Smuggled Opium Seized at Yesler's Wharf
Federal officers discover twenty-two cans of contraband opium hidden inside the pilot house of the steamer Evangel.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Yesterday morning at 4 o'clock, custom officers boarded the steamer Evangel upon its arrival from Vancouver, B.C., and seized eleven pounds of contraband opium found concealed in the pilot house. The day before, an anonymous dispatch reached Collector of Customs Townsend, stating that twenty-two cans of prepared opium, valued at $330, had been stored away on board the Evangel while in Vancouver. The collector at Port Townsend immediately wired Deputy McKenzie to be on his guard and seize the steamer upon her arrival at Seattle. At 4 o'clock, when the Evangel docked at Yesler's Wharf, she was boarded by Deputy McKenzie and Inspectors Munn, Smith, and Scruton. A search was instituted, resulting in the discovery of the twenty-two cans hidden in the pilot house. The officers of the steamer denied any knowledge of the opium, claiming it must have been hidden by a passenger.
“The officers of the steamer denied knowledge of the opium being on board, and said that it must have been hidden by some passenger.”
Customs enforcement and the transit of illicit goods were already major concerns for the Puget Sound shipping industry in 1892. This incident highlights the role of anonymous tips and tactical boardings at the waterfront, a precursor to modern maritime law enforcement at the Port of Seattle.
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