Locked Away for Being a Stranger

Mr. Smith, who went to Tacoma to meet his brother Otto, was mistaken for a man sought by the authorities, and was taken to a filthy jail where he was compelled to remain all night. Mr. Smith tells his story: 'I stood at Tacoma on the platform waiting for the train to arrive from Portland. While going through the train I noticed a policeman looking at me. As I began to jump from the cars he caught hold of me and said: "Is your name Bloom?" I told him no; that my name was Smith and that I had come up from Seattle to meet my brother. He said he did not believe a word of it, and that he was satisfied I was the man. I protested my innocence and showed him letters addressed to me, and also receipted bills, and certificates of deposit from the First National Bank. All these things went for naught with a Tacoma policeman. He still stated that my name was Bloom. I then told him I would bet him five dollars I had told the truth and asked him to take me to the telegraph office, where I might send a dispatch to Seattle and satisfy him that my name was Smith. He said: "That makes no difference, you must go to jail." He marched me to a miserable, dark, dirty cell and locked the door. I asked for a light and he said the gas would be turned on in ten minutes. A drunken woman in the next cell heard him tell me this, and she shouted: "You lie, you old blowhard! There is no gas in this pen." And I found out the woman was right. I worried through the night, being kept awake by the oaths of the drunken woman and the laughter of the other prisoners. After breakfast, I was put into a cell with another man. It was cleaner and had better ventilation. Chief Mackey came around at 10 o'clock and I asked him if he had telegraphed my brother, and he said he had not. At 11 o'clock he came and released me. I came home as soon as I could and made up my mind to keep away from Tacoma in the future.'