The Hostage Crisis of the Teanaway Woods

Considerable excitement was occasioned here today by the efforts of two Seattle Japanese men to gain possession of two Japanese girls who had been spirited away by one of their countrymen and two Chinamen. The girls are late residents of Whitechapel, Seattle, but for a couple of weeks past have been located at North Yakima. It appears that a dispute arose over the settlement of an account between two Japanese men, who had charge of the girls at North Yakima, and a Chinese restaurateur there. The restaurateur captured the girls and brought them here to Cle-Elum to hold as hostages until the differences were settled. Tuesday morning, S. Shimizu and M. Yomanda, Japanese men, appeared here in quest of the girls, whom the Chinamen had concealed in the woods near town. The Yakima Chinamen were supported by the local colony, some half a dozen in number, and they refused to give any information. Later in the day, the girls were discovered, and in Justice Gamble’s court, they expressed a desire to return with the Japanese men, but were fearful for their lives if the Chinamen were not restrained. The latter were severely lectured by the court and dispossessed of their weapons, as they were all armed with either knives or revolvers. The Japanese men were guarded during the night as a precaution against raids by the Chinamen, and this morning they wired friends at No. 311 Jackson street, Seattle, for reinforcements. Both Japanese and Chinese residents are very bitter against each other, and it is feared there will be more trouble.