well, first i want to go over a little detail about ellen s. williams, which is actually really hard to find information on him. but i did find a little bit. first of all, he was an american journalist who wrote for the "new york times." and i think he also wrote for the "new york truth" which i think is no longer published anymore. according to the press philosophies found in the beginning of the book, he wrote, and this is a quote, "many interesting articles in the newspapers and magazines subscriptive of the manner of the opium dens and joints" which he would go visit. he spent two years taking his investigations for the book, which he published in 1883, you already read the title which i was going to do. but finally, williams was a doom sayer who believed opium would corrupt the youth of america and eventually contest alcohol as the abusive substance of choice. now, my questions for this portion, if you look at paragraph 3 of the chapter we read, at the northern end of the room was a fireplace. beneath a carbon-colored mantle. and the long winter ni