OPIUM SMOKERS IN SYDNEY.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3820, 26 March 1881, Page 1

OPIUM SMOKERS IN SYDNEY.

During the raids on the rookeries in the city some most unlovely localities were visited. Occasionally dens of thieves, harems, and homes of larrikans were suddenly dropped upon, each of which was an aggregation of material and moral filth ; and the occupants would start to escape when they saw the face of a certain inspector as rats do at the sight of a terrier. In nearly all cases the occupants were unprepared for an official visit, and while literally many were caught napping, excellent opportunities were provided for examining the condition of the tenements and observing the habits of the persons who lived'in them, but who, by the interposition of the law will before long be forced into brighter, cleanlier, healthier homes. In a few instances visits appeared anticipated, and consequently efforts had been made to hide cracks in walls, to patch up windows, and to cover well-worn unsafe flooring with matting that had done service for many a long year. But for all this the professional eyes of the visitors quickly saw in the buildings defects which very promptly determined them to order them to be either repaired or pulled down. Surprise was frequently manifested at finding many buildings totally unfitted for human occupation, crowded with the smallest possible areas, and provided with the most deficient means of ventilation and lighting. It was in the Chinese quarters, however, filth had accumulated in the greatest proportions; that the foulest smells were experienced : that the largest numbers of human beings were congregated in the smallest spaces.' Some of the Chinese dens were partitioned off in the manner of immigrant ships, each partition being occupied by three or four Celestials, or by a Celpstial and a white woman, nominally his wife. Occasionally one nearly fell over little whity-brown children crawling over the floor, or gambolling like so many kittens. How their infantile constitutions bore the oppressive atmosphere, and the fumes of opium and tobacco smoke, without collapsing, and how their tiny frames escaped injury was marvellous. No one seemed to know whose children they were. Most of the Chinamen smiled when it was attempted to fix the parentage on them/ and declined the soft impeachment/ A white woman, who must once have been of graceful fine proportions, and intelligent looking, if not handsome, lay on one of the bunks as much a recluse from the" outside world as any nun that entered cloister 1 Semi-nude, lost to self-respect, not caring who witnessed her depraved condition, and With her senses dulled by opium smoking, she lay a pitiful illustration of what humanity, n ay descend to. The sickly drug had transformed her from a sprightly girl mo a beiug whose condition was worse than any drunkard's, and now it seemed as though she were past all redeeming influences, and would die a sickly, senseless, mindless thing, not knowing or caring whether there was or was not a hereafter. It was dreadful to imagine this creature—once one of God's fairest—passing into eternity, her brain excited by wild delirium, her senses reeling. It was equally appalling to conceive her awakening from her dreams and realising the awfulness of her position. In the room in which she lay—it was only ten feefc by seven—there was at one end a Chinese bed with a dirty torn rag hanging in front of it to answer the purpose of a curtain. Iv this a Chinaman lay who was also a victim to opium. Not far away, on another bunk, a second female form tixvhie Jay prone under the influence oi opium. She appeared as if she were in tWllast stag© of opium poisoning, and, wWoithe visitors succeeded in partially arousing her she, too, seemed indigent to her fatey looking round w.fth a dull, vacant) purposeless

"that showed her frame to have-been deprived of all its energy. Her eyelids' were swollen, her flesh was dropsical in appearance, and her long black hair was unkempt and hung in matted strings over her facfl^tid^n> t ck. ,Jler hatfajT^pbT|2f as thpufeh paliy hadOtricken r them, .but. she managed with them to clutch the little tray containing implements .for preparing the seductive drug for smoking, oul for another smoke. The effects of i opium on human constitutions >Seem. various in their character. Some mdi- | Tiduals who suffernfrpMj|th7en^-b(ejcome^ mere shadows of' their HFrirme^r selves j tt*'pearkncia7their eyenoV Becoming swollen j and their flesh puffy, ipn-.will find the, victims where they^ arir'least^ expected to be; in gargets and in cellar o <|imly Ify "from wiftr^dtsaaiiff. iri one instance the visitors crawled into agarret they thought untenanted, but whichthey ! found tenanted by a Chinaman and^, a white woman. Here, too, were imple? ments generally used by opium smokers— a tray, the bamtfdo stems with their clay' bowls, steel prickers for clearing the bowls, and a tiny lamp burning tinder a broken bottle. The woman was disturbed before she had completed her toilet and therefore was not in very presentable condition. Little she cared, however, for ' appearances. Naturally phlegmatic, the use of opium had increased her indifferences to circumstances transpiring around her, and she did not heed the presence of strangers in the slightest degree. Her life seemed to have become purposeless, and it also seemed that she was too indolent to dress. The Chinaman, who spoke very kindly to her said : " She got plenty clo, all li, but no puttee on," and going to a large box which he opened, he showed a collection of clothing he had recently obtained from ajaundress. Such are sights obtainable in "dear old Sydney."—Sydney Morning Herald.