The Case of the Counterfeit Opium
A man arrested in Everett for 'smuggling opium' into Seattle is cleared after authorities realize the suspicious substance was merely a fake product sold to con greenhorns.
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.
John Wright was brought to this city last night from Everett by United States Deputy Collector of Customs A. T. Tuttle and Policeman Fred Christianson, charged with smuggling opium. A brown valise which was supposed to contain the opium was brought along and deposited on the table before Commissioner Emery. Wright kept telling the officers that there was no opium in the valise, but there in the valise lay forty five-tael cans of dark brown matter. Deputy Collector McKenzie was called in to see what it was and threw a wet blanket on the proceedings by declaring the stuff to be prepared dope such as used to swindle green countrymen. Commissioner Emery discharged Wright.
“Deputy Collector McKenzie was called in to see what it was and threw a wet blanket on the proceedings by declaring the stuff to be prepared dope such as used to swindle green countrymen.”
This 1893 incident highlights the era's pervasive anxieties over trade, border control, and the 'purity' of imports—anxieties that often fueled the exclusionary laws of the time. While the 'dope' in this case was a fake, it speaks to how easily suspicion could be weaponized against individuals in a frontier economy.
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