbily-furnished rooms. • A Place of Silence. , ' The rooms at this establishment, and there is at least one more possessing ' equally elaborate furnishing, are beautifully upholstered. Low divans stand on thick carpets over which the, feet- tread noiselessly, luxurious cushions are used as head- ' rests, and heavy curtains of the richest ; shades screen the doorway. A gentle light sheds a dim radiance over the customers, 1 who in varying degrees of somnolence • occupy the-, couches. There are several 1 attendants, who in response to a lifted 1 hand steal over to some person and address him in a low voice. It is, as one,of the ' frequenters declared, a palace of silence, ' awesome and mysterious. He might have ' added, though ne did not, it is veritably 1 a portal of the still more silent grave. No one need move from his couch. The opium v is cooked for each patron, who merely has ' to inhale the smoke, which brings fasti- ' dious visions and hideous nightmares. One [ habitue put it thus: "Paradise and hell. " All the frequenters of the place are well 1 dressed.- Many, indeed, wear " evening clothes. Few come in the daytime. Nor ' do the owners ofHhese dens encourage day '. trade. i 'Seeking' New Sensations. ( Who ' are the patrons? Merchants,. " young men about town" Jn search of a ', new sensation, and even people who are , allied to noble families. A neighbouring tradesman declared that the number .of '. customers is "surprising." "They steal , in one after' another, "he said,' "like so y many shadows. .Some have evidently only . just come under the benign influence of ', the drug; others bear -unmistakably the ! marks of degradation that fall upon the . seasoned sinner. The police? No, thank i you, I place too great a value j on my life. . The gang who 'run' these places are . thoroughly unscrupulous, even- to the use i of the knife.-" Reference was made to the gain that these dens r bring to the , proL S rietors. Few who attend pay less than Ds a night for their " board and enter- >. ment; ''-some even expend a five-pound . note, so that even so small a number .of -, visitors as ten •; or twelve brings money .; rapidly to those, who batten on the vices ; ' of mankind.' ' \- "' , *